1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:10,840 Speaker 1: Paper Ghosts is a production of I Heart Radio. My 2 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: search for information in the missing girls cases, along with 3 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:18,760 Speaker 1: the now confirmed murder of Susan LaRosa, is producing more 4 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:23,279 Speaker 1: results than it ever has in previous years. All of 5 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:25,920 Speaker 1: the cases have become like the five points of a star. 6 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: No matter how I draw it, each point directs me 7 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: right back to one of the others, And no matter 8 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: how much I try to rule him out, each point 9 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:41,519 Speaker 1: draws a dotted line back to Bob LaRosa. The station 10 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: wagon he drove that suddenly disappeared, the khaki shirt and 11 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:49,839 Speaker 1: pants uniform he always wore, his affinity for young girls, 12 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: his abusive marriage. I need to shift my focus on him, 13 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: to learn more about who he was in the life 14 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: he lived. I can't say for certain he's directly involved 15 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: in all the missing cases, but I get a sense 16 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: there are far more nefarious secrets buried deep within his 17 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: family that will help me find answers. Bob was one 18 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: of ten children in the LaRosa household. His parents, Nunzio Senor, 19 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: the father, and Memy the mother, were said to be 20 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: unable to control or take care of such a large family. 21 00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:35,680 Speaker 1: According to relatives, the couple lived in squalor and did 22 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 1: not watch their children because of this. It was the 23 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: late nineteen sixties when the States stepped in and separated 24 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:46,679 Speaker 1: all ten LaRosa kids, two of them staying locally with 25 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: a foster family and eight of them sent to orphanages 26 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: and foster care further away. At some point, Mammy LaRosa 27 00:01:55,160 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: got the children back. The father, Nunzio Sr. Died in December. 28 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 1: The LaRosa family inhabited an entire plot of land which 29 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: held their main house and a camping trailer set up 30 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:15,519 Speaker 1: in the backyard. It was on Pine Street, just across 31 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: the street from Crystal Lake, right on the border of 32 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: the property belonging to the Wendells, the couple you heard 33 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:24,920 Speaker 1: back in episode one who are focused on digging up 34 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:30,919 Speaker 1: their water wells. In ninety two, all the LaRosa kids, 35 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: mostly grown at this point, went their separate ways after 36 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: the entire family moved out of their Crystal Lake home. 37 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: The reason for their sudden departure I am almost certain 38 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: at this point it has something to do with what 39 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: happened the previous year. The Bob Larosa's sister previously on 40 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: Paper Ghosts. She was like, I always thought it was 41 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:04,400 Speaker 1: an accident, and he just hit her. He hit her hard, 42 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: and my mom just felt like totally just fell And 43 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: I kept mommy, Mommy, wake up, Mommy, wake up, Mommy, 44 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:14,240 Speaker 1: wake up. And my mom wasn't wasn't moving, you know, 45 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: like there was no twitching there was. My mom just 46 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: didn't move. My dad was bad with me. My dad 47 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: didn't stop touching because twelve, I know my dad Like 48 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:28,239 Speaker 1: young girls, what did you see when you went there 49 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: the first time after she went missing? Describe what your 50 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: blood on the floor, on the wall, on the door, 51 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: down the stairs, big pool of it. She gave me 52 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: a petty knife to clean it up. My name is 53 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: and William Phelps. This is paper Ghosts, known to everyone 54 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: as Rainy. Irene LaRosa was the eighth LaRosa child to 55 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: be born. She had long brown hair feathered in wavy 56 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: She was just over five ft tall pounds, seemingly happy 57 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:13,119 Speaker 1: and content. Ellington being a small town, it's no surprise 58 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 1: to learn that and Prentice, one of Susan Lerosa's sisters, 59 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,040 Speaker 1: who you heard in the last episode, was best friends 60 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: with Bob Lerosa's sister Irene. While growing up, Helena and 61 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:29,240 Speaker 1: I were best but we well, we loved the bus 62 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: to schools and that was like a half our ride 63 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: going to school and coming back, you know, we went. 64 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:39,719 Speaker 1: They had to travel quite away. And she loves singing 65 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: and I love singing, and leaves to sing on the back. 66 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,680 Speaker 1: Just seventeen years old, Irene sang at the Crystal Lake 67 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,839 Speaker 1: Ballroom and around the Tritown area at local country and 68 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: western bars. Everyone said she was very talented, smart as 69 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: well with a little naivety, I would guess routed in rage. 70 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: We used to talk about how um, as soon as 71 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: she was ahead of me in school and she was 72 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 1: going to as soon as graduation hit, she was going 73 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: to go down to California and get a job and 74 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 1: get everything all set up. So as soon as I graduated, 75 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: I from joining us, and what what was her reason 76 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: for doing this? To get away from all of the 77 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 1: six Because we just couldn't spend it. The two of 78 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: us used to go crazy with everything that was going on, 79 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: and nothing ever seemed to get better, you know, you would, 80 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: We just couldn't get out of what was happening because 81 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: it was happening in our home. Um, she told me 82 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:54,480 Speaker 1: how she had been raped, and I told her all 83 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: I had been, and so we kind of really connected. 