MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF: Jeannette Bishop May & Gabriella Guerin
In 1980, the ex-wife of a British aristocrat and her Italian friend vanish from a small ski resort town during a snowstorm in the mountains of central Italy, and investigators have a simple theory – they got lost and had some kind of accident. But when mysterious messages arrive, clues lead them on a decades-long deep dive into the art world jet set, the mafia underworld…and even the Vatican.
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General Carlo Felice Corsetti.
Courtesy: Carlo Felice Corsetti
Roberto Calvi.
Credit: AP Photo/files
Evelyn de Rothschild.
Credit: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
John Paul Getty.
Credit: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
Christie’s auction house.
Credit: Alex Segre/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Ian Sayer
Courtesy: Ian Sayer
Emanuela Orlandi.
Credit: AP Photo
Timeline:
November 29, 1980
November 29, 1980
Jeanette Bishop May and Gabriella Guerin are last seen.
January 27, 1982
January 27, 1982
Jeanette and Gabriella’s bodies are found in the mountains above Sarnano, Italy.
Woods of Podalla di Fiastra, Sarnano, Italy
Where Jeanette and Gabriella’s bodies are found
Additional Information:
Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi
Follow this link to listen to our Fan Club episode about the 1983 disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi.
Contact the authorities
If you have any information about the deaths of Jeannette Bishop May and Gabriella Guerin, you can email the local Prosecutor’s office in Macerata, Italy at [email protected].
Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
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Episode Source Material
- Original reporting by Mallika Dhaliwal.
- Gianluca Ginella’s reporting for Cronache Maceratesi.
- Il posto della neve (Italy), a documentary by Alessandro Galassi. Produced 2011-2013. Accessed March 17, 20125 via YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fORolGAs0uc
- The Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Florida): Fashion Heiress Abducted in Rome. Published January 11, 1980. Accessed June 18, 2025 via https://www.newspapers.com/image/325086252/?match=1&terms=barbara%20piatelli
- Northen Echo (Darlington, Durham, England): Kidnap alert over model. Published November 5, 1980. Accessed March 17, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1050431326
- Manchester Evening News (Manchester, England): Abduction fears grow for Briton. Published December 4, 1980. Accessed March 17, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/925662066
- The Daily Telegraph (London, England): Kidnap of missing wife unlikely, says husband, by Charles Nevin. Published December 6, 1980. Accessed March 17, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/750889512
- Sunday Mercury (Birmingham, West Midlands, England): Kidnapping ‘hope’ for missing wife. Published December 7, 1980. Accessed March 17, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/846846847
- The Daily Telegraph (London, England): Kidnap Hunt police seek yard’s help, by Charles Nevin. Published December 9, 1980. Accessed March 17, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/750889791
- The Daily Telegraph (London, England): Search called off, by Reuter. Published December 11, 1980. Accessed March 17, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/750890046
- Corriere della Serra (Italy): In carcere il direttore della “Christie’s” Trovate in casa armi da guerra e cocaine. Published December 11, 1980. Accessed June 18, 2025 via archiviocederna.it/pdf//articoli/637/00637_12.pdf
- The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon): Barbara Piatelli Freed by Italian Kidnappers. Published December 18, 1980. Accessed June 25, 2025 via https://www.newspapers.com/image/1174303310/?match=1&terms=barbara%20piatelli
- Lancashire Telegraph (Blackburn, Lancashire, England): Did Briton die in snowstorm? Published December 19, 1980. Accessed March 17, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1052862282
- The Daily Telegraph (London, England): Missing wife’s car found, by Leslie Childe. Published December 19, 1980. Accessed March 17, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/750889819
- The Guardian (London, England): Dogs hunt for lost women, by AP Macerata. Published December 20, 1980. Accessed March 18, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/259619555
- The Guardian (London, England): Prints sent to Yard. Published December 30, 1980. Accessed March 18, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/259905558
- The Daily Telegraph (London, England): ‘Fingerprints of man’ found in women’s car, by Reuter. Published December 30, 1980. Accessed March 18, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/750890459
- The Daily Breeze (Torrance, California): Body of Industrialist is Recovered. Published March 1, 1981. Accessed June 25, 2025 via https://www.newspapers.com/image/1099123855/?match=1&terms=valerio%20ciocchetti
