WEBVTT - S1 E1: Ghosts 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:06.760 Throughout this entire time Danielle has been missing. Trying to 0:00:06.840 --> 0:00:12.639 find her literally consumed me. Some psychic called my mother 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.440 in law and said Danielle was dying in a box car. 0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:22.239 So in the middle of the night, I went down 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:25.120 to Philadelphia and searched the train tracks under the bridge 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:30.960 with a flashlight. Here I am scaling this fence at 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:39.600 midnight with a flashlight looking in box cars. I got 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:44.960 in trouble for that one. The Mount Laurel police detective 0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:47.400 called me up screaming, telling me that they had to 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:50.720 stop all of commerce in Pennsylvania to get me out 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:54.040 of the railroad because I was looking in railroad cars. 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:58.800 I just can't stop. It just consumed me. 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:03.480 JOHNA. Tobray his sister Danielle went missing in February of 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:07.720 two thousand and five, but she wasn't alone. Danielle and 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:12.440 her friend Richard left a bar and simply vanished. Nineteen 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:15.360 years later, they still have yet to be found. 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:18.000 She was my sister, she was my friend, she was 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:24.440 my blood. I would do anything for her throughout all 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:31.320 these years. Speaking with the FBI, I know my sister 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:36.080 died that night, but to this day I still don't know. 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:43.040 I can't stop my mind from wandering to the darker things. 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:47.000 She alone? Was she scared? Was she calling out for someone? 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:47.240 Was? 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:54.800 For all I know? They have all this information, the FBI. 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:57.080 So what does the FBI say? 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:01.480 We have several working theory, We've done a number of 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:05.120 searches in different areas. We have a lot of folks 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:08.760 that we've talked to. We have statements, phone records. I 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:12.000 probably have the silver bullet and all of that stuff. 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:16.560 I need somebody to tie it together. This needs to 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:17.560 get solved. 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:23.840 I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Therein Gone South Street 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:27.959 Episode one, Ghosts. 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:37.480 All Yes, I see you in my dream, reached out 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:44.480 on the dog for you, the last to me. I'll 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:52.800 never give up, no matter how long I opened my 0:02:52.960 --> 0:03:01.280 eyes Define you Gone. 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.120 A note that the views and opinions expressed in this 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:10.440 podcast are solely those of the individuals participating. This podcast 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:13.680 contains subject matter which may not be suitable for everyone. 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:21.800 Discretion is advised. For fifteen years, Danielle and Richard were 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:25.360 strangers to me. Ghosts that loomed over I ninety five South. 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:29.000 It's the stretch of highway that connects Philadelphia to New 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:33.000 York City. Each side is lined with billboards. Most are 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:37.320 ads for ambulance chasers or beer, but one shows two 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:41.640 smiling faces next to the word missing. It's Danielle Mbau 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:46.119 and Richard Patron, and it's been there for almost twenty years. 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:48.800 Inbo and Patron were last seen leaving a South Street 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:51.800 bar in the late evening of February nineteenth, two thousand 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:52.240 and five. 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:55.440 I knew their faces, I knew their names. 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:59.280 Investigators have turned up a few promising leads, but have 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:01.800 not found the couple or the car. 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:05.280 South Street is one of the busiest and most popular 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:08.640 places for nightlife in Philadelphia, at least it was in 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:11.920 two thousand and five. Think Bourbon Street, but without the 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:15.520 balconies and beats. It's not exactly the same, but you 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:18.640 get the idea. No shortage of places to grab a 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:21.640 drink and have a good time. It's not a place 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:24.520 where two people just vanish, and it's certainly a spot 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:26.280 where you'd have plenty of eyewitnesses. 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:29.360 They had left a bar at Fourth and South, headed 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:32.760 to his pickup truck and simply vanished, not a trace. 