84 00:05:58,400 --> 00:05:59,800 Speaker 1: Let me stop you from minute she told you she 85 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: was raped by whom by her brother, her brother um Nathan, 86 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:11,120 Speaker 1: Irene and Bob Lerossa's other brother, Nathan sometimes went by 87 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: Nunzio or Jr. She was tired of it and I 88 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: were tired of it, and she was going to graduate 89 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: like that coming year when Irene suddenly stopped showing up 90 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 1: and kept asking one of the Larossa brothers where she 91 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:29,360 Speaker 1: was after a week of not seeing her, and grew 92 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: terribly concerned. I was told by her brother that she 93 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:42,839 Speaker 1: was gone, that she had run away, and in my mind, 94 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: I just said, because I'll go like thirteen, you know, 95 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:49,479 Speaker 1: and I'm I'm going. Okay, Well, she had enough, she 96 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 1: couldn't wait. She went down, and she's going to send 97 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:54,800 Speaker 1: for me. And I just kept waiting for her to 98 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:58,599 Speaker 1: send for me that it never happened, and began asking 99 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:00,840 Speaker 1: any one of the many laro U the siblings if 100 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: they knew where Irene went or if they had heard 101 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:07,119 Speaker 1: anything from her. One of Irene's sisters would only say, 102 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: I miss her, nothing more. It was as if she 103 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: wanted to say something else but was afraid to, and 104 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: then asked Irene's mother memory, and I tried talking to 105 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: her about her, and she just said, that's she round, 106 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 1: Why that's her? Nobody knows anything. So let's get this straight. 107 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:34,440 Speaker 1: A seventeen year old child runs away, is missing, or 108 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: whatever the case may be, and her mother does nothing, 109 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:44,120 Speaker 1: files no police report, does not contact the newspapers, does 110 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:48,120 Speaker 1: not query around town, beg anyone and everyone she can 111 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: for help. And the mom wasn't worried about going to 112 00:07:51,280 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: look for her. No oblar Rosa, I've been told by 113 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: some was the one who looked out for the others 114 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 1: in the family. I have a difficult time believing this. 115 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: Did Bob ever say anything about Rainey to you? No, 116 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: she was never brought up. Ever. It's like she dropped 117 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:22,239 Speaker 1: off the face of the earth. And if you tried 118 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: to say anything to them about her, they didn't like that. 119 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:32,160 Speaker 1: Here's the thing I know siblings of missing people. I 120 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 1: have interviewed family members of the missing all over this country. 121 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:40,599 Speaker 1: I mean, look at Janice Pockets, Sister Lisa Whites, Susan Lerosis, 122 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,680 Speaker 1: all of whom you've heard in previous episodes. I have 123 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: never ever met one sibling of a missing person who 124 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: was not consumed with the idea of doing anything here 125 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:57,880 Speaker 1: she could define that person. There seemed to be things 126 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 1: here within Irene's disappearance that are being kept hidden, buried, 127 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:07,199 Speaker 1: secrets beyond the incestuous behavior I need to uncover. So 128 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 1: I dig deeper, start asking my law enforcement in LaRosa 129 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: family contacts questions, and I learned that Irene l Rosa's 130 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 1: disappearance was reported by a family member in two thousand sixteen, 131 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:27,360 Speaker 1: forty five years after she was last heard from her scene. 132 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 1: Turns out Irene LaRosa is the missing girl the state 133 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:35,200 Speaker 1: police are searching for on the Window property across the 134 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:41,679 Speaker 1: street from Crystal Lake. Recently, at the Window's property, the 135 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:43,880 Speaker 1: police were acting on a tip that a body was 136 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: buried in the area. I'm still trying to find out 137 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:52,800 Speaker 1: more about that tip, most importantly who left it. For now, however, 138 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:56,960 Speaker 1: I found the person who filed Irene's missing person report 139 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:06,960 Speaker 1: all these years later. Good Morning. Tina LaRosa is Irene 140 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: Renie Larrosa's niece, and in two thousand sixteen, it was 141 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 1: Tina who filed the missing person report on her aunt. 142 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:16,880 Speaker 1: As luck would have it, I was connected to Tina 143 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 1: through Mary angle Breck, the sister of Jane's Pocket who 144 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: you heard in episode one. The two initially met online 145 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: and sparked up a friendship after bonding through similar tragedies. 146 00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 1: Since filing the report, Tina has been obsessed with pushing 147 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:35,360 Speaker 1: police to look at Irene l Rosa's case, but up 148 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:39,000 Speaker 1: until now she's not heard much from them. Tina is 149 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:43,480 Speaker 1: a former hospice worker in her late forties living in Massachusetts. 