She'd begun dating Richard during a long separation from her husband a separation she was intending to. Listen to the FBI: Anyone with information that may assist investigators is urged to call the Citizens Crime Commission tip line at 215-546-TIPS (215-546-8477). Weve all seen Philadelphia depicted on the screen a thousand times; the steps in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art so famous from the Rocky movies, Independence Hall where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed, and more commonplace but equally character-defining rowhouses shoulder-to-shoulder in working class (and some would say gentrified) neighborhoods. Laurel home looking for her. But the FBI agent never followed through. In April, 2005, the Allentown Morning Call reported: Joseph Imbo has said he made it clear in telephone conversations with Petrone that he did not like that his wife was involved with him. Three to five remained in the murky water after the search was stalled by bad weather, but police said none was known to be a Dodge Dakota. And obviously, firing any kind of weapon would make far too much noise. What is known about Anthony Rodesky, a convicted murderer who has not been ruled out in this case (24:50). A single dad, he moved from Jersey to North and then South Carolina, and also from car to condo sales. Joseph O'Brien of the Philadelphia Police South Detective Division. Richard said he understood; hed raised a daughter on his own. It's like you're in this awful dream, and you're caught in quicksand.". Like Richards father, he still speeds up to get a closer view of any black truck. We're looking very closely at a murder-for-hire scenario," said FBI spokeswoman Jerri Williams. "I don't have evidence to arrest Joe" is all he says. Youre just not good at your job. Thetwo were family friends who had dated as teenagers before they began an on-again, off-again relationship as adults. His memories of Richard arent quite so gauzy. Danielle and Richard both had children from previous relationships. Through her best friend, Christine, she reconnected with her high school crush, Christine's older brother, thirty-five year old, single father Richard Petrone. The disappearance of Danielle and Richard will be a case 20-years cold soon and I think this is a good place to ruminate on unresolved cases like this. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. He preferred his Crown Royal straight, his beer Yuengling, and his clothes casual sweatpants and t-shirts. Only reports and accounts and theories. Nine vehicles were pulled out of the river yesterday, police said. On February 6th, 2008, nearly 3 years after the vanishing, the FBI announced they were investigating the disappearance of Danielle and Richard as a hit. He looks me straight in the eye. And he seems to understand the predicament he faces: Danielle and Richard came together that night by chance, and a motive could be attributed to him for the disappearance of either. Nothing has ever been found to guide us. The fear among these families is that the mystery draws so much attention that Danielle and Richard get lost as people. She lived on Dunbarton Road in Mount Laurel in southern New Jersey in 2005; Petrone lived in South Philadelphia. Many people have been suspicious of Danielle's soon-to-be ex-husband Joe Imbo but he appeared to have a solid alibi. Danielle has a tattoo on her lower back of "flowers." I know this might sound strange, he says, but justice isnt the important thing to me. Now, lets be honest. What happened to Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone Jr.? She and Richard Sr. had long-since grieved their son. 5 letter words for wordle beginning with s. danielle imbo husband, joe. Youve gone crazy!. There are a million Hollywood reasons like that. At 23, he had a daughter out of wedlock, raising her in an apartment above his parents pastry shop. Danielle has a tattoo on her lower back of "flowers." smorgon family office. [2] The couple had been involved in what family and friends describe as an "on again, off again" romantic relationship. Cold case. Miller, Janel. Five years ago, at the relatively young age of 37, he suffered a heart attack. She was the daughter of John Ottobre, a Philly lounge singer who went by Johnny October and gained national fame in the 50s doo-wop group The Four Dates. Marge Petrone had actually been on record since 2005, about 6 months after the disappearance, that she believed Richard was dead. Anyone might wonder if, in time, those questions will grow pointed. Or an investigation is bungled so badly from the start its nearly impossible to recover (Im lookin at you, Boulder PD), and the case goes cold. From the inside out, with guilt and suspicion and shame