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:36.960 Two adults in their mid thirties walk out of a 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:46.120 bar and into oblivion. How is that even possible. I 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:49.359 live within walking distance to South Street. I've been to 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:52.960 those bars, and I've walked those same streets. I know 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:55.919 how busy they are, so this has often haunted me. 0:04:56.839 --> 0:04:59.640 The story of Richard Patrone and daniel Imbou became an 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:04.000 annex don't a Philadelphia urban legend. If my team was 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:07.320 ever going to produce a missing persons podcast, this was 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:09.919 the one. And as I'll explained in a bit, it 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:13.120 turns out we're way more connected to the story than 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:16.440 I originally thought. When I begin working on a story, 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:20.200 I usually reach out to law enforcement. From the initial research, 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:24.000 it was clear the FBI was involved, so I decided 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:24.719 to start there. 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:31.200 This case was different because it was two people. They 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:35.600 were adults that were just out having fun and now 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:39.120 they disappear with you know, no information about where they 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:39.479 could be. 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:43.440 That's Jerry Williams. She was an FBI agent and the 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:47.200 spokesperson for the Philadelphia Bureau when Danielle and Richard went missing. 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:53.320 I don't think anybody had heard of a case like 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:58.040 this ever before. Vita would come into my office and 0:05:58.480 --> 0:05:59.560 keep me updated. 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:04.479 Veto Special Agent Vito Rosselli. He has been working on 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:07.000 this case since the very beginning. 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.159 I could tell that it was more than just another 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:11.560 investigation for him. 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:16.159 Agent Rosselli had spent almost two decades tracking down every 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:18.880 lead in this case but came up short. 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:22.479 There are so many times over the past few years 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:27.000 that I thought Veto was close in solving this and 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:28.400 then nothing. 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:30.599 I needed to talk to Vito. 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:36.680 Hey, Andrea, I really appreciate your effort on this huge helme. 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:40.039 Special Agent Vito Rosselli looks and sounds like someone in 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:43.680 a TV show who's playing an FBI agent. He's a 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:47.560 stocky guy, muscular with dark skin, and seems like someone 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:49.560 you'd want to grab a beer with. 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:51.880 My dad was an old Hoover guy. He was an 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:55.039 old FBI agent, So I grew up around that. I 0:06:55.120 --> 0:06:57.800 got in Philly in February of ninety seven, and I've 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:00.240 been in Philly pretty much my whole career. 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:03.680 Video is a warm and welcoming guy, but I could 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:07.560 tell that he carries pieces of this investigation around with him, 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:12.200 and that clearly rests heavily on his heart. I don't 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:15.000 know how else to explain it, but there's a heaviness 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:15.240 to that. 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:20.600 It wasn't just an accident driving off a bridge, a truck, 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:25.160 and two people just don't disappear. What I do know 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:28.240 is that the people who are involved had to have 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:31.440 the means to get rid of two bodies and a 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:34.559 truck in a very quick amount of time. That means 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:38.440 that they did it before or they had access to 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:42.400 those circles. So I don't have the truck and they 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:43.800 don't have the bodies. 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:49.120 Just think about that. Not only are Danielle and Richard missing, 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:52.320 but so is the Dodge Dakota pickup truck they were driving. 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:56.360 And after nineteen years of searching, Fudo still has no 0:07:56.440 --> 0:08:00.320 physical evidence to work with. He's been trying to figure 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:03.280 out who wanted to kill either Danielle and Richard without 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:06.880 a fingerprint, a tire mark, or a single drop of blood. 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:10.880 But maybe what's stranger than any of that is the why. 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:14.480 Because on paper, neither of these two seem to have 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:15.679 a target on their back. 