150 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:46,959 Speaker 1: She has a presence about her, a determination. She's been 151 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:51,439 Speaker 1: on a crusade, very vocal and critical of state police's 152 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 1: handling of her aunt's case, all of which she airs 153 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:57,600 Speaker 1: on Facebook. I have to be careful with Tina, and 154 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:00,240 Speaker 1: I've discussed my concerns with her because she is to 155 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:05,440 Speaker 1: publish certain sensitive information on social media. Part of it 156 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:08,320 Speaker 1: is the pain of loss, part of it the idea 157 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:13,200 Speaker 1: of not knowing. I get it. Not everyone appreciates Tina's 158 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 1: way of doing things, but I'm interested in information, not optics. 159 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:22,880 Speaker 1: Tina and I met on a human July day across 160 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 1: the street from Crystal Lake, in the area where the 161 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:28,680 Speaker 1: LaRosa family lived. Pine Tree. This is the only thing 162 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 1: that still exists from their house is that big pine 163 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:34,280 Speaker 1: tree right there. The house she's talking about, is the 164 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: former LaRosa property is still there from like the bricks 165 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:42,080 Speaker 1: from where the foundation sat, from the old house right 166 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:44,600 Speaker 1: here and all these bushes over here is where Nathan's 167 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 1: camper would have sat, and it would have sat against 168 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 1: the road, so the door would have been facing towards 169 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 1: the wood. I have not been able to find any 170 00:11:54,840 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 1: law enforcement paper trail connected to Irene Larosa's disappearance. I've 171 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,400 Speaker 1: asked all my sources. Nobody seems to know much about 172 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 1: the case. When you told the police about this because 173 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,079 Speaker 1: you filed a miscent person was born, And what did 174 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:14,800 Speaker 1: they tell you when you filed with They didn't tell 175 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:18,559 Speaker 1: me much. They weren't very helpful, Um were they interested? 176 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: In fourteen years after Irene Laros had disappeared, the Hartford 177 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 1: Current wrote about it. That article reported that Irene left 178 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:36,560 Speaker 1: home when she was fifteen, returning for short periods of 179 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 1: time and then leaving again, and that she was seeing 180 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,560 Speaker 1: a man named Bob who was a teacher and lived 181 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 1: in a nearby town. He was nine years her senior. 182 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:51,280 Speaker 1: And then this friends told one of her sisters that 183 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: Irene had a son. Her sister, however, was unable to 184 00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:00,040 Speaker 1: confirm it. A source who married into the LaRosa A 185 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,880 Speaker 1: family has told me. After Irene went missing, there was 186 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:07,680 Speaker 1: talk that she was living ninety minutes south in Fairfield County, 187 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:11,839 Speaker 1: Connecticut and had a son. I have trouble believing this. 188 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:16,200 Speaker 1: I had my private investigator look into it. He found nothing. 189 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:22,040 Speaker 1: Law enforcement could not verify the information. So you have 190 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,559 Speaker 1: the and I'm going to say this kind of rudely, 191 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,920 Speaker 1: the more intelligent ones saying oh, she's missing, and then 192 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 1: you have kind of grow the ones over here that 193 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 1: are saying she's been We've seen her, We've heard from her. 194 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:40,800 Speaker 1: Irene could still be alive. She was a child, just 195 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 1: seventeen and nineteen seventy one. If all I've heard about 196 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:48,000 Speaker 1: her being abused by her brother Nathan is true, there 197 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:51,560 Speaker 1: was just cause and very good reason for her to 198 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:54,320 Speaker 1: leave on her own. The article that I had the 199 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:56,840 Speaker 1: other day was about my aunt Vickie on how she 200 00:13:56,960 --> 00:13:59,960 Speaker 1: disappeared at the age of seventeen and my memy certain 201 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,160 Speaker 1: us took the search dogs out after her went to court. 202 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:05,440 Speaker 1: You know what I mean. She was seventeen years old 203 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 1: and my memo went Helen furious on her. It was 204 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:14,160 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty six, and one of Irene's older sisters, Vicky, 205 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:19,120 Speaker 1: also went missing. Their mother Memo sent out the troops 206 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:22,920 Speaker 1: when Vicky vanished, reaching out to reporters and not stopping 207 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:27,280 Speaker 1: until Vicky was found not long after. Apparently she tried 208 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 1: to skip town because of some trouble she'd gotten into. 209 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 1: But when Ny a couple of years later, goes nothing, 210 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 1: According to Tina, there were no reporters, no search parties, 211 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:44,800 Speaker 1: no one concerned about Irene's disappearance. It was as if 212 00:14:44,840 --> 00:15:01,520 Speaker 1: Irene never existed in the first place. Irene l Rosa's brother, 213 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,560 Speaker 1: Ruddy Larossa, was there in the thick of it all 214 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:09,080 Speaker 1: when Irene went missing in nineteen seventy one. Rudy is direct, 215 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 1: sharp wooded, and strikes me as a guy who does 216 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: not like to speculate or bullshit. It either is or 217 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 1: it isn't. I immediately relate to Rudy in this regard. 