and resentment. The restaurant is popular among locals, who have jammed the walls with pictures of their dogs. Now. On the night of Saturday,February 19, 2005, Imbo and Petrone met with friends at Abilene's, a South Philadelphia Tex-Mex restaurant that has since closed. Marge Petrone has said if it was murder-for-hire, she does not believe Richard was the target of the hit. "Not a lipstick, not a bag, not a shoe, not a car, not an eyewitness, not a tip," said Imbo's brother, John Ottobre. After Danielle disappeared, police informed her family that Joe had his wifes cell-phone passcode, and that hed listened to her voicemail. Then, as she put her marriage to Joe Imbo in her rearview mirror and sparked a new beginning, she rekindled an on-again-off-again romance with Richard Petrone, a childhood friend from the neighborhood. If you're a scraper, please click the link below :-) Photographs of the truck and license plate are posted with this case summary. "They vanished," John Ottobre [told the Philadelphia Daily News.] In 2015, the Philadelphia Daily News recognized the 10 year anniversary of the disappearance of Danielle and Richard with an interview of the Petrones, who still felt the weight of the mystery. Leisek has vowed to continue searching, and well just have to eagerly await developments. Volunteers fanned out a hundred miles in every direction. Joe Imbo, on the surface, seemed to be saying the right things, though. If that person has the piece of information that would break the case but never shares it, shame wins, and the case goes cold. Unfortunately, in this case, we cant do that because nobody has any idea where Richard was parked. Everyones gut says pretty much the same thing. Ominously, the couple's cell phones had not been used in the last two weeks, and there had been no activity on their credit cards or in their bank accounts, the families said. A few weeks earlier, Danielle Imbo had ended their on-again, off-again relationship. The piece relates the known facts of the case and gives a physical description of Danielle: She is described as a fair-skinned white woman, about 5 foot 5 and 120 pounds, with hazel eyes and brown hair. A few weeks earlier, Danielle Imbo had ended their on-again, off-again relationship. But inside, he hurt. He can see shadows out there, flickering across the empty field. But two people who read the note told me that rumor is false. When asked for comment, the authorities said they dont comment on lie detector tests but that nobody had been cleared in the investigation. Every detective, every agent, has their case, the one that haunts them, he says. They saw each other sporadically. At 23, she has moved past the fear, which dogged her as a teenager, that whatever evil took her dad will come back for his family. According to the Philadelphia Daily News, Richard Petrone Sr. considered the admission from the FBI a small victory. On the night of February 19, 2005, on-again, off-again couple Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone left a South Philadelphia bar and were never seen again. The murder-for-hire scenario, he admits, was only one possibility among many. [1] Petrone, age 35, resided in Philadelphia and worked at his family's bakery. He didnt know why Danielle wasnt there, but he didnt want to give her soon-to-be ex-husband anything he could later use against her. That there was foul play. He also believes multiple people know. Authorities have questioned associates of both people. Through chance or planning, a criminal pulls off a crime with no witnesses and no evidence. Through her best friend, Christine, she reconnected with her high school crush, Christine's older brother, thirty-five year old, single father Richard Petrone. He went in and found the place dark, still and undisturbed. Accessed 24 May 2022. Petrone and Imbo's estranged husband had allegedly exchanged threats with one another over the telephone and Imbo had made multiple failed attempts to reconcile with her husband, who was involved with another woman. Were in so much pain, she says, that we could kill ourselves tomorrow. Couple's disappearance leaves families in turmoil. Philadelphia Daily News, 05 03 2005, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102488322/couples-disappearance-leaves-families-i/. Laurel, New Jersey home, all in the hope of shedding some light on the situation through a visual representation. In a disappearance like Danielle and Richards, we have nothing. Danielle Olivera appeared on Monday night's episode of Watch What Happens Live, where she confirmed Oliver Gray cheated on Mya Allen. If youre an amateur sleuth like me, you immediately wanna pull up Google Earth and plot the location of the truck on South Street, the path