Through chance or planning, a criminal pulls off a crime with no witnesses and no evidence. With the decision to investigate the case as a potential murder-for-hire came a change of scenery. 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. She smoked a pack of Marlboro Lights a day. 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. Kimberly Riley & Jeremy Britt-Bayinthavong, Paul Skiba, Sarah Skiba, and Lorenzo Chivers, June & Jennifer Gibbons (The Silent Twins). 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. So, if it is, how did they do it? The pair crossed and recrossed the Walt Whitman, Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross bridges. 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. 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. He detours through parking lots when he spots one from the road. Every detective, every agent, has their case, the one that haunts them, he says. Of course, Agent Roselli wont reveal more than that, but its beginning to sound a little bit familiar; a little bit like the Careaga murders in Washington State which I covered in a recent episode A case where it seems like the authorities might have a strong suspect, but cant prove it. To find out what happened, and to see justice done.. Her husband proved less enamored of their new life. His memories of Richard arent quite so gauzy. But I think youre involved in some way. Roselli, he adds, even called an old roommate of his, maybe a year ago, to try and arrange an interview. Is it either of those things? Since she was separated, though, and seeking a divorce, he took his shot. Friends also swarmed into the picture. The authorities have since come out and expressed suspicion of their own. At dawn, they returned home, exhausted. ABC 6 said Joe Imbo, the estranged husband, shared angry words with Petrone over the phone only days prior to his disappearance. Even four months later, at a concert to benefit Danielles son, John told reporters the family still hoped she would turn up alive. Marge and Richard Petrone Sr. have, at times, thrown what some would call thinly-veiled shade at Danielle and the Ottobres. "I don't have evidence to arrest Joe" is all he says. Some even believe that it was the mob that carried it out. Danielle's ex-husband, Joe Imbo, had a rock-solid alibi for February 19th, one that placed him 50 miles away at a kids' party with his stepfather, an ex-NYPD officer, and multiple active police. You know, he says, theres only one person in the world that knows I didnt do it, and its me.. The sun set hours ago. He never thought Danielle Imbo would be interested. 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. The easiest way to hide a vehicle with the lowest effort is a body of water. Today, John Ottobre refuses to guess at a culprit, in hopes the families might reconcile. When his son lived upstairs, he would hear slow footsteps before Richard Jr. came down to start his own workday. But the truth is, we dont know what happened.. Now I know what real love is, she told friends. 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. Until police arrest someone else, he will likely always face suspicion. Or both. Entering this subject, the story of Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone, is like entering a field of misery, a pall so unrelenting that the only thing that might counterbalance all this pain is something unworldly, some kind of magic. dr patel plastic surgeon oak brook. On the one hand, Danielle and Richard had a few drinks that night. Will he blame his father for the breakup, see it as the first step in the causal chain that led to his mothers disappearance? A police officer tried to prepare John: No one, he said, is ever going to find anything.. Updated 3 times since October 12, 2004. I cant help but feel the answer is the truck. The case, as a disappearance, had been handled by Philadelphia South Detectives, but was now due to be transferred to the homicide unit. Angela now works in the bakery. It could be, but most agree its unlikely. Richard Sr., in the passenger seat, peered out into the dark, searching for his sons 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. 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. Original music created by Micheal Whelan through Amper Music, Theme music created and composed by Ailsa Traves. Disappearance of Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone Jr. "Petrone Family Seeks Closure in 2005 Cold case", "FBI Seeks Information On 2005 Disappearance of Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone", "Adventures With Purpose Confirms They're Working On Richard Petrone, Danielle Imbo Case From 2005", "EPISODE 4: RICHARD PETRONE & DANIELLE IMBO", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Disappearance_of_Danielle_Imbo_and_Richard_Petrone_Jr.&oldid=1128688649, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 21 December 2022, at 12:27. The couple knew each other in high school and began dating ten months before their disappearances after they separated from their respective partners. The person who suffers the most is my son. "You feel like you're trapped," [said] Petrone's father, Richard. It could be a murder/suicide. 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. Friends and volunteers canvassed neighborhoods for 100 miles in every direction, distributing pictures of Petrone's truck. 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. Anyone might wonder if, in time, those questions will grow pointed. But in the end, they all found nothing no truck off the road, no hulking shadow flickering beneath the water. Laurel home looking for her. 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. Shed begun dating Richard during a long separation from her husband a separation she was intending to punctuate with a divorce. A police dredging operation rumored to be related. Many people have been suspicious of Danielle's soon-to-be ex-husband Joe Imbo but he appeared to have a solid alibi. On The Night They Vanished, Imbo Met Up With Petrone To Watch Live Music At A Bar I also have not ruled him out.. Through her best friend, Christine, she reconnected w. Both New Jersey and Pennsylvania authorities are investigating their disappearances, which remain unsolved. In April, police said publicly they did not believe the couple simply ran away, which eliminated one possibility. 