218 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:23,720 Speaker 1: In recent years, when his daughter Tina began her own 219 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: investigation into her aunt's disappearance, Rudy stepped up and, however 220 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:34,000 Speaker 1: begrudgingly decided to answer Tina's tough questions about the Larrossa 221 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 1: family history, the good, the bad, and very ugly Rudy. 222 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 1: Thank you Rudy for coming nice to meet man. After 223 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:52,760 Speaker 1: several requests, Rudy finally agreed to meet with me over 224 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 1: the summer. As I take on a map of Crystal Lake, 225 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: I notice he looks an awful lot like his brother's 226 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: Bob and Nathan, just a bit older and greyer, with 227 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:07,600 Speaker 1: less hair. He has that pudgy, familiar LaRosa face. I says, 228 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:10,720 Speaker 1: this is about where our house was. The well was 229 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 1: over here because we used to build a fort. We 230 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:14,760 Speaker 1: burnt it down a couple of three times or so. 231 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 1: There are kids. We put a fire in here, too 232 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:20,560 Speaker 1: close to the wall. I've heard from a few sources 233 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 1: there was a fort, or in one case, a bunker. 234 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:29,360 Speaker 1: Brothers Bob and Nathan LaRosa built something underground and hidden, 235 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:34,160 Speaker 1: very private, very isolated, accessible by only those who knew 236 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:37,000 Speaker 1: it was there. Now, working in true crime, when we 237 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 1: hear the word bunker, as you might be thinking right now, 238 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: we assumed dark evil activity, usually involving sick, sadistic sexual 239 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: crimes committed against women. So I listened as Rudy explains 240 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:54,400 Speaker 1: exactly where the bunker was and begin to understand a 241 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: few things I have been vague on up to this 242 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:02,000 Speaker 1: point just to submit is there and there's a cutout 243 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: in the cement where they're because used to open the 244 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: door and step in or whatever, because we used to 245 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 1: go in that way and crawl to the to the 246 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: back corner hatch on the floor that we built, and 247 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:16,879 Speaker 1: that's how we got into the fort, the only way in, 248 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 1: the only way out. Rudy was closest to Bob and Irene. 249 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:26,240 Speaker 1: And Irene, he tells me, was their mother, Memy's slave child. 250 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:30,560 Speaker 1: My mother had her thumb on her she couldn't move, 251 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:32,919 Speaker 1: and my mother's do this, do that? Do this? Do that? 252 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:37,560 Speaker 1: As we chat about Memo and Irene, I begin to 253 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:42,680 Speaker 1: understand something important in Irene's case. The Rosa home sat 254 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:45,359 Speaker 1: on a rise, a big bay window in the small 255 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:49,439 Speaker 1: dining area overlooking Crystal Lake. In front of that window 256 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:53,040 Speaker 1: was a table and chair where an unkempt and severely 257 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:58,640 Speaker 1: obese Memy would sit and direct the household. According to Rudy, 258 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:01,960 Speaker 1: mem A squawked and screamed at the children and rarely 259 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 1: left that chair. She seemed to have an infinity to 260 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 1: Nathan in his needs. Think of the Cinderella story minus 261 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:15,000 Speaker 1: the step sisters, but with all the wickedness attached memory 262 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 1: had chosen Irene as her Cinderella for some reason. I 263 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: get the impression Mammy despised her, even hated her. So 264 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:33,040 Speaker 1: in seventy one, I mean, does Renie go walk out 265 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:36,320 Speaker 1: the door and not come back or what happens? She 266 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:39,160 Speaker 1: always said when she turned eighteen she was going to leave. 267 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: When she said that was it's kind of like I'm 268 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:43,880 Speaker 1: chasing my dreamer. I'm getting the funk out of here. 269 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,719 Speaker 1: Um probably getting the funk out of here. We all 270 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:49,479 Speaker 1: did well, we all got all enough to get out. 271 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:52,159 Speaker 1: My mother signed me in the military to get me 272 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 1: into the Marine Corps. She used my files social security number. 273 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:58,359 Speaker 1: I'm my D two fourteen. His number is here crossed 274 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:03,760 Speaker 1: off physically in mind put on top of it. So 275 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 1: your mom was she was, They didn't fatten, used whatever 276 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:11,440 Speaker 1: she could from people. That's the way she was. Did 277 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:19,800 Speaker 1: I recall mean top fifteen year old kid? Yeah? What 278 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:22,879 Speaker 1: about TORNI Yeah, she had her do it everything she was, 279 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:28,639 Speaker 1: you know, let her back and called basically, what did 280 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: you what did you think at the time about ny 281 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:35,880 Speaker 1: where she just took off. She did what she said 282 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:38,680 Speaker 1: she was going to do. Eighteen she's screw you think 283 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:41,840 Speaker 1: she's still alive. I'm open. I had no one here. 284 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 1: I have to remind myself as I get into this 285 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:49,640 Speaker 1: with Rudy that all of the Luosa kids were at 286 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:54,480 Speaker 1: one time sent away into foster care and orphanages. We 287 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 1: used lived in the same orphanage until I was like 288 00:19:56,600 --> 00:20:00,640 Speaker 1: eleven years old or just before. And how come because 289 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:04,200 Speaker 1: your parents could home? You don't know. To my knowledge, 290 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,280 Speaker 1: when I got out of the hospital, I went to 291 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,159 Speaker 1: my first foster home straight out of the host's what 292 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 1: I'm told. I didn't know that back down and stuff. 293 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,480 Speaker 1: I got a lot of day memories and stuff. But 294 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:19,680 Speaker 1: I went from foster home foster home, I think it 295 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:22,920 Speaker 1: was three different ones until I ended up in new orphanage. 