Danielle and Richard walked from Abilene to get to the truck, the driving route they would take to get to Danielles Mt. Joe Imbo has dealt with a lot of pressure in the past nine years. Like, maybe an accidental trip to the bottom of the Delaware River. But the night no doubt meant something special to him, because she was there. Danielles brother, also John Ottobre, named after their father, arrived at her Mt. They have not been seen nor heard from since this last sighting. She worked in car sales, and then the financial industry, supervising mortgages. Unfortunately, their search did not find Richard Petrones 2001 Dodge Dakota.. Weve covered everything now from Dave & Busters all the way down from Ben Franklin Bridge down to the Whitman Bridge. Danielle's estranged husband has been questionedbut never considered a suspect. Hangin with cops at the time of the disappearance? Through her best friend, Christine, she reconnected with her high school crush, Christine's older brother, thirty-five year old, single father Richard Petrone. Its easy to see why the couple might have been a good match. Angela now works in the bakery. At that point I didnt think there had been any type of foul play I was just trying to cover up for her, he said. Imbo took a lie-detector test, but Roselli wont discuss the results. Today would be [Richard] Petrone's 36th birthday, according to a family website. The former covergirl, 39, detailed her troubled past and battle with mental health . She had a son when she vanished, who is now eleven. They simply vanished. They kissed. The easiest way to hide a vehicle with the lowest effort is a body of water. Imbo's purse and wallet have not been located. [1] Petrone, age 35, resided in Philadelphia and worked at his family's bakery. Danielle Imbo And Richard Petrone Both Disappeared Without A Trace - Heres What We Know. Danielle was last seen traveling with Richard Petrone in his vehicle, a 2001 black Dodge pickup truck bearing PA registration #YFH2319 on February 19, 2005. Danielle Imbo loved Chinese food, her moms meatballs, and a particular Wawa coffee she called Christmas in a cup. She loved one pair of pajamas in her favorite color, baby blue, covered in penguins. Danielle and Richard had been dating, but they were on a break. But in the end, they all found nothing no truck off the road, no hulking shadow flickering beneath the water. Ottobre stopped paying attention to the psychics. When asked if their son could still be alive somewhere, Marge waved a hand. Their cellular phones have stayed turned off. So, maybe this case is cold because the police have been investigating murder-for-hire since 2008 and overlooking other explanations. Do you have information that could bring resolution to this case? The relationship between them was fractured. They later told investigators that Imbo and Petrone appeared to be having a good time - they weresitting close together, smiling, and kissing throughout the evening. At one point, Ottobre even paid a Camden police officer $1,200 to take him up in a helicopter and try to locate the truck. You always feel it. A murder-for-hire scenario also remains in play. I ask him: The affair with the girl he met on the plane to New Orleans? It was a normal kind of night, Valentino said. Their case remains unsolved. She lives her entire day with a sick feeling in her stomach, like something is wrong. Less-than-perfect families are sometimes shamed by investigators or regarded with skepticism in a way that causes them to stop communicating helpfully. She had an appointment with a hair salon at 11:00 a.m. the day after she vanished, but never arrived. She wouldnt have missed that, John says now. On the night they vanished, Danielle and Richard had met some Friends at a bar named Abilene's on the 400 Block of South Street in Philadelphia. At that point, he says, I was hoping theyd been arrested or in some kind of accident, but somehow theyd come back to us. I learn this from John Ottobre, who finds talking about his sisters disappearance so painful that he often neglects to return my calls. Not what is it but what could it be? He reportedly didnt date much until he reconnected with Danielle. Richard Petrone was described as 59 and about 150 pounds. The truck must be in a body of water somewhere. Some even believe that it was the mob that carried it out. Thirty-four year old Danielle Imbo was going through a divorce and raising her eighteen month old son. It could also be a car accident that ended in the same way, at the bottom of the river, with Richard and Danielle trapped inside. He is married, the father of 11-year-old twin boys, and describes himself as bitter. Before she went missing, during football season he and Danielle would