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. It leaves us with only one explanation that makes sense. The killer or killers might have been watching as Danielle and Richard approached the truck. FBI Seeks Information on Disappearance, 15 Years Ago Today, of Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone, Jr. FBI. FBI, 19 February 2020, https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/philadelphia/news/press-releases/fbi-seeks-information-on-disappearance-15-years-ago-today-of-danielle-imbo-and-richard-petrone-jr. Accessed 24 May 2022. That theyd be all right.. He wants to get this out there again in the hopes that someone, somewhere, will come forward with new information. Like Richards father, he still speeds up to get a closer view of any black truck. The Ottobres and Petrones occupy a rarer hell: Their loved ones vanished without a trace. Did he cruise the streets outside Richards frequent hangout until he located the vehicle? "Each day is the same. Thirty-four year old Danielle Imbo was going through a divorce and raising her eighteen month old son. Is it just me or is that alibi almost too perfect? Through her best friend, Christine, she reconnected with her high school crush, Christine's older brother, thirty-five year old, single father Richard Petrone. Like maybe it was even up to me to find my sister., The family received lots of calls from psychics. Accessed 24 May 2022. Their cellular phones have stayed turned off. The Kings Speech: What Kids Should Know About MLKs Dream, Your Guide to This Weeks Eagles-Giants Playoff Game. Its easy to see why the couple might have been a good match. Neither Imbo nor Petrone have accessed their bank accounts or used their credit cards or EZ-Pass cards since they went missing. Somewhere in the city of brotherly love there had been a dark conspiracy. Richard was in the wrong place at the wrong time, she said. In fact, some 20 minutes after we part, he will call me. I ask him: The affair with the girl he met on the plane to New Orleans? In Philly, they give it a while, to see how it shakes out. Joe kept pressing, into the winter of 2005, when he came over; they argued. Want to come have a drink? Richard asked. With no bodies to bury and no agreed-upon story to frame and help them understand their loss, they can only stare into empty space, sentenced to always wonder what happened. "Not anything.". But he told his parents how he felt. 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. And obviously, firing any kind of weapon would make far too much noise. He was mulling going to Abilienes later to see a band. After Danielle disappeared, police informed her family that Joe had his wifes cell-phone passcode, and that hed listened to her voicemail. A desperate search for answers. Philadelphia Daily News, 06 06 2005, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102529560/a-desperate-search-for-answers/. [2] The couple had been involved in what family and friends describe as an "on again, off again" romantic relationship. Many people have been suspicious of Danielle's soon-to-be ex-husband Joe Imbo but he appeared to have a solid alibi. The two clicked instantly. Your sister, she told him, is being held in the boxcar of a train in Philadelphia. So, maybe this case is cold because the police have been investigating murder-for-hire since 2008 and overlooking other explanations. That such a complicated future awaits an innocent 10-year-old boy seems particularly cruel. Police usually wait 48 hours to begin amissing person search, but the families started immediately. Neither of them have been heard from again. And so, on a night when the temperature was about 27 degrees and the crowd at 4th and South was probably a little thinner than usual, Danielle and Richard walked out of Abilenes toward Richards truck. I know this might sound strange, he says, but justice isnt the important thing to me. After the Petrones reached out to him, Roselli consulted with Richard Walter, a renowned criminal profiler and member of the Vidocq Society, a group of retired criminal investigators who gather in private in Philadelphia once a month to review cold cases. THE DEATH OF A SIBLING or child felled short of a natural lifespan is always tragic. Danielle, five-foot-five, trim and pretty, looked like the real thing. [6][7], Imbo, Petrone, and their vehicle were not seen again after the night of February 19, 2005. We' re aggressively pursuing a scenario that's based on leads and tips we've received.". 215-686-3013, Mount Laurel Township Police Department
From the inside out, with guilt and suspicion and shame and resentment. Neither the couple, nor the truck, were ever seen again spark 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. Friends, family search for missing couple. Allentown Morning Call, 09 04 2005, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102491020/friends-family-search-for-missing-coupl/. Leisek has vowed to continue searching, and well just have to eagerly await developments. Danielle and Richard both had children from previous relationships. Laurel, New Jersey, and was separated from her husband at the time of her disappearance. Were in so much pain, she says, that we could kill ourselves tomorrow. . Dani's ex-husband, Joe Imbo, was due to drop off their son at Dani's house at 5:00 pm, and it looked like she wasn't going to be there to meet him. It didnt appear to him that she had been home the previous night. In 2010, Robert Carey, the alleged leader of a Kensington-area prescription pill ring, killed himself in prison; rumors abounded for years that he had been the hit man. They hadnt spoken since she broke things off, blowing right through Valentines Day without even a text message. Danielles brother, John Ottobre, had a key to Danielles house. As reported by the Philadelphia Daily News: Danielle's estranged husband, Joe Imbo, says he believes he'll see her again. 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. They dont make the papers every day. He readily acknowledges that people looked at him like a monster in the wake of his wifes disappearance. 