296 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:26,640 Speaker 1: And I only remember the united stairs with my two 297 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:29,720 Speaker 1: sisters and we were all right. I'm told that they 298 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:33,639 Speaker 1: were not put into foster care or orphanages, that the 299 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 1: state actually took them out of the home because Memy 300 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:39,239 Speaker 1: could not care for them. How did you end up 301 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 1: back at home? I don't know. Wow, I don't know 302 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 1: there was child abuse going on in the orphan use 303 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:49,159 Speaker 1: that I know him. I know for a fact it 304 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,159 Speaker 1: was Bob in the same word, Bob wouldn't ended up 305 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:57,080 Speaker 1: in Deep River with you. Uh. Deep River is a 306 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:01,439 Speaker 1: solid hours drive south of the Ellington area. Bob and 307 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:05,159 Speaker 1: Nathan being in the same orphanage, though, it means something 308 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:07,639 Speaker 1: to me. When I look at the situation from a 309 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:12,680 Speaker 1: psychological perspective, there is no doubt they two were abused. 310 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:17,280 Speaker 1: Rudy stopped just short of confirming the unthinkable by not 311 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:20,720 Speaker 1: wanting to get into it. I've heard this from many 312 00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:25,199 Speaker 1: different reputable sources, and the orphanage they were sent was 313 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 1: known to be an extremely abusive institution. This is the sixties, 314 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:34,320 Speaker 1: mind you. Just recently another story came to light about 315 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:37,520 Speaker 1: Bob the Rossa owning an ambulance. It was one of 316 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:41,280 Speaker 1: those creepy types, more like a bloated station wagon, exactly 317 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:46,719 Speaker 1: like the Ghostbusters echo one from the film, with the pointy, 318 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:51,119 Speaker 1: finlike back fenders. The story alleged that Bob and Nathan, 319 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:55,880 Speaker 1: in those days before Bob married Susan, supposedly sound proof 320 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,240 Speaker 1: the inside back end of the vehicle so they could 321 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:06,560 Speaker 1: allegedly pick up girls and violate them without being heard. Yeah, 322 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:09,880 Speaker 1: insulated van or whatever that. Everybody says that my brother 323 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: Bob had him stuff was an all fifty Pontiac ambulance. 324 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:16,399 Speaker 1: We toured that place down. The only interior that was 325 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:19,119 Speaker 1: done was what was done as it was for an ambulance. 326 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:21,440 Speaker 1: He did nothing to the thing. He drove over to 327 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:27,320 Speaker 1: the dirt. Did he drive around town in it? Yeah? 328 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 1: Before our interview, I've been hearing about some seriously dark 329 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:36,520 Speaker 1: behaviors among Bob, Nathan, and Irene. If anyone could confirm this, 330 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:39,919 Speaker 1: it would be Rudy. What do you think there was 331 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:44,879 Speaker 1: anything weird between Riney and Nathan, Ireny and Bob, Reeny 332 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:48,840 Speaker 1: and Nathan. There might have been. Yeah, I wouldn't include 333 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:50,760 Speaker 1: Bob it off because he was off with his buddies 334 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:54,240 Speaker 1: and whatever. Rudy could not recall with any certainty what 335 00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:57,119 Speaker 1: Bob was doing at the time, mainly because they rarely 336 00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:01,119 Speaker 1: saw each other. Rudy had once pummeled Bob over a 337 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:05,840 Speaker 1: dispute they were teens. Bob, however, realized Rudy was tougher 338 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 1: and was not going to take any ship, so he 339 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:13,199 Speaker 1: stayed away after that. Nathan, on the other hand, didn't. 340 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:16,680 Speaker 1: Rudy tells me about a time when he was with 341 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 1: his wife and Nathan one day, but I remember I 342 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:23,480 Speaker 1: got out for something when you stopped at a car wash, 343 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:25,720 Speaker 1: because his car was filthy from sitting under the tree, 344 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:29,360 Speaker 1: hadn't add it that long, And I don't remember. There 345 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,560 Speaker 1: was some conversation that he was talking to my wife, 346 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:35,199 Speaker 1: and I'm sure he was putting a move because she 347 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,520 Speaker 1: said that he made a pass like that he wanted 348 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:39,240 Speaker 1: to run me over or something like that. He would 349 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,159 Speaker 1: do that for her if you wanted, and stuff. So 350 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:45,359 Speaker 1: he was the little nuts in the head. It was. 351 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:49,800 Speaker 1: He was. He creepy. I was creepy. My mother sicked 352 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 1: the mommy one time because I wouldn't do if she wanted, 353 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:53,600 Speaker 1: and I'd beat him up. And then if she sicked 354 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:55,920 Speaker 1: my brother Bob on me one time and I'd beat 355 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:58,960 Speaker 1: him up. But I was in thirteen fourteen years old. 356 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:04,919 Speaker 1: If my sister was to have gotten hurt, which I 357 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: don't know, one way or another, I hopefully it didn't 358 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:09,359 Speaker 1: happen that way. But if anybody was to have done something, 359 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:13,480 Speaker 1: I hadn't blamed Junior before, I hadn't blame would by JR. 360 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:36,240 Speaker 1: Rudy is referring to Nathan. In a quarter of a mile, 361 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 1: the destination is on your right. The answers in Irene 362 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:43,000 Speaker 1: Rene Larrosa's disappearance, and perhaps some of the other cases 363 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:46,600 Speaker 1: I'm looking into seem tied in some way to the 364 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:55,520 Speaker 1: LaRosa family history. I'm back paining a visit to Tina Larrossa, 365 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:59,280 Speaker 1: the niece of Irene Larrosa, who filed the missing person's report. 