PA PA - Richard Petrone, 35, & Danielle Imbo, 34, Philadelphia, 19 Feb 2005 - #3

[Kell1]

A free version of this article popped up in my Google news feed. I moved to PHL just a few months after RP and DI disappeared but did not know of their case until now...

After catching up on the WS posts on this case in T1 and T3, I thought I'd pipe in.

A. While a water accident traveling somewhere after leaving the South Street bar is the easiest explanation, we're faced with two counter facts:

1. AWP did not find RP's truck in bodies of water during their 2023 search, and

2. The FBI has publicly stated they suspect foul play. In fact, in the article (free if you Google the title), former FBI special agent Vito Roselli, the first lead investigator shares quite a bit, such as:

"Roselli says they also looked into the possibility of a hit by the mafia after they got “bits and pieces” of information alluding to that. “But nothing, obviously, that we could substantiate enough to go out and arrest somebody,” he says.

Roselli says he has a theory about what happened that night but declines to offer details, saying the “door is still open” on the investigation.

“Sometimes you get the piece of evidence or the phone record that will tie everything together. I just couldn’t put the bow on it,” he says. “Knowing is one thing, but proving it is a whole different issue.”"

B. So, IMO, a professional hit makes the most sense given what little we know. My guess though, is, if true, DI's estranged husband may have been only tangentially involved.

Given what @Kell1 shared from his talks with law enforcement he / she shared ^^^, I wonder if the opioid crime ring Kell1 cites here is the foundation for this crime, despite the lack of evidence.


RSBM

Perhaps in the throws of their contentious divorce proceedings DI threatened her estranged husband to report his alleged illicit activity to gain full custody of their toddler son. In turn, her estranged husband may have mentioned this to the wrong person, seeking their guidance.

IMO, it might have been that 'wrong person' who could have ordered a mafia style hit on DI. And unfortunately, RP's life may have been a collateral loss. IMO, the crime was so clean it must have been a professional hit. If true, sadly only a few people know the truth. And 20 years later those who knew could now be dead.

This is a very sad and tragic case that may never be solved. I feel for the families, especially DI's son and RP's daughter who are now about 22 and 34 respectively; she about the same age as her father when he vanished.

ET: tighten text

I can say with confidence , because a body of water was searched, that doesnt mean they are not there, taking nothing away from the groups who undertake these operations, they are fantastic, but they can and do miss things.

I will also say there's also several prevailing theories on this case, different agencies have different theories .

 

[ilovewings]

I can say with confidence , because a body of water was searched, that doesnt mean they are not there, taking nothing away from the groups who undertake these operations, they are fantastic, but they can and do miss things.

I will also say there's also several prevailing theories on this case, different agencies have different theories .

of course there are different theories-- all of those theories are plausible. We all have our opinions though as to what we believe is the likliest-- I fear we will never know for sure though ---as this case is likely to go unsolved. sadly.

 

[Danaya]

I can say with confidence , because a body of water was searched, that doesnt mean they are not there, taking nothing away from the groups who undertake these operations, they are fantastic, but they can and do miss things.

I will also say there's also several prevailing theories on this case, different agencies have different theories .

What are the prevailing theories?

 

[Kell1]

Remember this case, is unsolved because there is little evidence , if any really at all , to support any of these throeies.

Even within the investigating agencies, the FBI the Philadelphia PD, there have been different theories even among members of those same agencies .

Some feel because they and the vehicle have disappeared, that its most likely they are in a body of water somewhere , this has being seen more and more with some cases, of missing persons being solved some 30-40 years later now. The detectives, Ive spoken with from the Phila police dept, have felt that this was probably the case, as did 1 FBI agent.

Another theory and the most popular, is that it was a murder for hire, that was executed so flawlessly that there's no evidence of it , which is statistically so improbable (but not impossible) that some investigators severely doubt this was the case, but a few feel that it is the only explanation.

