| 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, the Italian version of Wheel of Fortune.
Contents |
Carrisi was born in Rome on November 29, 1970, the eldest daughter of Albano Carrisi and Romina Power. Her maternal grandparents were American actor Tyrone Power and his wife, actress Linda Christian.
While studying literature at King's College London (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. She was last seen in the French Quarter 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 saying the words "I belong into water". A Coast Guard 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.