366 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:05,600 Speaker 1: I inside her raised ranch style home. Tina's dining room 367 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 1: table has become her office. Papers and notes about all 368 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:15,800 Speaker 1: the cases spread about my explice you got here out here. Tina, 369 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,280 Speaker 1: like some of the relatives of the missing girls, has 370 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 1: turned herself into an armchair investigator. As we chat, a 371 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:30,880 Speaker 1: name so familiar to me comes up, Lisa White. There's 372 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:33,239 Speaker 1: a quite a few people that kind of connect her, 373 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:36,640 Speaker 1: saying that he was kind of obsessed with Lisa White. 374 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:41,720 Speaker 1: Nathan was they lived on before they moved to Pine 375 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:46,359 Speaker 1: Street in Ellenton. They lived on Reagan Road over in 376 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:50,200 Speaker 1: vernon Um, and so did Lisa White. She lit a 377 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,399 Speaker 1: couple of houses down from them. Lisa White is the 378 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,480 Speaker 1: thirteen year old girl who went missing as she presumably 379 00:25:56,600 --> 00:26:00,800 Speaker 1: hitchhiked home after visiting a friend's house in nineteen seventy four. 380 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,639 Speaker 1: She lived on Reagan Road. True, but The fact that 381 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:08,480 Speaker 1: Nathan LaRosa also lived on Reagan Road at the time 382 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:13,439 Speaker 1: is a connection too important to ignore. Nathan was always 383 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:15,359 Speaker 1: known to be kind of at the back of the house, 384 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 1: kind of staring at the kids playing, Lisa being one 385 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:21,840 Speaker 1: of them. Um My aunt Debbie gives a report of 386 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:25,360 Speaker 1: Lisa come into the house when her dog got hit 387 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,280 Speaker 1: by a car. Her dog got hit, Lisa came to 388 00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:31,679 Speaker 1: the house said, you know, here's your dog. Tina claims 389 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 1: Nathan had a thing for Lisa and it kicked into 390 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:38,920 Speaker 1: high gear after Lisa brought the dog over to the house. Well, 391 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:42,040 Speaker 1: since then Nathan was like obsessed with her, would always 392 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:49,600 Speaker 1: watch her. Nathan grew into an obese man. He rarely 393 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:55,440 Speaker 1: showered or cleaned himself. A convicted pedophile, Nathan did hard 394 00:26:55,440 --> 00:27:00,159 Speaker 1: time from nineteen seventy six to nineteen seventy nine for 395 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:04,600 Speaker 1: child rape. In nineteen eighty, Nathan moved to Florida to 396 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:07,440 Speaker 1: live with his parents. He came back to the Tri 397 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 1: Town area in nine and moved in with his brother, 398 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:15,399 Speaker 1: Bob lar Rosa, and died three years later while living 399 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:22,600 Speaker 1: in an elderly home. When I first met Tina, I 400 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:25,960 Speaker 1: knew she'd have a lot of information regarding unanswered questions 401 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:30,120 Speaker 1: within the LaRosa family tragedies. I just didn't realize how 402 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:34,479 Speaker 1: much she knew. For years, Tina's talked to family members, 403 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,800 Speaker 1: reached out to acquaintances, went online, and started a ship 404 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:42,639 Speaker 1: storm of social media about her aunt Irene's disappearance. After 405 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:45,639 Speaker 1: sharing her plans to file a missing person report in 406 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,439 Speaker 1: a Facebook post in two thousand seventeen, the year before 407 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:55,160 Speaker 1: Bob died, she got a message from Bob Larrossa's Facebook account, Well, 408 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:59,960 Speaker 1: I can start by this one. This is um August eleven, 409 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:04,840 Speaker 1: two thousand fifteen. I was one of the people that 410 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:09,080 Speaker 1: filed official police report. Those comments saying none were filed 411 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:14,320 Speaker 1: were votefully incorrect. Listening to you read those texts, I 412 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:18,120 Speaker 1: wouldn't say Bob was stupid. He uses words in there 413 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:23,639 Speaker 1: that I was Bob's pitcher. You can see Bob's pitcher 414 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:26,879 Speaker 1: in here. I was thinking the same thing. You know 415 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:32,200 Speaker 1: why because row little dyslexic Doloro says, so Bob or 416 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:36,040 Speaker 1: his Tina suspects someone else who was writing the message 417 00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:41,000 Speaker 1: for Bob was still trying to deflect attention away from 418 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:46,760 Speaker 1: Irene's disappearance. Decades after she allegedly vanished. I have to 419 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:53,400 Speaker 1: wonder why. What's more, I've searched Helen high Water. Bob 420 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:57,320 Speaker 1: LaRosa never filed a missing person report on his sister. 421 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:02,800 Speaker 1: That is a fact. Tina has always been aware of 422 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:06,800 Speaker 1: her family's dark horses and hidden secrets, but things took 423 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:09,720 Speaker 1: a serious turn in recent years when she started connecting 424 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:15,400 Speaker 1: them to her aunt Irene's disappearance. There she was stealthily 425 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:20,440 Speaker 1: connecting the dots and ultimately zeroing in on a family 426 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 1: friend who, after almost fifty years, has decided to inject 427 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:30,080 Speaker 1: himself into these cases and start talking. Tina brings up 428 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:33,000 Speaker 1: a difficult story she learned from someone close to this person, 429 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:38,320 Speaker 1: one that also involves her uncle, Bob LaRosa. She says 430 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:42,240 Speaker 1: to me, well, Bobby was a dangerous man that when 431 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:46,240 Speaker 1: they were younger, they for just ha has They found 432 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:49,120 Speaker 1: a girl and picked her up. She was walking down 433 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:51,240 Speaker 1: the side of the road. They stuck a light bulb 434 00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:54,440 Speaker 1: up her rear end and propped her on the sidewalk. 