watch the Eagles, and if the team needed a score, hed hide his face until his sister gave my head a squeeze so Id know it was safe to look. Now, Sunday is just Sunday. > we hope to be able to bring her home and say goodbye the right way. But today, the wind off the beach bears a frosty little snap, and the place is mostly empty when Joe Imbo enters, a few minutes early for our 10 a.m. breakfast. As for the Ottobres, Felice wakes up, and before she gets out of bed, she cries, her grief bubbling up in wracking sobs. Their case was also recapped on the podcast "Obsessed With Disappeared" in August 2022 in an episode titled "A Bridge Too Far: The Disappearance of Danielle Imbo & Richard Petrone". Shes my sister, he says. That said, Roselli hasnt closed the book on Careys involvement, positing a scenario of some sort of beat-down that escalated into a double homicide, or a robbery gone haywire. The Scope of the Problem: Intimate Partner Homicide Statistics. VAWnet.org, https://vawnet.org/sc/scope-problem-intimate-partner-homicide-statistics. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the mysterious disappearance of Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone. Danielle Imbo, 34, worked from home for a mortgage company andwas the lead singer ofa New Jersey rock band. The couple knew each other in high school and began dating ten months before their disappearances after they separated from their respective partners. Then he drives on to the bakery and registers the silence. Cmon, he told me over the phone before I arrived, its been nine years. He was with his dad, Joe Imbo. The two, family friends. Their relationship was going well when Danielle's ex-husband began attempting to rekindle their romance. Tipsters can remain anonymous. I cant help but feel the answer is the truck. You come out here, Lovers Lane, you know late at night and then you accidentally put it into drive instead of reverse you know, theres a lot of possibilities as to what could happen out here. My murder meter swings proportionally with a situations resemblance to an episode of Jerry Springer. They get on the phone with old friends from time to time. A lot of time had passed but the police were finally making a good show of it. His hair was once coal-black, but hes 42 now, and big patches of gray sprout at the sides of his head. And thats why were out here scanning and searching each one of these, to make sure that we clear the entire area, to make sure theres no vehicles underwater that we need to clear. The message was that he needed to be civil, says Ottobre. "I can't look into my son's eyes and think she's not coming back," he [said]. What it was like to speak to John Ottobre, Danielle's brother (29:30). In the days after their disappearance, Richards then 14-year-old daughter Angela gave an absolutely heart wrenching public plea for the return of her dad that is very hard to watch. Richard Jr. had just scored Springsteen tickets and was going to take his dad. But behind the scenes, his mother insisted he stay on message: Until some evidence directly indicated that Danielle and Richard were dead, there was no reason to think they werent alive. "It was somewhat of a surprise," Petrone Sr. said. You know and theyre labeled now as private property, no trespassing, they have some, you know, fencing up there. He realizes now that performing was a big part of her. His reminiscences of Danielle are tender, but his affect is flat. With ten years gone, the team had been whittled down, but refused to give up, the story said. Somewhere in the city of brotherly love there had been a dark conspiracy. Im not a mastermind. Its one of my biggest fears that hes gonna resent me, he told me, drooping forward like a dying flower at the thought that he might one day find his sons judgment placed on him. He had been socializing at a gathering with family and friends who also happened to be law enforcement. There are only a couple of ways to get rid of that truck. So if we just take Agent Rosellis word for it (he is the expert after all) and assume it is foul play, my personal reflex, not just in this case but in almost every case, is to suspect the ex-spouse first. Imbo and her boyfriend,Richard Petrone, were last seen at Abilene's (sometime's spelled "Abeline's" or "Abiline's"), a bar and restaurant in the 400 block of South Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 19, 2005. Police usually wait 48 hours to begin amissing person search, but the families started immediately. Missing Memories. Philadelphia Daily News, 10 02 2015, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102526697/missing-memories/. Its possible a perpetrator could just get lucky, Roselli says today, but its more likely just what