They were last seen walking on South Street toward Petrone's parked vehicle, a 2001 Dodge pick-up truck. But two people who read the note told me that rumor is false. Disappearance of Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone Jr. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Danielle_Imbo_and_Richard_Petrone_Jr. But wait, this was a murder-for-hire, right? The FBI announced yesterday that investigators believe that Richard Petrone and his girlfriend Danielle Imbo [] might have been killed in a "murder-for-hire" plot. The case remains unsolved. She lives her entire day with a sick feeling in her stomach, like something is wrong. Details: Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone were last seen leaving a. Making two people and a truck disappear, with no witnesses and no evidence of any kind for nine years, suggests methodical planning, says FBI special agent Vito Roselli, the investigator in charge of the case. [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. Still no leads in couple's mysterious disappearance 5 yrs ago. Philadelphia Daily News, 19 02 2010, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102534940/still-no-leads-in-couples-mysterious-di/. In April, police said publicly they did not believe the couple simply ran away, which eliminated one possibility. 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. They also bring out his regrets: Right before we were getting married, I kinda said, Youve gotta quit the band., He felt they had no weekends together. Like maybe it was even up to me to find my sister., The family received lots of calls from psychics. A police officer tried to prepare John: No one, he said, is ever going to find anything.. The most we can say is that they were alive on the sidewalk as they left the bar. I dont blame people for not wanting to be around us, says Marge. They get on the phone with old friends from time to time. Both were single parents - Richard's daughter was 14 at the time, and Danielle's son was oneyear old. Photographs of the truck and license plate are posted with this case summary. Last updated February 14, 2008; details of disappearance updated. No evidence. The two, family friends. The person who suffers the most is my son. Their loved ones believe foul play was involved in their cases, and both families have accused members of the other family of causing their disappearances. The Ottobres and Petrones occupy a rarer hell: Their loved ones vanished without a trace. Accessed 24 May 2022. That there was foul play. He also believes multiple people know. I also have not ruled him out.. Never much for dressing up, Richard Petrone wore a gray hoodie, jeans and sneakers. We can go in any direction at all, because there are no tracks or markers. Ottobre drove to the scene, and as the police scoured the train, moving from car to car, he felt flush first with the adrenaline of the moment, then with embarrassment. They were single parents: Danielle had her 18-month-old son; Petrone, a 14-year-old daughter. And he worked alongside his father at Viking Pastries in Ardmore, attending culinary school to learn how to build towering wedding cakes. Not a fingerprint or a hair, not a sighting on a. Danielle and Richard both had children from previous relationships. Their case was featured on the podcast Crime Junkie on May 11, 2020. But twice a year, his mom or his wife calls Joe, and they arrange to pick up little Joe, now 10, in South Carolina, taking him for one week around Christmas and again in summer for a trip down the Shore. We' re aggressively pursuing a scenario that's based on leads and tips we've received.". Marge Petrone had actually been on record since 2005, about 6 months after the disappearance, that she believed Richard was dead. It might not give us the identity of those responsible, but at least the families could finally grieve and rest. He has told little Joe that his mother disappeared. He doesnt cry like the Petrones passionately and unstoppably. 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. Two years after that, their son, little Joe, grounded her. "Not anything.". You may have been wondering earlier, where was Danielles son while she was out Saturday night? This case is both interesting and unusual becausepolice have found almost no evidence of what happened to them. With ten years gone, the team had been whittled down, but refused to give up, the story said. The Cherry Hill High School grad wrote her own songs and performed in a rock band in her 20s and 30s, her. She has worked as a loan mortgage processor. Shouldnt this be solved by now? But whats also brought him to the table is the chance, he says, to reminisce to contribute to a story that will recall Danielle as a person., The good times cause a torrent of happy memories: their first meeting at the car dealership, a first date that went on all night and meandered all over