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:19.320 What I did uncovers that both were good people. A 0:08:19.360 --> 0:08:22.440 lot of people cared for him. Danielle was very close 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:24.640 to him, her mom and her brother, and rich was 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:27.920 very close to both his parents and all his siblings 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:32.200 and had a child that he was raising. Both families 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:37.360 are still extremely destroyed. It's very emotional for him, as 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:41.400 emotional today as it was when I first met them. 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:45.880 Vito has a lot writing on this investigation. Obviously, he 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:48.520 felt for Danielle and Richard's families. It's been on his 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.960 plate since two thousand and five. And all investigators will 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:54.959 tell you they always feel like they're racing against time, 0:08:55.520 --> 0:09:00.199 but Vito had a different clock. You see in the 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:03.880 FBI there's a mandatory retirement age of fifty seven, and 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:07.600 Vito's fifty seventh birthday was fast approaching. 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:13.000 Every investigator, every detective, has that white whale that hangs 0:09:13.040 --> 0:09:15.160 over the head, and in this particular case, where you 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:18.480 don't get an answer, that just crushes people's souls and 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:20.960 it's tough. So the case is very much open and 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:22.520 hopefully we make it arrest. 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:26.920 I've met with Vito a few times now. After those conversations, 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:32.320 it's become clear what Veto is missing testimony, someone who 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:37.679 heard something or saw something, or remembers anything, anything about 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:40.840 what happened on the night of February nineteenth, two thousand 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:43.800 and five. He just needs someone to come forward. 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:47.040 Everybody that's working on this case and everybody that has 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:49.880 worked on this case wants this to get out in 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:54.319 the public and wants people to call in. And that's 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:56.720 why I'm very thankful for you guys. 0:09:57.400 --> 0:10:00.400 This case was a big deal in Philadelphia, and to 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:03.800 be fair, it did get national attention, but that interest 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:06.640 lasted for like two months because in May of two 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:09.720 thousand and five, an American teenager went missing in Aruba, 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:16.240 Natalie Holloway, and the nation turned their attention to her. Slowly, 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:21.880 Danielle and Richard faded from public consciousness, but Philadelphia hasn't forgotten. 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:25.880 For a big metropolitan city, there is a small town 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:29.199 feel here and it's that close knit community that keeps 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:34.520 their memory alive. See, everybody knows everybody here, or at 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:37.120 least knows someone who knows your sister or your cousin, 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:39.280 or used to work with that guy that you used 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:43.160 to work with. All of that is relevant here. The city. 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:48.800 It's people, It's all important to this story. Philadelphia is 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:52.640 the city of brotherly love, and often love extends to 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:57.640 loyalty vows of silence when it comes to nefarious behavior. 0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:02.520 The FBI un doubtedly believes that there are people who 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:06.079 know what happened to Richard and Danielle, but have remained silent. 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:10.880 So why now? I once heard this theory from law 0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:13.960 enforcement that when it comes to these types of cases, 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:17.080 there are usually three windows of time to solve them, 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:21.040 the first few weeks, the first year, and then the 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:26.200 next best is the twentieth anniversary. 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:31.240 I've gotten confessions from folks because it was chewing them 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:33.760 up on the inside. Not all folks that do illegal 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:38.040 activity are evil folks. A lot of them have consciences 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:41.760 and kids and families of their own, and eventually it 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:42.640 wears on them. 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:47.319 By the time this podcast launches, we'll approach the opening 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:52.240 of that final window. Maybe after two decades, perhaps someone's 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:56.719 own mortality will change their view and come forward with information. 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:04.560 I approached my team about taking this on and knew 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:08.080 my producing partner Ben would be interested because, like me, 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:11.680 he grew up in Philadelphia too. He knew this story 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:14.280 as well as I did. But there was something I 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:17.800 didn't expect. When discussing it with my colleague Carrie, she 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:20.320 went white. She looked at me and said, you know, 0:12:20.400 --> 0:12:22.760 my brother grew up with Richard Patron and was good 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:26.360 friends with him. Right. I had no idea, So she 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:28.280 put me in touch with her brother, Jimmy. 