Another that was floating around was that they took off together, but there's even less evidence of that , as none of their bank accounts have been touched since that day , I wont elaborate on that any further, because most of what I've heard regarding that theory was hearsay, but you have to remember, sometimes, people do just up and leave their lives completely.

Then there was a unfounded theory once that someone I believe dropped an anonymous tip that one (not sure which) killed the other and the family was helping them hide somewhere perhaps Mexico? i think it was, but again ..that was another dead end

Yet NONE of these theories have yet to provide any real evidence .

 

[ilovewings]

Remember this case, is unsolved because there is little evidence , if any really at all , to support any of these throeies.

Even within the investigating agencies, the FBI the Philadelphia PD, there have been different theories even among members of those same agencies .

Some feel because they and the vehicle have disappeared, that its most likely they are in a body of water somewhere , this has being seen more and more with some cases, of missing persons being solved some 30-40 years later now. The detectives, Ive spoken with from the Phila police dept, have felt that this was probably the case, as did 1 FBI agent.

Another theory and the most popular, is that it was a murder for hire, that was executed so flawlessly that there's no evidence of it , which is statistically so improbable (but not impossible) that some investigators severely doubt this was the case, but a few feel that it is the only explanation.

Another that was floating around was that they took off together, but there's even less evidence of that , as none of their bank accounts have been touched since that day , I wont elaborate on that any further, because most of what I've heard regarding that theory was hearsay, but you have to remember, sometimes, people do just up and leave their lives completely.

Then there was a unfounded theory once that someone I believe dropped an anonymous tip that one (not sure which) killed the other and the family was helping them hide somewhere perhaps Mexico? i think it was, but again ..that was another dead end

Yet NONE of these theories have yet to provide any real evidence .

Thank you for your insights and inside info as well. I believe it was a murder for hire- I do not believe they took off together or killed each other- There are perfect murders and this may be one of them. The only way this case could be solved (but probably won't be), is for someone who knows something to talk- and that has not happened in 20 years!

 

[rob525]

Has it been mentioned whether both couples left the bar at the same time? Just looking at the street view of the area (although not sure what the area was like in 2005) there seems to be a lot of activity / establishments in the area. It would seem very difficult to pull off a planned murder particularly if both couples went to their cars at the same time.

 

[Sweetluv]

@rob525 ..sorry, what do you mean by BOTH couples? Are you asking if Danielle and Richard walked out together? The answer is yes, to his black Dodge Dakota.
It's a very busy populated area.The fact that it was a Saturday brings more people out and about. I would THINK someone would have seen or heard something unless they were taken at gunpoint in or near the truck and we're told to be silent.

 

[Sweetluv]

They did meet up with friends but I believe they stayed behind at the bar.

 

[bearfossils]

Exactly this, also, Philly is notorious for chop shop operations, salvage yards, and there was a car shredder in operation nearby at the time

While the idea that they accidentally drove into a body of water, hence hiding both their bodies and the vehicle, is a very legitimate theory of what happened to Petrone and Imbo, I think the notion that the car could have been chopped, crushed, or otherwise disposed of after the supposed crime took place is just as valid; especially in light of what LE, federal agents specifically, believe about this case.

They’ve stressed to us repeatedly that they’ve searched all known bodies of water that they would have encountered on their drive home, and never found anything. It’s true that vehicles can be overlooked in searches, despite the thoroughness of the individuals and organizations conducting the aforementioned searches, and maybe they are hidden in someway and this all was just accident. However…

The assertion made by the FBI that they have strong belief this could be a crime of violence committed by a person, or persons, close to the victims, either directly or indirectly, makes me lean harder toward the idea that chop shops and the like need to be investigated. I’d like to assume that LE has looked into this, but you never know — especially if you have auto shops or junk yards that mostly operate on the up and up, but aren’t beneath taking a car or parts from a less than legal source.