it looks like: Someone behind this knew what they were doing., JOHN OTTOBRES FATHER, John Sr., a former boxer and doo-wop singer, died in 1999, at age 62. Danielle Imbos loved ones wondered about Richard Petrone, claiming he was rough around the edges and suggesting he perhaps bore some gambling debt or Mob tie that could have gotten him and Danielle killed. It also doesnt escape my attention that if this is a murder-for-hire plot, Joe Imbos alibi does not exclude him from suspicion. "We haven't found anything to indicate foul play, but all of our options remain open," said Capt. If I was them, I wouldnt want to be around me either.. RICHARD PETRONE SR., 64, wakes each night around 2 a.m., dresses quickly, and steps outside to start his workday at the bakery as the bars close. The authorities have since come out and expressed suspicion of their own. [8] Media accounts state that both had close relationships with their children and families and were unlikely to have voluntarily disappeared. [3] [4] [5] Friends, family search for missing couple. Allentown Morning Call, 09 04 2005, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102491020/friends-family-search-for-missing-coupl/. The evening went fine, and friends watched the couple walk towards Richard's truck. Just days before he vanished, Petrone told his father he had angry words with Joe Imbo over the phone. At the time, Danielle was married to her husband Joe Imbo, but they were estranged, and Danielle was in the process of separating from him. You cant imagine outliving your child.. Or your sister will be gone forever.. the undercover economist chapter summary. She was wearing a black jacket, a cream-colored sweater, blue jeans and carrying a two-handle black purse. That theyd be all right.. Police often wait as long as 48 hours to consider adults missing. Mt. John would later tell ABC7 Joe Imbo seemed surprised to find a bunch of Danielles family at her place, but she wasnt there. Joseph Imbo as well as relatives of Petrone and friends of Danielle Imbo all said that she told both men she did not want to spend her life with either of them not long before she and Petrone disappeared. Maybe theres a totally different explanation for the disappearance; an alternate chain of events that we havent even considered. The couple, who had known each other since High School, had only recently started dating after Danielle's split with her estranged Husband. [9][10][7], In 2021, the disappearance continued to be investigated by the Philadelphia Police Department, New Jersey State Police, Mount Laurel Police Department, and the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office, with the FBI reporting that "an extensive investigation to date has generated some promising leads; however, neither they nor the vehicle have ever been located. Neither the couple, nor the truck, were ever seen again spark Youd have to make sure the fire completely erased anything identifiable about the truck the distinctive black over silver paint scheme for example and youd have to clip the VIN number from the dash, take the license plates, and even those measures would only buy time. It was good to hear them say that on the record, so there really can't be any confusion about what's happened.". The two clicked instantly. Her brother, John Ottobre, later said, She wouldnt have missed that. Or both. The sudden and mysterious disappearance of Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone Jr. on February 19, 2005, has left investigators and the public with more questions than answers. He has told little Joe that his mother disappeared. Many people have been suspicious of Danielle's soon-to-be ex-husband Joe Imbo but he appeared to have a solid alibi. But that is the legacy of this case: We have yet to learn why Richard Petrone will never see his grandson, or why Danielle Imbo isnt alive to care for her son. In the fall of 2021 they took on 36 missing persons cases and actually found 11 missing people. They were last seen walking on South Street toward Petrone's parked vehicle, a 2001 Dodge pick-up truck. We' re aggressively pursuing a scenario that's based on leads and tips we've received.". In the Careaga case, that suspects name is known. FBI Agent Vito Roselli has worked the case since day one, and he told ABC 7 in an interview Im confident that it was a murder. He says Roselli once told him, I dont think you did this. Its not hard to imagine South Street in February of 2005. Danielle was estranged from her husband, Joseph Imbo, who has a solid alibi for the night of the couple's disappearance. In the absence of any discovery by Adventures with Purpose, would you consider it more likely the disappearance of Danielle and Richard was foul play?