- The Daily Telegraph (London, England): Kidnapping ‘Victim’ Arrested. Published April 20, 1981. Accessed June 18, 2025 via https://www.newspapers.com/image/750894685/?match=1&terms=ercole%20bianchi
- The Daily Telegraph (London, England): Industrialist Recovering From Kidnap. Published April 21, 1981. Accessed June 18, 2025 via https://www.newspapers.com/image/750894778/?match=1&terms=ercole%20bianchi
- The Daily Telegraph (London, England): Five Accused in Rome Kidnapping. Published April 23, 1981. Accessed June 18, 2025 via
https://www.newspapers.com/image/750895149/?match=1&terms=ercole%20bianchi - Manchester Evening News (Manchester, England): Mystery of Missing Wife. Published May 29, 1981. Accessed on June 18, 2025 via https://www.newspapers.com/image/925331967/?match=1&clipping_id=new
- Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland): A Lady Socialite went Missing in a Blizzard, by Garth Gibbs. Published June 15, 1981. Accessed June 18, 2025 via
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1064760253/?match=1&terms=via%20tito%20livio - Evening Standard (London, England): The last time I saw Jeanette, by Janice Morley. Published August 12, 1981. Accessed March 18, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/722025432
- The Daily Telegraph (London, England): 500 police join mountain search for wife, by Alan Copps. Published August 28, 1981. Accessed March 18, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/750900776
- The Daily Telegraph (London, England): Ex-SAS Man is Italian Kidnap Victim’s Agent, by Hugh Davies. Published November 2, 1981. Accessed June 25, 2025 via https://www.newspapers.com/image/750904391/?match=1&terms=valerio%20ciocchetti
- Western Daily Press (Bristol, Avon, England): The long search for lost Jeanette, by Western Daily Press Reporter. Published November 30, 1981. Accessed March 18, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/908201012
- Western Daily Press (Bristol, Avon, England): Jeanette: Man sought. Published December 1, 1981. Accessed March 18, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/911575761
- The Sunday People (London, England): Gems man in Jeanette puzzle. Published December 6, 1981. Accessed March 18, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/894999229
- Daily Record (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland): Jeannette man cleared. Published December 7, 1981. Accessed March 18, 2025 via Newspapers.com.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1064614535 - UPI: Boar hunters found the bodies of Jeanette Rothschild May,. Published January 27, 1982. Accessed March 18, 2025.
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/01/27/Boar-hunters-found-the-bodies-of-Jeanette-Rothschild-May/9704380955600/ - Northern Echo (Darlington, Durham, England): Bones found of lost Briton. Published January 28, 1982. Accessed March 18, 2025 via Newspapers.com.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1055185722 - Evening Standard (London, England): Mrs. May Death Riddle in the Snow, by Patrick McGowan. Published January 28, 1982. Accessed June 18, 2025 via
https://www.newspapers.com/image/722142372/?terms=via%20tito%20livio - Evening Standard (London, England): Italians re-open Jeanette May case, by Paul House. Published April 29, 1982. Accessed March 18, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/722058417
- The Guardian (London, England): Call for May inquiry, by AP. Published May 25, 1982. Accessed March 18, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/259604201
- The Journal (Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England): Jeanette murder claim ‘speculative’. Published November 8, 1982. Accessed March 19, 2025 via Newspapers.com.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/804670042 - The Bolton News (Bolton, Greater Manchester, England): Death riddle ruling. Published December 3, 1982. Accessed March 19, 2025 via Newspapers.com.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1053738969 - Reading Evening Post (Reading, Berkshire, England): New Probe into snow deaths. Published December 21, 1982. Accessed March 19, 2025 via Newspapers.com.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/807116012 - Birmingham Evening Mail (Birmingham, West Midlands, England): Jeanette May case reopened. Published December 22, 1982. Accessed March 19, 2025 via Newspapers.com.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/858686007 - The Guardian (London, England): May case to be reopened. Published December 24, 1982. Accessed March 19, 2025 via Newspapers.com.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/259725257 - Daily Record (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland): New probe on missing wife. Published June 29, 1983. Accessed March 19, 2025 via Newspapers.com.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1081141582 - La Repubblica (Italy): ROTHSCHILD WAS POISONED OR STRANGLED, by Franco Coppola. Published February 15, 1985. Accessed March 19, 2025.