If this has already happened, ignore my statement, but I believe it would be valuable as well to have third parties who aren’t connected to LE or the families search the bodies of water along their presumed route home which professionals think would be the most likely places for a vehicle to end up if it were an accident.

 

[charminglane]

It would be interesting to know if anyone else has tried to access the money left in their accounts.

 

[bearfossils]

It would be interesting to know if anyone else has tried to access the money left in their accounts.

If speculation by LE is true, I think the crime committed against them is based more in personal and emotional reasoning. Money could be a secondary benefit to the killer, but I tend to believe this is a crime committed by someone with psychological motives as opposed to financial ones. Again, that’s only my opinion based on the facts of the data available to us as citizens.

 

[charminglane]

If speculation by LE is true, I think the crime committed against them is based more in personal and emotional reasoning. Money could be a secondary benefit to the killer, but I tend to believe this is a crime committed by someone with psychological motives as opposed to financial ones. Again, that’s only my opinion based on the facts of the data available to us as citizens.

I agree.
I'm thinking more as a greedy person, maybe knowing they would not be returning/needing the money.

 

[ilovewings]

It would be interesting to know if anyone else has tried to access the money left in their accounts.

I'm sure the police have flagged those accounts- if anyone attempted to access the money left there, the police would be on it.

 

[Danaya]

Remember this case, is unsolved because there is little evidence , if any really at all , to support any of these throeies.

Even within the investigating agencies, the FBI the Philadelphia PD, there have been different theories even among members of those same agencies .

Some feel because they and the vehicle have disappeared, that its most likely they are in a body of water somewhere , this has being seen more and more with some cases, of missing persons being solved some 30-40 years later now. The detectives, Ive spoken with from the Phila police dept, have felt that this was probably the case, as did 1 FBI agent.

Another theory and the most popular, is that it was a murder for hire, that was executed so flawlessly that there's no evidence of it , which is statistically so improbable (but not impossible) that some investigators severely doubt this was the case, but a few feel that it is the only explanation.

Another that was floating around was that they took off together, but there's even less evidence of that , as none of their bank accounts have been touched since that day , I wont elaborate on that any further, because most of what I've heard regarding that theory was hearsay, but you have to remember, sometimes, people do just up and leave their lives completely.

Then there was a unfounded theory once that someone I believe dropped an anonymous tip that one (not sure which) killed the other and the family was helping them hide somewhere perhaps Mexico? i think it was, but again ..that was another dead end

Yet NONE of these theories have yet to provide any real evidence .

Why would anybody hire a hit men to kill this couple, though? Do you know if they had any brushes with an organized crime group? Is it thought that they were both targets, or just one of them?

 

[rob525]

They did meet up with friends but I believe they stayed behind at the bar.

Yeah, I was meaning the other couple that they met at the bar. I did not see if all four folks headed to their cars at the same time.

 

[bearfossils]

Why would anybody hire a hit men to kill this couple, though? Do you know if they had any brushes with an organized crime group? Is it thought that they were both targets, or just one of them?

Don’t quote me on this, but I was under the impression that the “murder for hire” scenario stemmed from Imbo’s ex-husband. They were in the midst of a difficult divorce, he supposedly had threatened Petrone Jr. before, and had a bit of a shady past. Neither of the victims had any reported dealings with seriously nefarious or criminal elements outside of Imbo’s ex-husband, as far as I know. If sexual jealousy was the motive, either could realistically be the “target” for someone who was infuriated by the relationship itself.

 

[rob525]

Why would anybody hire a hit men to kill this couple, though? Do you know if they had any brushes with an organized crime group? Is it thought that they were both targets, or just one of them?

I have a similar question. Also, the idea that a hit man knew where they were that night is odd, unless he had been following whomever the target was. And, who was the target? Both? The only one with motive to kill both would be the ex-husband and that is a shaky premise as they had been broken up for a few weeks and why would he kill Danielle if he wanted her back? Also, would a professional hit man kill both if only one was the target? Why not wait until whomever the target happened to be was alone? Could an amateur hit man that was reckless enough to kill both have pulled off the crime so flawlessly? The only other thing that makes sense to me, aside from an accident, is a random crime that happened away from the bar i.e. a car- jacking that turned tragic in which case the car being in the water seems the most logical.