435 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:58,479 Speaker 1: Tina called the state police and told them about this incident. 436 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:02,440 Speaker 1: She also spoke to several family members who verified the story. 437 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:07,640 Speaker 1: A newspaper report backs up certain details, including the abduction 438 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:09,960 Speaker 1: and the girl being left on the side of the road. 439 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:14,240 Speaker 1: She was brutally wounded and ultimately died from her injuries, 440 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:19,160 Speaker 1: turning the assault into a murder case. I'm not going 441 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:21,440 Speaker 1: to mention the other man's name yet because I'm in 442 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:25,280 Speaker 1: the process of reaching out to him. He deserves that privacy. 443 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 1: For now, I'll be referring to him as the witness. 444 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 1: Bob LaRosa and the witness were best friends. They've known 445 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:41,120 Speaker 1: each other since grade school. At one time, they were 446 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:44,760 Speaker 1: even brothers in law. Tina tells me she decided to 447 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 1: make contact with the witness in two thousand, eighteen years 448 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:52,800 Speaker 1: after following the missing person report and becoming frustrated nothing 449 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,760 Speaker 1: was being done. So I decided to call them and 450 00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:59,600 Speaker 1: played a little d Denzel in distress and you know 451 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:03,240 Speaker 1: my aunt and I miss her, and you know, I 452 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:06,320 Speaker 1: can't believe that nobody cares. And oh I love Gerane 453 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:13,760 Speaker 1: RENI was wonderful. I dated her for a time, Okay, Um, 454 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:17,320 Speaker 1: you know, her and Nathan had this weird thing, and 455 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:20,600 Speaker 1: I think Nathan was hurt in her and I was like, okay, 456 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:24,960 Speaker 1: But so we had gotten talking and I was asking 457 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:29,480 Speaker 1: about Nathan and Bob hurting her um and if they did, 458 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:34,440 Speaker 1: where would they put her? Hypothetically, Tina's spoken to the 459 00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:38,200 Speaker 1: witness on four different occasions. Those first few calls, they 460 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:41,960 Speaker 1: talked a lot about Irene LaRosa, who she was in 461 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:45,800 Speaker 1: the relationship between them. Then there came a point as 462 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 1: she was talking to the witness when Tina realized he 463 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:52,360 Speaker 1: had vital information. There was enough said to lead her 464 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,400 Speaker 1: to believe he wasn't just an innocent bystander. To some 465 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:59,280 Speaker 1: of this, Tina says, the witness believes Nathan killed his 466 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 1: own sister, Irene LaRosa. Keep this in mind, though Nathan 467 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:09,440 Speaker 1: went to prison for sexually abusing boys, still that does 468 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:12,720 Speaker 1: not make it impossible for him to develop an affinity 469 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:17,160 Speaker 1: for females, especially when talking about that ugly word incest. 470 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:23,440 Speaker 1: Psychologically speaking, there is more at play with that scenario. Control, power, rage, jealousy, 471 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:28,560 Speaker 1: gender would not matter. According to Tina, the witness began 472 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 1: talking about the water wells across the street from Crystal Lake. 473 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:37,680 Speaker 1: He mentioned buried bodies. When she heard that, Tina called 474 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:41,120 Speaker 1: the state police and asked them to get involved. This 475 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:44,240 Speaker 1: explains why her last call with the witness was controlled, 476 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:49,040 Speaker 1: meaning law enforcement sat by Tina's side and recorded it. 477 00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:52,360 Speaker 1: It was this call that tip cops off in two 478 00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:55,040 Speaker 1: thousand nineteen to begin that latest dig at the water 479 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:58,600 Speaker 1: wells on the Wendell's property. So that was enough for me. 480 00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:02,280 Speaker 1: Since somebody you something, get over here. I want him 481 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,920 Speaker 1: to tell you, guys what he told me, what happened. 482 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:08,920 Speaker 1: I told you where what? Where they would have been? 483 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:14,320 Speaker 1: The girls would have been if hypothetically, if Nathan hurt 484 00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:16,760 Speaker 1: them and put them somewhere, where would they be? And 485 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:20,480 Speaker 1: he said, well, our four it was right here. That's 486 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:27,240 Speaker 1: girls plural. According to the witness, Irene LaRosa and several 487 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:30,200 Speaker 1: of the other missing girls are buried in an area 488 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:34,720 Speaker 1: across from Crystal Lake, somewhere on or nearby the old 489 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:48,800 Speaker 1: LaRosa property. Hello, Molarossa walks in as Tina and I 490 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:54,120 Speaker 1: are talking. Remember mom, he's Bob and Susan Larrossa's youngest son. 491 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:57,400 Speaker 1: He and Tina are cousins. As he takes a seat 492 00:33:57,440 --> 00:34:00,800 Speaker 1: across the dining table from me, Tina says something about 493 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:03,760 Speaker 1: a well on the Wendell's property. I just explained to 494 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:07,760 Speaker 1: him about the first time we talked. But then when 495 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:11,759 Speaker 1: I put him on recording with the cops. He then said, no, 496 00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:16,600 Speaker 1: it's the a framed well up here the witness had 497 00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:21,319 Speaker 1: mentioned and a frame green colored roof during his last 498 00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:24,799 Speaker 1: call with Tina. On the window property, there are over 499 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:29,279 Speaker 1: a dozen water wells scattered about forty six acres. One 500 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:32,839 Speaker 1: of them is a fifteen foot deep eight by eight 501 