https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1985/02/15/la-rothschild-fu-avvelenata-strangolata.html - The Guardian (London, England): Who Killed Calvi?, by Nick Mathiason. Published December 6, 2003. Accessed June 18, 2025 via
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2003/dec/07/italy.theobserver - The Guardian (London, England): British Woman Caught Up in God’s Banker Case, by Antony Barnett. Published May 8, 2004. Accessed June 18, 2025 via
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/may/09/ukcrime.antonybarnett - Chi L’ha visto? (Italy): The Mysterious End of Baroness Rothschild. Published December 4, 2010. Accessed March 19, 2025.
https://www.chilhavisto.rai.it/dl/clv/Misteri/ContentSet-e966002d-ae2e-4f86-8e4e-63e973952c5c.html - Corriere Dela Sera (Italy): Baroness de Rothschild and the blackmail of Marcinkus to hinder Pope Wojtyla. Published July 12, 2013. Accessed March 19, 2025.
https://roma.corriere.it/roma/notizie/cronaca/13_luglio_12/orlandi-ricatto-con-rotschild-2222114860999.shtml - Il Gazzettino (Italy): Rothschild Murder, the Superwitness: «Baroness Killed for the Orlandi Case», by Paola Treppo. Published July 13, 2013. Updated July 15, 2013. Accessed March 19, 2025.
https://www.ilgazzettino.it/nordest/udine/delitto_rothschild_la_supertestimone_baronessa_uccisa_caso_orlandi-199703.html?refresh_ce - European CEO: The Banco Ambrosiano Affair: What Happened to Roberto Calvi?, by Jules Gray. Published March 20, 2014. Accessed June 18, 2025 via
https://web.archive.org/web/20160916112710/http://www.europeanceo.com/finance/the-banco-ambrosiano-affair-what-happened-to-roberto-calvi/ - Forbes: When the Apparent Suicide of ‘God’s Banker,’ Roberto Calvi, was Ruled a Murder, by Sofia Lotta Persio. Published August 23, 2019. Accessed June 18, 2025 via
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sofialottopersio/2019/08/23/when-the-apparent-suicide-of-gods-banker-roberto-calvi-was-ruled-a-murder/ - Corriere Della Sera (Italy): “I was there”. Faces and memories from the front page, by Fabrizio Peronaci. Published October 5, 2019. Accessed March 19, 2025.
https://roma.corriere.it/cronaca/cards/io-c-ero-volti-ricordi-prima-pagina/gennaio-1982-trovato-scheletro-baronessa-rothschild.shtml - Metropolitan Magazine (Italy): Baroness Rothschild, her murder still shrouded in mystery, by Metropolitan Editorial Team. Published May 17, 2021. Accessed March 19, 2025.
https://metropolitanmagazine.it/la-baronessa-rothschild-il-suo-omicidio-resta-ancora-avvolto-nel-mistero/#google_vignette - Crux: Two Blasts from the Vatican’s Past Key to a “Theory of Everything” for Conspiracies, by John L. Allen Jr. Published December 2, 2022. Accessed June 18, 2025 via
https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2022/12/two-blasts-from-the-vaticans-past-key-to-a-theory-of-everything-for-conspiracies - The Times (London, England): Italian police reopen inquiry into Lady de Rothschild ‘murder’, by Tom Kington. Published November 4, 2024. Accessed March 19, 2025 via removepaywall.com.
https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/lady-de-rothschild-jeanette-bishop-murder-reopened-gp8jj6wx3 - The Telegraph (London, England): Italian investigators reopen Lady de Rothschild’s unsolved ‘murder’ from 1982, by Josephine McKenna. Published November 4, 2024. Accessed March 19, 2025.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/11/04/baroness-de-rothschild-italy-murder-police/?ICID=continue_without_subscribing_reg_first - Cronache Maceratesi (Italy): The Sibillini Mystery, Back in Time. The Witness Interrogations Begin, by Gianluca Ginella. Published November 6, 2024. Accessed March 19, 2025 via Newspapers.com.
https://www.cronachemaceratesi.it/2024/11/06/il-giallo-dei-sibillini-indietro-nel-tempo-iniziano-gli-interrogatori-dei-testimoni/1906352/ - Il resto del Carlino (Italy): “They ended up in a game bigger than them, it was a double homicide”, by Macerata editorial team. Published November 6, 2024.