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.200 He was so likable. He just had such a huge heart. 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:34.960 Jimmy Hartman grew up across the street from Richard, and 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:37.480 the two immediately became fast friends. 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:40.480 We'd like to play hockey. We would get the guys together, 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:44.360 and we became friends from there. And I knew Danielle 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:46.440 also because I graduated high school with her. 0:12:47.040 --> 0:12:49.600 Like I said, everybody knows everybody. 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:51.920 She was always nice. I just never got to know 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:54.440 her that well, but I knew her and she knew me. 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:58.720 So Jimmy not only knew Danielle and Richard, but was 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:02.880 even close with Richard's parents, Richard and Marge Patron. 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:06.880 You couldn't go to the house without eating, just so 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:10.360 typical Italian family, and there's just pasta and food and 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:13.520 bread and wine and everything everywhere. 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:18.400 Jimmy said, It's been tough to watch the Patron suffer 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:19.719 all these years. 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:23.160 You could see the pain, especially in Marge's eyes. You 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:27.760 could just see how much it hurts her, you know, 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:31.120 And when you have somebody taken from me like this, 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:35.200 it's just really hard to say goodbye. 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:38.440 At first, he said that patrons were dreading that phone 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:41.679 call from police, the call that would confirm that Richard 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:45.960 was dead, but now any information would be welcomed information. 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:49.160 I would hate for either one of them to leave 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:53.000 the earth without having enclosure. I mean, they have not 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:56.840 let up on trying to get this mystery solved. 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:01.760 We had the FBI on ourself, but we understood that 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:05.199 to move forward we would need both families to participate. 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:09.680 It's a painful process, but also an opportunity. The more 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:11.959 you talk about a missing person, the more likely it 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:15.120 is that someone who knows something will say something. But 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:17.839 approaching these families, I knew I would be asking them 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:22.640 to relive so much. It's tough. Since Jimmy knew the 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:27.720 Patrons from childhood, he made an introduction, So we started there. 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:47.840 Right we go. 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:51.200 Marge Patrone greeted me and my colleague Ben at her 0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:55.480 front door. It was a bright Sunday afternoon, nearly nineteen 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:59.160 years after her son, Richard and his friend Danielle Imbo vanished. 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:02.440 We needed to learn who Richard and Danielle were and 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:06.600 understand everything they left behind. On February nineteenth, two thousand 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:09.880 and five, we had been told that both families were 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:14.160 done speaking to the press. Think about it. The closest 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:16.960 people to Richard and Danielle had to answer the same 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:22.680 questions about their disappearance for over nineteen years now, Yet 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:25.480 here I was, with my partner Ben, standing at the 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:28.840 threshold of the patron's family home to again pick at 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:32.880 that scap. It took an introduction from Richard's childhood friend, 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:39.520 many conversations and veto expressing the importance of participating. Ultimately, 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:43.560 the patrons agreed. 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:44.160 You want to sit like somewhere comfortable or. 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:45.040 What do you want to do anything? 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:49.400 And much to my surprise and relief, Marge welcomed us 0:15:49.440 --> 0:15:53.000 with a warm, friendly smile, and just like I was told, 0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:55.800 she immediately wanted to feed us. 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:58.760 I want something to eat. 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:01.960 Marge is a grandma as well as a mother of three, 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:05.480 so hosting us seemed like old hat for March, like 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:08.880 we'd been over for dinner many times before, even though 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:11.920 this was a first for all of us. And that day, 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:15.240 Marge invited us for Sunday dinner. And know this isn't 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:18.440 just a meal that happens to fall on Sunday. It's 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:21.760 actually a long running tradition for the Patrons. That's when 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:25.480 their family comes together for a big Italian meal. So 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:30.080 we felt honored to be invited. It was just before Christmas, 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:33.480 and every inch of our house was decorated, including the kitchen. 