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:36,480 Speaker 1: foot well I think Jack and Jill type, with an 502 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:41,240 Speaker 1: a framed green colored roof covering it. This is across 503 00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:44,279 Speaker 1: the road from where the state police once dug So 504 00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:49,920 Speaker 1: claimed that the girls were put in the a framed well. Yes, 505 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:53,520 Speaker 1: he explained how to take a bar, open up the 506 00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:56,000 Speaker 1: well and then slide it back, and we have that 507 00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:59,640 Speaker 1: on recording. When Ken Wendell was tipped off by the 508 00:34:59,719 --> 00:35:02,600 Speaker 1: cop many years ago, he actually sent an underwater camera 509 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:05,920 Speaker 1: down that a frame well. He searched the entire thing 510 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:11,560 Speaker 1: and found nothing. What worries me, after spending twenty years 511 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:13,400 Speaker 1: in the true crime game, is that if a person 512 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:17,800 Speaker 1: of interest is talking about wells a crime scene bodies 513 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:22,480 Speaker 1: being buried, as the witness has apparently been doing, my 514 00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:25,840 Speaker 1: instinct and experience tell me these clues are a diversion 515 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:29,960 Speaker 1: that there are no bodies and wells the bodies are 516 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:33,359 Speaker 1: somewhere else and the witnesses throwing off the scent. Yet, 517 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:36,640 Speaker 1: why the hell would he involve himself all these years 518 00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:40,439 Speaker 1: later to begin with, Well back to the well, where 519 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:45,160 Speaker 1: were We've been to that property and we did a 520 00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:49,760 Speaker 1: memorial there are true, As it turns out, moment Tina 521 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:53,360 Speaker 1: are responsible for that mystery flower memorial that Ken Wendel 522 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:56,240 Speaker 1: mentioned seeing during one of my last visits to the property. 523 00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:00,680 Speaker 1: It's the same spot where they believe they're aunt Irene 524 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:04,640 Speaker 1: LaRosa and some of the other girls could be buried, 525 00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:08,600 Speaker 1: according to what the witness has been saying. So I 526 00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:10,360 Speaker 1: find it, you know what I mean, very hard to 527 00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:13,319 Speaker 1: believe they had never done anything to her, and yet 528 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:16,200 Speaker 1: one couldn't have known where she was, why the other 529 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:21,640 Speaker 1: one didn't. All this information from Tina and Mo leads 530 00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:24,799 Speaker 1: me directly into the center of that five point star. 531 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:30,600 Speaker 1: Getting to this point in my investigation isn't as easy 532 00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:33,839 Speaker 1: as it sounds. It has been a long and emotionally 533 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:38,800 Speaker 1: exhausting eleven year journey. I've run into dozens of false 534 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:43,200 Speaker 1: leads and dead ends. All the suspects frequently named online 535 00:36:43,239 --> 00:36:45,759 Speaker 1: and the ones I've developed on my own have been 536 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:50,400 Speaker 1: eliminated for a variety of reasons. Many of them police 537 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:54,879 Speaker 1: have checked out, questioned, and let go of. It wasn't 538 00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:58,879 Speaker 1: until the witness began talking to Tina. On top of all, 539 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,480 Speaker 1: I've learned over the last year that the pieces of 540 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:05,480 Speaker 1: this disturbing puzzle I've been collecting finally seemed to fit. 541 00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:11,400 Speaker 1: I'm not a confident Bob and Nathan LaRosa are connected 542 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:15,000 Speaker 1: to all the cases, but there's enough for me to 543 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:19,799 Speaker 1: continue looking into that possibility. The witness is the only 544 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:22,120 Speaker 1: one of the three men I am now focused on 545 00:37:22,239 --> 00:37:25,560 Speaker 1: who is still alive. I want to reach out to him, 546 00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:43,239 Speaker 1: but it has to be under my terms. In the 547 00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:47,040 Speaker 1: next episode of paper Ghosts, let me just tell you 548 00:37:47,239 --> 00:37:50,080 Speaker 1: does does a tarp behind him? It's a plastic tarp 549 00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:52,799 Speaker 1: and they thought that was interesting that yeah, oh yeah. 550 00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:54,800 Speaker 1: They held it up and they were they old. Sale 551 00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:56,640 Speaker 1: came over and had to look at it. And I've 552 00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:59,239 Speaker 1: seen a lot of brown stades on. We're worning if 553 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:03,200 Speaker 1: it was blood or something on the airhood. She went 554 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:05,560 Speaker 1: home to take a shower. Why I was getting her 555 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:10,160 Speaker 1: stuff ready, and he come out completely naked and said, 556 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:11,640 Speaker 1: you want to have a good time, come on in 557 00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:14,359 Speaker 1: the bedroom and how old were you at the time. 558 00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:19,879 Speaker 1: He got really mad at the long time and he said, 559 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:21,680 Speaker 1: if you don't watch it, you're gonna end up like 560 00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:25,239 Speaker 1: your sister Jesus. Marian chose to see it helps us 561 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:29,800 Speaker 1: out of grave for many Oh you know what I 562 00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:35,480 Speaker 1: think it is. Paper Ghosts is written and executive produced 563 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:39,240 Speaker 1: by me and William Phelps, with help from producer Christina 564 00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:42,680 Speaker 1: Everett and sound editing by Pete Cardi from back Room Audio. 565 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:47,160 Speaker 1: Special thanks to Abu Safar and Will Pearson from My 566 00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:51,440 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. The series theme number four four two is 567 00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:56,640 Speaker 1: written and performed by Tom Mooney and Thomas Phelps. For 568 00:38:56,760 --> 00:39:00,879 Speaker 1: more podcasts from My Heart Radio, visit the Heart Radio app, 569 00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:05,000 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 570 00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:06,279 Speaker 1: H