https://www.ilrestodelcarlino.it/macerata/cronaca/finirono-in-un-gioco-piu-grande-di-loro-fu-un-duplice-omicidio-fda8788f - Cronache Maceratesi (Italy): Sibillini mystery, the first 5 witnesses: a marathon of almost 10 hours in the barracks. “We hope we reach a conclusion”, by Gianluca Ginella and Francesca Marsili. Published November 7, 2024. Accessed March 19, 2025.
https://www.cronachemaceratesi.it/2024/11/07/giallo-dei-sibillini-ecco-i-primi-5-testimoni-maratona-di-quasi-10-ore-in-caserma-speriamo-si-arrivi-a-una-conclusione-foto-video/1906579/ - The Times (London, England): Could ignored witness hold key to mystery of Rothschild’s ex-wife?, by Tom Kington and Mario Ledwith. Published November 8, 2024. Accessed March 19, 2025 via removepaywall.com.
https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/is-ignored-witness-key-to-solving-mystery-of-rothschilds-ex-wife-2vswfwpjp#google_vignette - Il Messaggero (Italy): Unresolved Mystery: The Case of Jeannette Bishop and Gabriella Guerin. Published November 8, 2024. Accessed March 19, 2025.
https://www.ilmessaggero.it/en/unresolved_mystery_the_case_of_jeannette_bishop_and_gabriella_guerin-8466397.html?refresh_ce - The Telegraph (London, England): ‘No one here thought it was an accident’: The last chance to unravel the mysterious death of Lady de Rothschild, by Josephine McKenna. Published November 17, 2024. Accessed March 19, 2025 via Removepaywall.com.
https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/lady-rothschild-italy/ - Cronache maceratesi (Italy): Rothschild Case, Iacoboni’s Sentence: “A Series of Inexplicable Anomalies, a Dark and Complex Story”, by Gianluca Ginella. Published November 23, 2024. Accessed March 19, 2025.
https://www.cronachemaceratesi.it/2024/11/23/caso-rothschild-la-sentenza-iacoboni-serie-di-inspiegabili-anomalie-una-vicenda-oscura-e-complessa/1911260/ - Il resto del carlino (Italy): The mystery of Macerata: “Mom and the baroness? They were killed”, by Lucia Gentili. Published November 25, 2024. Accessed March 19, 2025.
https://www.ilrestodelcarlino.it/macerata/cronaca/giallo-baronessa-intervista-gioia-concina-figlia-assistente-morta-jrjqidio?live - Corriere Della Sera (Italy): Rothschild case, the ex-husband searched for her desperately after her disappearance. The testimony papers: “The baron had taken out a life insurance policy on her”, by Ferruccio Pinotti” Published January 10, 2025. Accessed March 19, 2025.
https://www.corriere.it/cronache/25_gennaio_10/caso-rothschild-l-ex-marito-la-cerco-disperatamente-dopo-la-scomparsa-le-carte-della-testimonianza-il-barone-le-aveva-stipulato-9eb5eb82-ddad-4b38-9b17-588ea10a6xlk.shtml?refresh_ce - Town and Country Magazine: The Rothschild and the Snowstorm, by Joe Pompeo. Published January 27, 2025. Accessed March 19, 2025 via removepaywall.com.
https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/a63352156/jeannette-may-rothschild-italy-death-explained/ - Marie Claire (Italy): The Sibillini Mountains Cold Case, the Mysterious Death of Jeanette Rothschild and Gabriella Guerin, by Debora Attanasio. Published February 2, 2025. Accessed March 19, 2025.
https://www.marieclaire.it/attualita/gossip/a63614120/giallo-dei-sibillini-rothschild/ - La Giustizia (Italy): Jose Garramon, il furgone e il magistrate, by Rossella Pera. Published on March 26, 2025. Accessed June 18, 2025 via
https://lagiustizia.net/jose-garramon-il-furgone-e-il-magistrato/ - Residence Sarnano (Sarnano, Italy): Sarnano. Published n.d. Accessed June 9, 2025.
https://www.residenceilglicine.com/en/our-land/sarnano/#:~:text=Sarnano%20is%20a%20small%20medieval,about%20539m%20above%20sea%20level.
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