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:37.120 That's where we all gathered around a charcuterie board filled 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:39.760 with slice delling meats and cheeses, while a huge pot 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:43.880 of red gravy bubbled on the stove behind us. Marge's 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:46.560 freezer door was lined with several baby pictures and a 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:50.120 ton of magnets. She pointed to the Chicago Bears magnet 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:53.400 and said it was Richard's favorite football team. And then 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:57.400 there was this, I have a Susan Lucci doll. You 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:00.840 might remember Susan Lucci from the long run daytime TV 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:02.320 show All My Children. 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:04.760 You know it's funny because I love soap, opwerds and 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:05.160 all that. 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:10.800 Marge explained that she always watched All My Children and 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:14.520 how one year for Christmas, Richard surprised her with this 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:15.760 Susan Lucci doll. 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:20.040 For a guy, he was the best gift giver and 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:24.560 just very thoughtful and did it all himself, Like he 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:26.439 didn't just go to the mall and buy anything. He 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:27.560 knew what you were into. 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:32.280 I could tell. Richard is Marge's first born. She lights 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:35.560 up at every mention of his name, like how he 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:37.920 played hockey from the time he was seven until the 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:40.960 day he went missing, and how she still holds onto 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:44.920 Richard's Bobby Clark jersey. That's when her voice trailed off. 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:50.440 And as the firstborn, you could say Richard got special treatment. 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:53.840 When Richard had a sore throat, I would run him 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:54.359 to the doctors. 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:57.000 That Christine always would say. If I said I had 0:17:57.000 --> 0:17:58.679 a store throat, you'd say, spray your throat. 0:17:58.680 --> 0:17:59.200 You're right. 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:05.359 So Christine and Alisa are Margin's daughters. Christine was also 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:08.400 best friends with Daniel Imbo. She was supposed to join 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:11.480 us for dinner, but Christine backed out at the last minute. 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:14.800 Her sister Elisa gave us a clue as to why. 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:19.399 I think this whole thing was really hard for Christine 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:24.960 because it's her best friend and her brother Richard and Christine, 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:28.399 we rolling your difference, and she doesn't really say anything 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:29.400 too much about that night. 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:33.000 Alisa is well into her thirties now, but was just 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:35.440 a teenager when her brother Richard disappeared. 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.520 We have no idea what happened to them or how 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:43.160 this happened, and we just lived with that, and it's 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:44.399 an awful feeling. 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:47.320 There was a row of stockings in the living room 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:51.600 that hung across their mantle, just above the fireplace. I 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:56.119 couldn't help but wonder if Richard's stocking was one of them. Okay, 0:18:57.160 --> 0:18:59.919 we all moved to the kitchen table as Marge arrived 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:03.359 with a giant bowl of stuffed mannicotti and homemade meatballs. 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:05.600 It was enough to feed a small army. 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:08.280 Everything to me is happy and sad. 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:12.480 Marge pointed to where Richard sat for thirty five years, 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:15.360 and then to the empty chair where her husband used 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:19.439 to sit for forty years. Marge and her husband, Richard Senior, 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:24.119 owned and operated a Swedish bakery called Viking Pastries in 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:27.560 the suburbs of Philly. That's where Richard and his father 0:19:27.640 --> 0:19:31.520 worked side by side. The two were very close. Richard 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:34.399 Senior suffered multiple strokes and hasn't been home for a 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:37.800 while now. He's just never been here since Richard disappeared. 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:41.359 Let's face it, he's never been the same, no, never, 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:44.040 He's the shell of the person he used, but he's 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:46.280 not at all who he was with them. 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:49.240 You know, I don't want to say that life hasn't 0:19:49.280 --> 0:19:52.639 gone on for the patron since Richard disappeared. Because it has. 