Has the case of the "Italian Vanna White" vanishing been solved?

  Ain't technology wonderful? Thanks to the Internet, you can read Gambit in Wisconsin. As for your question, the case has not been solved, and Ylenia Carrisi, the so-called "Italian Vanna White," is still missing. The New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) long ago closed the book on the 1994 mysterious disappearance of the young European television celebrity. Her disappearance is still listed by the NOPD as a missing person case, but the file has been collecting dust for years.

  At the time of her disappearance in New Orleans, Ylenia Carrisi was a household name in Italy because she turned letters on La Routa de Fortuna, the Italian equivalent of Wheel of Fortune. At 23, she was wealthy and well traveled. Her parents were a popular singing duo, known as the "Sonny and Cher of Italy," and her grandfather was the famous American actor Tyrone Power.

  Carrisi was also a student at the University of London and began a tour of Central and North America. Attracted to New Orleans, she first arrived here in July 1993. She fell in love with the city and returned later to find characters for a book she was writing. During this visit, she took up residence at a cheap hotel, the LeDale in the 700 block of St. Charles Avenue, and was seen with a trumpet player known as Alexander Masakela.

  Carrisi checked into the hotel on Dec. 31, 1993, called her parents on New Year's Day, and vanished on Jan. 6, 1994.

  It is believed by some that Carrisi dove into the Mississippi River and drowned, according to police and newspaper reports. A security guard at the Aquarium of the Americas was questioned in the case. He claimed he saw a young woman jump into the river on the night of Jan. 6. She swam for about a hundred yards, started to struggle, cried out for help and disappeared underneath the water. But when the security guard was shown photographs of Carrisi, he told police she did not match the description of the girl he saw. Despite his statement, New Orleans police detectives believed Carrisi was the woman who jumped into the river. The clothes the drowning victim wore matched the description they had, and the time and place fit. Carrisi reportedly had been acting strangely before her disappearance, and the last words the guard heard were "I belong in the water."

  Carrisi's parents arrived in New Orleans on Jan. 27, followed by members of the Italian media. The FBI, the Italian Consulate and Interpol got involved in the case. The police exhausted all leads, but no trace of the celebrity was ever found. When her parents left two weeks later, her father reportedly was resigned to his daughter's death.

  That wasn't the end of the story, however. A freelance photographer in a Venice train station in 2000 said he spotted Carrisi, called her name and snapped her photo when she turned to answer him. He called the police, but she could not be found. The photographer, Robert Fiasconaro, was absolutely certain the woman in the train station was Carrisi. The photograph was published in magazines all over Europe, and since then many people claim she is still alive, and some say they have seen her in Italy. None of the sightings has been confirmed, and she continues to be listed as a missing person by NOPD, the Louisiana Repository for Unidentified and Missing People, the DOE Project and the Charley Project.

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