OH OH - Charles Rini, 41, Chagrin Valley, 30 Mar 1981

[Coffee56]

Demographics
Missing Age41 Years
Current Age79 Years
First Name Charles
Middle NameJ.
Last NameRini
Nickname/Alias--

SexMale
Race / EthnicityWhite / Caucasian
Height5' 8" (68 Inches)
Weight155 lbs
Circumstances
Date of Last ContactMarch 30, 1981
NamUs Case CreatedApril 23, 2014
Last Known Location Map
LocationChagrin Valley, Ohio
CountyCuyahoga County
Circumstances of DisappearanceCharles was last seen in Chagrin, OH on 03/30/1981.
Physical Description
Hair ColorBrown
Head Hair Description--
Body Hair Description--
Facial Hair Description--
Left Eye ColorBlue
Right Eye ColorBlue
Eye Description--
Distinctive Physical Features
Item
Description
Scar/mark
4" scar on left side of neck


Clothing and Accessories
Item
Description
Clothing
Jeans; Brown sports shirt; Leather jacket

Missing Person Case

 

[Betty P]

Demographics
Missing Age41 Years
Current Age79 Years
First Name Charles
Middle NameJ.
Last NameRini
Nickname/Alias--

SexMale
Race / EthnicityWhite / Caucasian
Height5' 8" (68 Inches)
Weight155 lbs
Circumstances
Date of Last ContactMarch 30, 1981
NamUs Case CreatedApril 23, 2014
Last Known Location Map
LocationChagrin Valley, Ohio
CountyCuyahoga County
Circumstances of DisappearanceCharles was last seen in Chagrin, OH on 03/30/1981.
Physical Description
Hair ColorBrown
Head Hair Description--
Body Hair Description--
Facial Hair Description--
Left Eye ColorBlue
Right Eye ColorBlue
Eye Description--
Distinctive Physical Features
Item
Description
Scar/mark
4" scar on left side of neck


Clothing and Accessories
Item
Description
Clothing
Jeans; Brown sports shirt; Leather jacket

Missing Person Case

The Rini family is a large, extended family that's pretty well known in the greater Cleveland area.

I wonder if the missing Charles Rini lived in Chagrin Falls and disappeared, with his family assuming he just took off? Maybe by 2014, they figured he wasn't coming back or had met with foul play.

ETA: Ok, I just found something about Charles Rini going missing in this Akron Beacon Journal article at Newspapers.com

5 Jul 1981, Page 8 - The Akron Beacon Journal at Newspapers.com

It has to do with the case of a mob figure named Joseph Gallo of Beachwood, OH (suburb north of Chagrin Falls). Gallo was involved in a lot of drug trafficking, gambling, etc. and was arrested by federal agents. It was a big sting that also took down several other mobsters and took months of sorting through illegal activities and stashes of money, furs, jewels, drugs, etc.

In one of the subsequent raids, a bunch of jewels were confiscated. Among these were about $1 million dollars in gems owned by Gallo. Gallo, who was in jail, tried to reclaim these jewels from the county prosecutor. He had Charles Rini present ownership papers to the Summit County sheriff. However, Summit County officials said the papers weren't valid and Charles Rini subsequently disappeared.

"Moreland Hills police say his (Rini's) 1981 Oldsmobile was found parked near Gallo's office on April 30, 1981."

Akron Beacon Journal 05 July 1981

5 Jul 1981, Page 8 - The Akron Beacon Journal at Newspapers.com

Rini's dental records were turned over to investigators.

Moreland Hills is adjacent to Chagrin Falls and is in what is called the Chagrin Valley area.

Joseph Gallo was also considered a suspect in the bombing of notorious Cleveland mobster Danny Greene's trailer, in an attempt to kill him. Crazy times back then.

Danny Greene - Wikipedia

It sounds like the federal agents think Charles Rini was killed by some associates and his body disposed of either in the Chagrin Valley area (lots of woods and wildlife, much of it public parkland) or possibly on property owned by some of the other associated mobsters in rural NE Ohio.

Charles Rini's boss/associate Joseph Gallo, who was the target of the large federal sting, died in prison in 2013. I suppose that's why they decided to finally list Charles Rini as a missing person in 2014.

Perhaps Joseph Gallo made a deathbed confession to having Charles Rini killed and his body dumped somewhere in the Chagrin Valley?

Cleveland mob captain Joseph Gallo dies in federal prison

Joseph C. Gallo

It's also possible, though less likely, he could have just hopped a cab to the airport and disappeared.