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. Unfortunately, as is so common with cold cases, the flow of information in Danielle and Richards disappearance has dwindled to a trickle. With ten years gone, the team had been whittled down, but refused to give up, the story said. A police marine unit was searching the river at Cumberland because it was a "known dumping point" for stolen vehicles and cars involved in insurance fraud, a police spokesman said. Just days before he vanished, Petrone told his father he had angry words with Joe Imbo over the phone. Details: Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone were last seen leaving a. When he asks about his mom, we tell him she is an angel in heaven, says John. Their case was episode 11 of season 8 of the TV show Disappeared with the episode named "A Bridge Too Far". 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. After host Andy Cohen mentioned a Deux Moi report that claimed a . He can see shadows out there, flickering across the empty field. With no arrests and no one officially declared a suspect, friends and family on both sides began to speculate. Joe Imbo has dealt with a lot of pressure in the past nine years. A detective embarks on a missing-persons case with every possible end in sight. What happened to Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone Jr.? 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. I wait till hes nearly finished, just moving bits of egg around with his fork, before I ask, flat out: You had nothing to do with the disappearance of your wife? Danielles family were worried, yes, but they were not expecting the worst. Today would be [Richard] Petrone's 36th birthday, according to a family website. The authorities have since come out and expressed suspicion of their own. 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. Well have to do the best we can with what we have, to answer one question. 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". 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. A grand jury convened at least 6 years ago, interviewing people close to Joe, but took no action. The FBI continued to investigate the case and has actively been looking for tips. He went in and found the place dark, still and undisturbed. 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.. In the summer of 2005, cracks first appeared in the relationship between the families, with the Petrone family particularly suspicious of Joe Imbo. [4][8], Since 2008, the FBI has been investigating the disappearance as a possible murder for hire, but has not named any suspects. Laurel Woman, 34, missing since Feb. 19. Camden Courier-Post, 26 02 2005, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102465632/. Accessed 24 May 2022. Other family members showed up, and then, just as expected, Joe Imbo showed up to return their son to Danielle. And its because of this., At this, he gestures toward the audio recorder sitting on the table between us the whole mystery surrounding the vanishing of his estranged wife. 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. He doesnt cry like the Petrones passionately and unstoppably. That is our setting, because thats where Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone disappeared. 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. Richard said hed drive Danielle home to Mount Laurel before returning to his place in South Philly. Ill admit, that part makes me a little nervous. 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. Accessed 24 May 2022. According to the Philadelphia Daily News, Richard Petrone Sr. considered the admission from the FBI a small victory. Just days before he vanished, Petrone told his father he had angry words with Joe Imbo over the phone. But Ottobre was already driving toward the city. Nothing. On the 15th anniversary, in 2020, the FBI again pleaded for information from the public: The FBI, Philadelphia Police Department, New Jersey State Police, Mount Laurel Police Department, and Burlington County Prosecutors Office are seeking the publics assistance as we continue to investigate the disappearance, 15 years ago today, of Danielle (Ottobre) Imbo and Richard Petrone, Jr. Richard and Danielle six months before they vanished. Danielle Imbo was 34 years old when . 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 have a conscience. And two hours later, the reunited couple looked happy together. It was good to hear them say that on the record, so there really can't be any confusion about what's happened.". 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. 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. At an early press conference after the couple went missing, Marge Petrone even tried to confront Imbo the short Italian mom stepping right into the lean, raven-haired mans face? It only causes more problems.. Danielle and Richard met with friends and watched a live band, then said their goodbyes at about 11:45 PM. He just cant find the trail leading from the crime back to its perpetrators. Also, he didnt need to incur a capital murder charge when drug dealing provided so much of what he dearly wanted: money. 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. It was not a willful disappearance. Cmon, he told me over the phone before I arrived, its been nine years. He reached his sister, Christine, and found her enjoying a ladies night out with their mother, Marge, and two longtime friends, Felice Ottobre and her daughter. Imbo, age 34, was a resident of Mt. 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. They carried pictures of Petrones black Dodge Dakota truck, knew its license plate YFH-2319 and the image of its NASCAR decal by heart. gold label distribution bud man. It could be a case of a willful disappearance on the part of Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone. If the person driving the truck was consumed with homicidal and suicidal intent, he or she could have easily driven the truck into the icy February waters of the Delaware River in a spot where we havent found it yet. The evening went fine, and friends watched the couple walk towards Richard's truck. A single dad, he moved from Jersey to North and then South Carolina, and also from car to condo sales. His hair was once coal-black, but hes 42 now, and big patches of gray sprout at the sides of his head.