Philly and New Jersey. She smoked a pack of Marlboro Lights a day. Danielle later told family members that Joe had bounced the babys high chair off the wall, though Joe has said he doesnt think that ever happened. Their case remains unsolved. I feel 99.867 percent that they are not within this area.. Although several theories have been proposed,the case remains cold, and thefamilies are still searching for closure. Today would be [Richard] Petrone's 36th birthday, according to a family website. Their relationship was going well when Danielle's ex-husband began attempting to rekindle their romance . There is a saying in law enforcement circles: Its always the ex-husband. So sitting down with Imbo is portentous a journey to the one man who might possibly hold an answer. Just days before he vanished, Petrone told his father he had angry words with Joe Imbo over the phone. Based on everything Ive read, no. People who got hammered and had a lost weekend at a club. Whats really important to me is to know what happened.. It was good to hear them say that on the record, so there really can't be any confusion about what's happened.". That such a complicated future awaits an innocent 10-year-old boy seems particularly cruel. His mom had called and said Danielle missed her hair appointment at 11 am. 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. Christian Zajac, the FBI agent in charge, said, "We feel this was an orchestrated act. Like Richards father, he still speeds up to get a closer view of any black truck. New Details Emerge In South Jersey Missing Persons Case. Patch, 23 March 2022, https://patch.com/new-jersey/moorestown/new-details-danielle-imbo-richard-petrone-jr-case. Through her best friend, Christine, she reconnected with her high school crush, Christine's older brother, thirty-five year old, single father Richard Petrone. But there remain other leads. It also doesnt escape my attention that if this is a murder-for-hire plot, Joe Imbos alibi does not exclude him from suspicion. I want to thank you, he will say. 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? It is possible whomever was driving the vehicle was a little impaired and just made a costly error a wrong turn, a slip of a foot off the brake pedal. At the time, Danielle was married to her husband JoeImbo, but they were estranged, and Danielle was in the process of separating from him. Updated 3 times since October 12, 2004. Want to come have a drink? Richard asked. Sure, there are other ways to dispose of a vehicle. Danielle was going through a divorce from Joe Imbo in 2005, her husband of 3 years, and had returned to using her maiden name, Ottobre. He walked into a dealership and saw a pretty girl sleek, sporting a bob haircut that accented her high cheekbones and deep dimples from the financial department. 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. Nevertheless, their search got results. Here's everything we know about what happened to Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone. Roselli looked hard, after a tip, at Anthony Rodesky, a thick-bodied killer with a swastika tattoo on his bald head. It could be a murder/suicide. 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. It would be a simple matter from there to slide right into the truck with the two of them and force them to drive to wherever they met their end. At that point, he says, I was hoping theyd been arrested or in some kind of accident, but somehow theyd come back to us. 856-234-1414, Philadelphia Police Department
"He said "I got, like . When he asks about his mom, we tell him she is an angel in heaven, says John. 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. She spent a lot of time in bars, performing or listening to bands, but wasnt a big drinker. "The FBI decided to come out with something that we've felt has been the case from day one, that it was a murder. 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. 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. As I told you earlier, Danielles brother, John Ottobre, showed up looking for her at her condo that morning when he heard she had missed her hair appointment. The people who love them remain stuck inside that vast circle of snow, looking in every direction for a trace, track or footprint they will never find. Petrone's friends, Anthony Valentino and his wifeMichelle McLaughlin, joined Imbo and Petrone at the restaurant. Thats change your life money for a person who has the right tip. Missing Memories. Philadelphia Daily News, 10 02 2015, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102526697/missing-memories/. "You have to know how to get rid of two bodies and a truck quickly, and it would be hard for one person to do that.. There was no sign of Danielle, Richard, or Richards truck. I dont talk about this a lot, he says. Believe me, we looked, says Roselli, and we continue to look, but nothing has emerged that there was anything in his background that would suggest him as a target for murder.. 