14 May 2012 Last updated at 10:25 ET

Mobster Enrico De Pedis' body exhumed in Rome

The body has been exhumed from Saint Apollinare basilica in Rome

Officials in Rome have exhumed the body of infamous Italian gangster Enrico De Pedis, who was killed in 1990.

Investigators hope to find new evidence about the disappearance of a 15-year-old girl, Emanuela Orlandi. De Pedis's former girlfriend said he had kidnapped the teenager.

An anonymous call to a TV show in 2005 said the clue to the case lies in De Pedis' tomb.

Emanuela Orlandi disappeared on her way to a piano class in Rome in 1983.

Ever since, police have been trying to solve the mystery of her disappearance.

De Pedis was a significant figure in Rome's underworld at the time of the disappearance.

The BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome notes that for some, his notoriety clashes with what is seen as an honorary privilege granted to him after his death.

He is buried in one of Rome's most important churches, Saint Apollinare - the final resting place of a number of cardinals and senior figures in the Vatican.