Wonder if we can find a photo of him?

 

[MadMcGoo]

I found a photo of a CR in the 1957 Orange High School (Pepper Pike OH) yearbook but I can’t tell if it’s our CR. I want to say it is, he has dark hair and light eyes. Hopefully someone else will take a look!

 

[Betty P]

I found a photo of a CR in the 1957 Orange High School (Pepper Pike OH) yearbook but I can’t tell if it’s our CR. I want to say it is, he has dark hair and light eyes. Hopefully someone else will take a look!

I saw those on Ancestry.com. I'm not sure, its possible. The problem is there are a few guys around that same age named Charles Rini living in the area.

Here's a photo I found of Joseph Gallo (on left) in 1980 with an "associate". Probably an FBI surveillance photo. It might be Charles.

Cleveland Mob - Ohio Mafia History - Cleveland Crib Community & Travel Guide

Cleveland and its surrounding areas have quite a long and colorful history when it comes to Mafia and Organized Crime. There are many facets to the "Cleveland

www.clevelandcrib.org

It does resemble another photo on Ancestry of someone with that name, but it's just conjecture. We don't know who this person is.

United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Joseph C. Gallo; Frederick Graewe; Hartmut Graewe, Kevinjoseph Mctaggart; Angelo A. Lonardo, Defendants-appellants, 763 F.2d 1504 (6th Cir. 1985)

United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Joseph C. Gallo; Frederick Graewe; Hartmut Graewe, Kevinjoseph Mctaggart; Angelo A. Lonardo, Defendants-appellants, 763 F.2d 1504 (6th Cir. 1985) case opinion from the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

law.justia.com

Article about the woman prosecutor who took down a lot of these criminals. She's a judge now, or used to be. She recruited me to serve in an ad hoc group on crimes against women, many many years ago. Did not know she was involved in this.

Bomb City U.S.A.: How a young female prosecutor took down a Cleveland mafia kingpin

That takedown would lead to the first sitting mafia boss to become a government witness, and that confession would cause a ripple effect on organized crime.

www.wkyc.com

 

[Betty P]

There's a LOT of information at that Justia link above about Gallo, Graewe, Zagaria and other mob guys back in the late 70's and early 80's. They were killing off quite a few people, mostly competitors. Some gambling was also involved.

I don't see Rini's name mentioned, only an "associate" of Gallo's. I wonder if Rini was an informant back then? There's some reporting in the document of how Gallo got a lot of diamonds in exchange for cash for another drug dealer who was ripped off in FL. I wonder if this is the jewels referred to in the news article about Rini trying to recover them from Summit County LE after Gallo was arrested?

Not mentioning Rini, but the rest of these guys were really violent. Zagaria, one of the west side drug kingpins killed a competitor, then bricked his body up in the wall of the building where Zagaria owned a tropical fish store. One dumping ground for Graewe that was mentioned was a quarry somewhere.

Having problems with the timeline regarding Gallo's arrest and Rini's disappearance

From the Justia link above

In February 1981, Zagaria met with Basile, who indicated he would tell Lonardo what good work Zagaria had been doing; "you should become a member, and Angelo would be proud." Lonardo later congratulated Zagaria personally for his services; he told Zagaria, "I heard a lot of good things about you. You are doing a good job, and be careful."18 Later that spring, Gallo again talked with Zagaria about joining the Mafia. If Gallo and Sinito were to be "bosses", when Zagaria joined, he would be an "underboss." Zagaria later told Hans about this conversation; Hans replied that Zagaria should join the group to learn "where everything is coming from."

On May 12, 1981, law enforcement authorities conducted warrant-authorized searches of Zagaria's premises and those of several of his associates. Narcotics, drug paraphernalia, and firearms were discovered at several of the locations, including the residences of Zagaria and the Graewes. Subsequently, Zagaria transferred the day-to-day responsibility for running the drug business to Donn Newman. In August of 1981, Zagaria attended a party for Basile, at which Lonardo was present. Lonardo asked Zagaria how McTaggart was doing. In addition, he informed Zagaria to be careful, and not to wear so much jewelry in public. Sinito later told Zagaria that Lonardo had complained about his wearing too much jewelry. In late 1981, during the course of the FBI investigation of the defendants, Hans told one of his associates about his plan to kill two investigating FBI agents. The FBI was also informed that Zagaria was threatening the agents' lives. FBI agents subsequently interviewed Lonardo concerning those reported threats, and Lonardo told them "we wouldn't want that kind of headache."