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. On February 19th, 2005, Danielle agreed to go out for a night of music in Philadelphia. 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. Shed begun dating Richard during a long separation from her husband a separation she was intending to punctuate with a divorce. She was wearing a jacket, cream colored sweater, blue jeans and carrying a black purse. We dont say anything about her being missing. Marge, the talker, keeps going, her eyes always wet with tears that roll slowly down her cheeks, like blood pumping from a wound. He went in and found the place dark, still and undisturbed. Will he blame his father for the breakup, see it as the first step in the causal chain that led to his mothers disappearance? Youre just not good at your job. But the FBI agent never followed through. The visits, he says, are both amazing and awful, because the boy sings like his mother, and his face is so much like hers that he seems to project her like a hologram back out into the world. 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. The two clicked instantly. "I don't have evidence to arrest Joe" is all he says. I wish I had more to say, says Roselli. Danielle Olivera appeared on Monday night's episode of Watch What Happens Live, where she confirmed Oliver Gray cheated on Mya Allen. So when Danielle disappeared, I felt like I was the man of the family, the younger Ottobre says. Or both. Through her best friend, Christine, she reconnected with her high school crush, Christine's older brother, thirty-five year old, single father Richard Petrone. Imbo, age 34, was a resident of Mt. [6][7], Imbo, Petrone, and their vehicle were not seen again after the night of February 19, 2005. Were missing couple victims of a hit? Philadelphia Daily News, 07 02 2008, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102527418/were-missing-couple-victims-of-a-hit/. 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. And when she sang Me and Bobby McGee, all that smoke erupted; she could slay any room with her Janis Joplin wail. "[11], In March 22, 2022, a private search and recovery dive team, Adventures with Purpose, announced they were actively working on the case. About six weeks in, one got hold of John. "You feel like you're trapped," [said] Petrone's father, Richard. They sat close, smiling and laughing. 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. 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. It never goes away, Marge Petrone said. That sounds like a perfectly innocent statement to some, a nasty insinuation to others that Danielle was the target, through some unspoken fault of her own, and she got Richard killed, too. The Scope of the Problem: Intimate Partner Homicide Statistics. VAWnet.org, https://vawnet.org/sc/scope-problem-intimate-partner-homicide-statistics. 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. Tipsters can remain anonymous. Laurel, New Jersey, and was separated from her husband at the time of her disappearance. Richard said he understood; hed raised a daughter on his own. I know this might sound strange, he says, but justice isnt the important thing to me. Thetwo were family friends who had dated as teenagers before they began an on-again, off-again relationship as adults. They kissed. Many people have been suspicious of Danielle's soon-to-be ex-husband Joe Imbo but he appeared to have a solid alibi. Danielle was stymied. What if Richard and Danielle decided to go park down on the piers and make out a bit? 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. When a song his son loved floods the vehicle, his loss arrives with every line. Richard Petrone was described as 59 and about 150 pounds. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the mysterious disappearance of Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone. Neither the couple, nor the truck, were ever seen again spark In 2008, the FBI announced that the case was being treated as murder-for-hire. All of those things considered, the million dollar question then becomes is it foul play? John would later tell ABC7 Joe Imbo seemed surprised to find a bunch of Danielles family at her place, but she wasnt there. As for the Ottobres, Felice wakes up, and before she gets out of bed, she cries, her grief bubbling up in wracking sobs. ABC 6 said Joe Imbo, the estranged husband, shared angry words with Petrone over the phone only days prior to his disappearance. When Danielle got pregnant, she had put her own music dreams to rest and left her position as the lead singer for a pop rock band called the Schoolboys. The speculation doesnt do any good, he says. The FBI continued to investigate the case and has actively been looking for tips. I am. 