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:56.320 But I got the feeling that Marge in particular has 0:19:56.359 --> 0:19:59.520 been sort of treading water ever since that day. The 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:02.480 void Richard left was on full display that Sunday. 0:20:02.960 --> 0:20:06.080 I had to keep going, which I still am doing, 0:20:06.119 --> 0:20:08.840 even though it's like yesterday for me. 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:14.680 Back on February twentieth, two thousand and five, Richard didn't 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:16.119 make it home for Sunday dinner. 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:20.439 I remember Christine calling me. She said, Mom, Richard's missing, 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:22.200 and I said, missing, What do you mean. 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:22.640 He's home. 0:20:22.760 --> 0:20:24.880 There's a nice car today. You would never leave the house. 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:25.399 He's home. 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:28.280 Marge said she was out running errands with her husband 0:20:28.280 --> 0:20:31.800 that afternoon and she was certain Richard was home. It 0:20:31.880 --> 0:20:34.320 was the day of the Daytona five hundred, and Richard 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:36.080 had been looking forward to it all week. 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:37.640 She's not home, mom. 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:42.679 Christine called Marge from the salon where she worked. She 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:46.760 was concerned about Danielle. Yeah, the same Danielle who was 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:48.159 with Richard the night before. 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:51.040 And she said, Danielle didn't show up for an appointment 0:20:51.080 --> 0:20:53.240 today and she never does that, and he's not home. 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:54.639 He's missing. 0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:58.800 Marge and her son Richard were close. They usually talked 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:03.520 multiple times a day, but that Sunday, she hadn't heard. 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:06.840 From him, and so when I called his phone a 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:10.639 million times and I just want right to voicemail, he 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:12.439 would never not answer his phone to me. 0:21:12.600 --> 0:21:12.800 Never. 0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:16.280 One thing to keep in mind, back in early two 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:18.879 thousand and five, most of us had flip phones and 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:23.159 texting wasn't common yet, so when our phones rang, we'd 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:27.239 actually answer them. The fact that Richard wasn't answering his 0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:30.080 phone immediately concerned March that. 0:21:30.240 --> 0:21:32.320 Christine said the same thing with Danielle. It's just going 0:21:32.400 --> 0:21:33.160 right to voicemail. 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:34.440 Now. 0:21:34.480 --> 0:21:36.920 I called my sister and I said to her, we've 0:21:36.960 --> 0:21:38.200 got to go in his apartment. 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:41.600 Marge's sister lived down the street from Richard, so she 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:44.119 had a spare key and headed over to the apartment. 0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:47.359 She didn't see Richard's truck parked out front, so she 0:21:47.480 --> 0:21:49.320 unlocked the door and went inside. 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:53.560 She said, no, nobody came back here, and the book's barking. 0:21:54.680 --> 0:21:58.120 Richard's dog, Bismarck was in distress and needed to go out. 0:21:58.640 --> 0:22:01.640 His food bowl was empty, and it was clear Richard 0:22:01.680 --> 0:22:06.280 had not been home for hours. From everything I've learned today, 0:22:06.760 --> 0:22:10.080 Richard was a reliable guy, not one to be out 0:22:10.080 --> 0:22:13.240 of touch, leaving his family in the dark like this. 0:22:14.320 --> 0:22:15.440 It was out of character. 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:23.560 He would never go anywhere without telling me. I know immediately. Immediately, 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:28.920 I'd like, so, oh my god, this could not be happening. 0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:35.760 But I lost my shot today. Oh my god. Christine said, 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:37.240 we're never going to see them again, are we? 0:22:37.280 --> 0:22:37.480 Mom? 0:22:37.520 --> 0:22:39.879 I said, no, we're not. We're not. 0:22:41.880 --> 0:22:45.640 Christine and Marge feared the worst, but Richard's father wasn't 0:22:45.640 --> 0:22:50.280 about to jump to conclusions. Richard was a strong Italian father. 0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:54.560 He's as much braun as he is brains, and when 0:22:54.600 --> 0:22:58.000 his wife was telling him it wasn't registering. 0:22:58.400 --> 0:23:04.479 He said, what are you saying? I'm saying that something 0:23:04.640 --> 0:23:06.160 terrible happened to your son. 0:23:10.200 --> 0:23:13.680 While the fear was hitting the Patron family, John and Tobray, 0:23:13.760 --> 0:23:18.080 Danielle's brother, was also realizing Danielle didn't make it home 0:23:18.119 --> 0:23:20.199 that night. 0:23:21.880 --> 0:23:24.399 I woke up Sunday morning early and I took a 0:23:24.520 --> 0:23:29.359 ride to her house to fix the curtain. I sold 0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:31.880 her car out front. I knock on the door. She's 0:23:31.880 --> 0:23:33.600 not answering the car. Her cell phone it goes right 0:23:33.600 --> 0:23:37.960 to voicemail. So I called my mother and I said, Mom, 0:23:38.000 --> 0:23:39.960 I'm outside of Danielle's. I see her car here, but 0:23:40.000 --> 0:23:42.600 she's not answering. I have her key. I don't want 0:23:42.600 --> 0:23:44.440 to just walk in if she's in the shower or something. 0:23:44.440 --> 0:23:47.359 I don't want her to get scared, and she said 0:23:47.560 --> 0:23:48.960 maybe she slept at Richard's. 0:23:49.960 --> 0:23:52.680 At the time, John had been trying to support Danielle 0:23:52.760 --> 0:23:56.320 as much as possible. See in the last twelve months, 0:23:56.440 --> 0:24:01.120 Danielle's life had gotten complicated. Danielle I had recently separated 0:24:01.160 --> 0:24:04.879 from her husband, Joe Imbo. To make matters more challenging, 0:24:05.240 --> 0:24:08.600