 

[Danaya]

I don't believe that most investigators think the couple drove into a body of water. Sorry, but the FBI website alone negates that. In fact, they have classified both Danielle and Richard under the subtitle of Kidnapped. FBI agent Vito Roselli, who was the first lead investigator on the case told CNN he "believes the missing couple were victims of foul play (bbm)." The FBI doesn't believe the couple is alive. They also believe there are people in their community who have knowledge of what happened.

Here's a really good Philly Mag article from 2014 that talks more about Danielle's personal relationships and the time leading up to her disappearance. They interview her family, as well as ex husband Joe Imbo. According to Philly Mag, Danielle's brother, John Ottobre, searched for the couple as soon as he noticed she was missing the day after.

Here's an excerpt (bbm):

Friends also swarmed into the picture. Volunteers fanned out a hundred miles in every direction. They carried pictures of Petrone’s black Dodge Dakota truck, knew its license plate — YFH-2319 — and the image of its NASCAR decal by heart. John paid $1,200 to get a Camden police officer to take him up in a helicopter to search. But in the end, they all found nothing — no truck off the road, no hulking shadow flickering beneath the water. A police officer tried to prepare John: “No one,” he said, “is ever going to find anything.”

“What do you mean?” John replied.
“It’s too clean,” the cop said.

Danielle was married to her husband, Joe, at the time of her disappearance. After leaving her and the baby in 2004 for another woman, by 2005 he decided that he wanted Danielle back. However, she was already dating a new man, Richard Petrone.

Joe kept pressing, into the winter of 2005, when he came over; they argued. Danielle later told family members that Joe had bounced the baby’s high chair off the wall, though Joe has said he doesn’t think that ever happened.

Afterward, John Ottobre changed Danielle’s locks — and held a sit-down with Joe. “The message was that he needed to be civil,” says Ottobre.

Joe called Richard at his parents’ bakery, where he worked, warning him to stay away from his wife.

After Danielle disappeared, police informed her family that Joe had his wife’s cell-phone passcode, and that he’d listened to her voicemail. But since their separation, Danielle Imbo had discovered a new confidence as a single mom. By early 2005, she’d told both Joe and Richard that she wasn’t interested in seeing either of them anymore. Then, a couple of weeks later, shortly after Valentine’s Day, she received that impromptu invitation from Richard: Come out for a drink?

According to FBI special agent Roselli:

A detective embarks on a missing-persons case with every possible end in sight. But the evidence, or lack of it, suggested a very particular kind of crime. “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. 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. “It’s possible a perpetrator could just get lucky,” Roselli says today, “but it’s more likely just what it looks like: Someone behind this knew what they were doing.”

Richard’s family initially believed that Danielle’s husband was involved:

Richard’s camp pointed to Danielle’s estranged husband, Joe Imbo, and their rough divorce. 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 man’s face? — until John Ottobre intervened. Joe Imbo has never been declared a suspect in the case.

According to Danielle’s brother, John, police told him that Danielle and Richard may have been incinerated, or left inside Petrone’s truck and run through a compactor.

VITO ROSELLI, THE FBI AGENT charged with ending all of this, doesn’t try to hide his feelings. “Every detective, every agent, has their case, the one that haunts them,” he says. “And this is mine.”

...he sees numerous possible culprits, motives and scenarios. He just can’t find the trail leading from the crime back to its perpetrators.

Joe Imbo sure had an interesting alibi:

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. Imbo took a lie-detector test, but Roselli won’t discuss the results. “I don’t have evidence to arrest Joe” is all he says. “I also have not ruled him out.”