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. No matter in what direction he looks, he only sees more snow, pure and undisturbed. And then the next day she does it all over again. If we can find the truck, well find Richard and Danielle. Danielle Imbo, 34, worked from home for a mortgage company andwas the lead singer ofa New Jersey rock band. Friends also swarmed into the picture. She lived on Dunbarton Road in Mount Laurel in southern New Jersey in 2005; Petrone lived in South Philadelphia. Hed been planning to watch the Daytona 500 at home with friends but nobody had heard from him. It could be a case of a willful disappearance on the part of Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone. The FBI has questioned Imbo's estranged husband, Joe Imbo, many times. Oct 10, 2014 - On the night of February 19, 2005, Danielle Imbo, 34, and Richard Petrone, 35, vanished. 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. 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. Then he drives on to the bakery and registers the silence. Danielle Imbo, 34, of Mount Laurel, and her friend Richard Petrone, Jr., 35, of Philadelphia, were last seen on Feb. 19, 2005 leaving a bar near 5th and South streets. Unfortunately, as is so common with cold cases, the flow of information in Danielle and Richards disappearance has dwindled to a trickle. She was wearing a jacket, cream colored sweater, blue jeans and carrying a black purse. until John Ottobre intervened. He takes detours, sometimes, on the drive from Cherry Hill to Ardmore, still looking for Richards truck. They saw each other sporadically. Agent Roselli had not backed down from the Bureaus position that the disappearance had been an organized hit. The best detectives will tell you, they consider all options. Were in so much pain, she says, that we could kill ourselves tomorrow. He put on dad weight, clocking in at five-foot-nine and 200 pounds. Richard Petrones best friend, Rick Bellezzi, would tell a reporter They left the club happy at about 11:45.. With the decision to investigate the case as a potential murder-for-hire came a change of scenery. I dont have evidence to arrest Joe is all he says. "They vanished," John Ottobre [told the Philadelphia Daily News.] Christine said no. In the spring of 2022, a privately-funded dive research team from Oregon, Adventures with Purpose, announced they were taking an interest in the case and they were riding high with a surprising success rate considering the cold case nature of the disappearances theyd recently investigated. Youve got to stop this, Pincus warned him. What access did you have? We used to be fun, and now were always sad. And two hours later, the reunited couple looked happy together. You know, he says, theres only one person in the world that knows I didnt do it, and its me.. Anyone might wonder if, in time, those questions will grow pointed. Using maps and accounts of the missing persons last-known whereabouts, their home, and their destination, founder Jared Leisek has been able to locate a surprising number of vehicles (many times with remains still in them) in which the missing simply, for unknown reasons, drove their vehicle into a body of water. 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. Police in Philadelphia and New Jersey where the couple were apparently headed have launched an intense investigation, checking financial records, interviewing family, friends and neighbors, even searching the banks of the Delaware River by helicopter. The Charley Project is NOT a registered non-profit organization and any donations will NOT be tax-deductible. Much of the speculation centers around the possibility that a hit was ordered on Danielle. Witnesses stated that the couple left the bar at about 11:45p.m. en route to Imbo's New Jersey home. Petrone and Imbo have one child each; Imbo has a toddler son and Petrone has a teenage daughter. If I was them, I wouldnt want to be around me either.. There are a million Hollywood reasons like that. He appears worn down the dark good looks he bore when he met Danielle beginning to whiten and wrinkle. The place was called Abilene at 429 South Street a skinny little single-lane one-way street; historic, pedestrian-friendly, and lined with souvenir shops and places to grab a bite and a brew. In 2008, the FBI would issue a press release to this effect, suggesting that Imbo and Petrone were victims of a murder for hire scheme. Danielles brother, John Ottobre, had a key to Danielles house. At about 11:45 pm, Imboand Petroneleft Abilene's. Its not hard to imagine South Street in February of 2005. THE DEATH OF A SIBLING or child felled short of a natural lifespan is always tragic. Even four months later, at a concert to benefit Danielles son, John told reporters the family still hoped she would turn up alive. Until you or someone like you comes forward with the tip that brings this case to a close, the disappearance of Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone Jr. will remain Unresolved. It was also featured on the podcast Women & Crime in December 2021. Not likely. He looks me straight in the eye. But in the end, they all found nothing no truck off the road, no hulking shadow flickering beneath the water. Did an accomplice follow them in a second vehicle to a second crime scene? Their mysterious vanishing has become one of the most intriguing missing person cases in recent history. Rodesky was convicted of murdering two men in the course of separate robberies, and Roselli marshaled federal resources to search his house, dig up his basement, even pore through his septic tank. I have a conscience. He went to his parents for dinner once a week for his favorite meal, chicken cutlets, which his mother breaded and fried, wrapping extras in foil for him to take home. The next morning members of both families were making phone calls, looking for Danielle and Richard. But Richard suddenly found himself with vast amounts of free time. Friends and volunteers canvassed neighborhoods for 100 miles in every direction, distributing pictures of Petrone's truck. Joe Imbo - Danielle's former husband John Ottobre - Danielle's brother Robert Carey - arrested in pill ring investigation in Kensington; hanged himself in prison Anthony Rodesky -. danielle imbo husband, joeare you required to disclose you were fired. Petrone's vehicle is also missing: it's a black and silver four-door 2001 Dodge Dakota or Dodge Ram pickup truck with the Pennsylvania license plate number YFH2319 and possibly a NASCAR #99 sticker in the rear window. But Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone didnt fit the profile. 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. From the inside out, with guilt and suspicion and shame and resentment. But the gulf left by Richards passing sits between them and the rest of the world, enormous and untraversable. Miller, Janel. Donations are accepted but not expected; the site remains free-access to all. 856-225-5470. He orders egg whites. He never thought Danielle Imbo would be interested. He moved out, relocating to Georgia, but the new relationship didnt last; months later, in the middle of their divorce proceedings, Joe asked Danielle for another chance. Friends, family search for missing couple. Allentown Morning Call, 09 04 2005, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102491020/friends-family-search-for-missing-coupl/. She fronted a rock band around New Jersey and boasted a singers outgoing personality, and after the trouble shed had with her estranged husband, shed responded to Richards gentler approach. Its easy to see why the couple might have been a good match. "Each day is the same. [3] [4] [5] But people who knew him say he was more of a bruiser, lumping enemies up rather than killing them. Paraphrasing Occams Razor, all things being equal, the simplest explanation tends to be true. Their relationship was going well when Danielle's ex-husband began attempting to rekindle their romance. It was Joes weekend for visitation and he was scheduled to bring the boy back on Sunday morning. Is it? It was brutally cold that night. Laurel, New Jersey home, all in the hope of shedding some light on the situation through a visual representation. Joe Imbo moved to the Carolinas with the son he had with Danielle, Joe III, and to this day, he maintains his innocence and he has never been named an official suspect by the police. Richard and Danielle six months before they vanished. Accessed 24 May 2022. 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. In the early hours and days after Richard Petrone and Danielle Imbo disappeared, their families banded together, frantically phoning each other the next morning when Danielle didnt turn up for her hair appointment and both her cell phone and Richards kicked straight to voicemail. Imbo took a lie-detector test, but Roselli won't discuss the results. When asked if their son could still be alive somewhere, Marge waved a hand. You always feel it. That first Sunday Richard Jr. went missing, Marge Petrone felt her sons death lodge, as a certainty, in her gut, even as Richard Sr. sat down and called every hospital and police station in the region. The community was engaged but there were no leads to be found. Imbo's family first noticed something was amiss when Imbo failed to show up for a hair appointment on Sunday morning at 11 am. And while talking about Richard and Danielle seems to cast a great weight on their families, Imbo, as we wrap up our conversation, looks lighter. That means everybody, even people who saw something or heard something unusual but didn't understand how important it was. 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. Richard Jr. had just scored Springsteen tickets and was going to take his dad.
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