Akron Beacon Journal article says Gallo's home was raided Dec 30, 1980

Rini allegedly disappeared three months later on March 30, 1981 (according to the Akron Beacon Journal, he disappeared April 30, 1981)

The quote above states that, later in the spring of 1981, Gallo talked about Zagaria becoming a member of the Mafia. What was Gallo doing talking to Zagaria about becoming a member of the Mafia if Gallo was in jail?

Zagaria was raided in May 12, 1981

 

[Betty P]

Here's an article about another Mob player who was lower ranking at that time : Ronnie Carrabia

https://clevelandmagazine.com/in-the-cle/news/articles/the-last-of-the-northeast-ohio-gangste

It's alleged he was behind the killing of Danny Greene - one of the late 70's era Irish Mafia leaders who competed with Joe Gallo. Gallo was also suspected of being behind Greene's murder.

Carabbia was a notorious organized crime figure, best known as one of the men who'd killed Danny Greene during Cleveland's last big mob war in the late 1970s. Carabbia, already well-known to investigators for his role in illegal gambling in the Mahoning Valley, was commissioned with Ray Ferritto, a gangster from Erie, Pa., by way of Los Angeles, to kill the Irish-American gangster.
It's worth noting that we have a role in this story, too. Ferritto was given a copy of Cleveland Magazine to help him identify his target. They parked a car containing a bomb next to Greene's Lincoln as he visited a Lyndhurst dentist, and Carabbia detonated the bomb by remote control.

This is where Danny Greene was killed with the car bomb

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

I wish I could find the address for Gallo's office, where Charles Rini went missing. Obviously, he wasn't killed by a bomb. From the description of his disappearance, it almost sounds like he met someone at the office or in the parking lot and left with them. There were no reports of gunshots or screeching tires on cars driving away.

 

[Betty P]

More links:

Cleveland mob captain Joseph Gallo dies in federal prison

Thirty years ago, the city's mob wars played out daily on the front page, as bombings, indictments and slayings became routine. Today, the mob's story is written in the obituaries of its soldiers who ordered the executions and demanded payments for shipments of drugs

www.cleveland.com

Address of Joseph Gallo's office, where Charles Rini's car was found abandoned

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Per the same Akron Beacon Journal article from July 5, 1981

The Akron Beacon Journal 05 Jul 1981, page Page 8 - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from The Akron Beacon Journal dated 05 Jul 1981, page Page 8.

www.newspapers.com

That's actually a busy area. It's located just a couple of miles from the office building where Danny Greene was killed with a car bomb.

 

[JaneGaGa]

This doe was found only 9 miles from where he was last seen:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

 

[JaneGaGa]

If the Akron beacon missing date is accurate this timing makes sense too.

 

[Pennysmom2]

Missing Person -

www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov

May 2, 2014

From prom back to perp in one phone call: Moreland Hills police blotter

Police were also recently contacted by a "cold case" forensics crime lab for information regarding the suspicious 1981 disappearance of a former resident.

www.cleveland.com

<<Cold case, Strawberry Lane: Police received a phone call on April 24 from the University of North Texas "cold case" forensics lab seeking information about the suspicious 1981 disappearance of resident Charles Rini. Interim Police Chief Dale Canter said the request is a fairly routine one, and it may be the village's only unsolved missing person case, with an extensive file, along with dental and other x-rays, but no DNA samples. He added that the same information has already been shared with the FBI. At the time, Rini's car was found abandoned in a lot in Beachwood where he was going for a meeting, and another man's car was left at the airport, but Canter said the two were never found>>

 

[Betty P]

Missing Person -

www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov

May 2, 2014

From prom back to perp in one phone call: Moreland Hills police blotter

Police were also recently contacted by a "cold case" forensics crime lab for information regarding the suspicious 1981 disappearance of a former resident.

www.cleveland.com

<<Cold case, Strawberry Lane: Police received a phone call on April 24 from the University of North Texas "cold case" forensics lab seeking information about the suspicious 1981 disappearance of resident Charles Rini. Interim Police Chief Dale Canter said the request is a fairly routine one, and it may be the village's only unsolved missing person case, with an extensive file, along with dental and other x-rays, but no DNA samples. He added that the same information has already been shared with the FBI. At the time, Rini's car was found abandoned in a lot in Beachwood where he was going for a meeting, and another man's car was left at the airport, but Canter said the two were never found>>

I wonder if they are trying to help someone identify an unknown deceased person?