Ylenia Carrisi
Encyclopedia
| Missing people | |
| Name | Ylenia Maria Sole Carrisi |
| Age at time of disappearance | 23 years old |
| Missing since | January 6, 1994 |
| Location | New Orleans |
| Height | 5'9" (178 cm) |
| Hair | Blond |
| Eyes | Green |
Ylenia Maria Sole Carrisi (born November 29, 1970) was a poet, painter, world traveller and Italian TV celebrity. She was the letter-turner on La Ruota Della Fortuna
La Ruota Della Fortuna
La Ruota Della Fortuna is the Italian version of Wheel of Fortune. The show has run nonstop since 1989 on Rete 4 and Canale 5, and switched from a trilon to an electronic board in 1997, like the U.S. version...
, the Italian version of Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
.
Family
Carrisi was born in RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
on November 29, 1970, the eldest daughter of Albano Carrisi
Albano Carrisi
Albano Carrisi , better known as Al Bano, is an Italian singer, actor and winemaker.-Biography:He was born in the town of Cellino San Marco , where he still lives....
and Romina Power
Romina Power
Romina Francesca Power is an American-born singer and actress.-Biography:Born in Los Angeles, California, Romina Power is the eldest daughter of American actor Tyrone Power and his second wife, actress Linda Christian....
. Her maternal grandparents were American actor Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
and his wife, Mexican actress Linda Christian
Linda Christian
Linda Christian was a Mexican movie actress, who appeared in Mexican and Hollywood films. Her career reached its peak in the 1940s and 1950s. She played Mara in the last Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan film Tarzan and The Mermaids...
.
Disappearance
While studying literature at King's College LondonKing's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
(receiving the highest marks in her year), she began to entertain the idea of traveling the world solo with nothing but a backpack and her journal. She decided to take a break from studying and returned to Italy where she sold all her belongings in order to pay for the voyage. She began in South America. After having spent a few months in Belize, she decided to leave the day after Christmas 1993 by bus to New Orleans. Her brother Yari, also an experienced traveler, had decided to surprise his sister by visiting her that Christmas. He arrived on a rainy 27 December in the village of Hopkins, going door to door in search for her, only to find that the day before, she had hopped on a bus heading to Mexico. Unfortunately, he arrived 24 hours too late for she was already heading to New Orleans, where she disappeared on January 6, 1994.
Ylenia disappeared under mysterious circumstances while visiting New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. She was last seen in the French Quarter
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...
area sometime during the month. Police efforts to find her did not yield any result. There have been bizarre sightings of her, Elvis-like in the excitement they generate, which are reported frequently in European tabloids, especially in Italy.
At the time of her disappearance, Ylenia was staying in the LeDale Hotel with African-American street musician Alexander Masakela, twenty years her senior. Masakela was arrested on January 31 but eventually released for lack of evidence to connect him to Ylenia's disappearance.
In relation to her disappearance, a security guard testified that he saw a woman vaguely matching her description jump into the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
saying the words "I belong into water". A Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
search turned up no sign of the young woman's body, which may have been washed out to sea. In any case, it has never been established that the person was Ylenia.
Her mother still believes she's alive. In November 2006, Albano stated for the first time that he believed the security guard's story.