The Philly Mag journalist, Steve Volk, interviews Joe Imbo:

“I am a bitter, bitter man,” he says. “I am. And it’s 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. “You know,” he says, “there’s only one person in the world that knows I didn’t do it, and it’s me.”

He readily acknowledges that people looked at him “like a monster” in the wake of his wife’s disappearance. He confirms that a grand jury convened at least five years ago, interviewing people close to him, but took no action. He says Roselli once told him, “I don’t think you did this. But I think you’re involved in some way.” Roselli, he adds, even called an old roommate of his, maybe a year ago, to try and arrange an interview. But the FBI agent never followed through.

He orders egg whites. I wait till he’s 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?

He looks me straight in the eye. “Absolutely not.”

...Listening to Danielle’s voicemail?
“Just being jealous,” he says.

We talk for close to two hours, enough time for the restaurant to get busy. And I catch myself not only trying to observe Imbo, but to look through him. His reminiscences of Danielle are tender, but his affect is flat. He doesn’t cry like the Petrones — passionately and unstoppably. 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. In fact, some 20 minutes after we part, he will call me...

But what will stay with me is something he said about his son. He has told little Joe that his mother disappeared. Sometimes, his son asks “random questions” about her. Anyone might wonder if, in time, those questions will grow pointed. Will little Joe one day ask him, straight out, as I did, if he was involved? Will he blame his father for the breakup, see it as the first step in the causal chain that led to his mother’s disappearance?

“It’s one of my biggest fears — that he’s gonna resent me,” he told me, drooping forward like a dying flower at the thought that he might one day find his son’s judgment placed on him.

 

[rob525]

I don't believe that most investigators think the couple drove into a body of water. Sorry, but the FBI website alone negates that. In fact, they have classified both Danielle and Richard under the subtitle of Kidnapped. FBI agent Vito Roselli, who was the first lead investigator on the case told CNN he "believes the missing couple were victims of foul play (bbm)." The FBI doesn't believe the couple is alive. They also believe there are people in their community who have knowledge of what happened.

Here's a really good Philly Mag article from 2014 that talks more about Danielle's personal relationships and the time leading up to her disappearance. They interview her family, as well as ex husband Joe Imbo. According to Philly Mag, Danielle's brother, John Ottobre, searched for the couple as soon as he noticed she was missing the day after.

Here's an excerpt (bbm):


Danielle was married to her husband, Joe, at the time of her disappearance. After leaving her and the baby in 2004 for another woman, by 2005 he decided that he wanted Danielle back. However, she was already dating a new man, Richard Petrone.



According to FBI special agent Roselli:



Richard’s family initially believed that Danielle’s husband was involved:



According to Danielle’s brother, John, police told him that Danielle and Richard may have been incinerated, or left inside Petrone’s truck and run through a compactor.



Joe Imbo sure had an interesting alibi:



The Philly Mag journalist, Steve Volk, interviews Joe Imbo:

I will just say that the numbers of vehicles found in waters previously searched is shocking. I also think that in 2005 folks didn't realize the numbers of people that went missing accidentally and ended up in water only to be found many years later was not fully comprehended. So, "foul play" seemed like the only logical conclusion in 2005. I will admit that if one were to want to construct an alibi that seemed ironclad, there are not many that are better than the one he has outside of video evidence (maybe there is that also). I just think the leap between being jealous (with no history of violence toward Danielle) and hiring out a double murder is huge. Finally, law enforcement and the FBI get a lot of things wrong particularly when there is virtually no evidence for any of the theories.

 

[Kell1]

Why would anybody hire a hit men to kill this couple, though? Do you know if they had any brushes with an organized crime group? Is it thought that they were both targets, or just one of them?

Theres was a theory floating aroud that Imbo's ex husband was involved in a large scale prescription drug ring that plagued certain Philadelphia neighborhoods for about a decade, the supposed "hit man" hung himself in a prison cell in Bucks county while awaiting trial for drug trafficking.