GRIM OUTLOOK
Foul play suspected in disappearance of four young men in Bucks County
SOLEBURY TWP, PA » They seemed to have vanished into thin air.
And with time ticking away, authorities appear to be thinking the worst for four men gone missing since last week.
Bucks County District Attorney Matthew D. Weintraub said at a press conference Monday night that he “sure believes” foul play is suspected in the disappearance of four men.
“We’ve been treating this from the onset as a criminal investigation and nothing has deterred that to this point,” the district attorney said.
Police said Jimi Tar Patrick, 19, of Newtown Township, was the first to go missing on Wednesday. That was followed by the disappearances of 22-yearold Mark Sturgis, of Pennsburg in Montgomery County, Dean Finocchiaro, 18, of Middletown Township, and 21-year-old Tom Meo, of Plumstead Township, on Friday.
The FBI and a handful of local police agencies have launched a massive manhunt on two properties in rural Solebury Township, Pa.
Police seemed to be fixated on a 68-acre cornfield on the 6000 block of Lower York Road, which is Route 202, where heavy equipment has been brought in to search the area and has “investigative relevance,” Weintraub said. An abandoned property on the 2800 block of Aquetong Road, where a vehicle of one of the men was recovered on Sunday night in the garage, also appears to be a focus for investigators.
Both properties are owned by the DiNardo family, of Bensalem. Authorities also searched their home on the 900 block of Wayland Circle in Bensalem on Monday.
Though the property owners don’t appear to be the target of the probe, their son, 20-year-old Cosmo DiNardo, might be.
In an unrelated matter, Cosmo DiNardo was charged Monday with possession of a firearm in Bensalem Township. He was held on 10 percent of $1 million bail.
The charge stems from a February case that was previously dismissed in May. The high bail suggests authorities want Cosmo DiNardo locked up as they probe the disappearance of the four men.
According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by prosecutors, Comso DiNardo was “suffering from mental illness” at the time of his February arrest and was involuntarily committed to a mental institution for inpatient treatment, possibly explaining why the charges were previously dismissed. Cosmo DiNardo was found to be in possession of a Savage Arms 20-gauge shotgun and ammo, court documents outline.
Police sources say Cosmo DiNardo picked up one of the missing boys.
A phone message left at the Dinardo family home in Bensalem was not returned.
A neighbor who lives near the DiNardo’s large farm property off Route 202 called the son “pretty nutty.”
“He used to walk around here in camouflage with a gun hunting squirrels,” the neighbor said. “He’s a scary kid.”
The man said he used to hike the property when it was previously owned by a different family. The garage and the field are right around the corner from each other.
“There’s no way there’s a car left in that garage by someone who’s not familiar with this property,” the neighbor said, expecting a sad ending. “It’s so dense in there. There’s tree stands in there for hunting. There’s an old, abandoned car back there from the 40s. It’s as thick as mud in there and I’ve been through it.”
The district attorney said authorities have dedicated a “ton of investigative resources” at the Route 202 property, where a backhoe was observed on Monday afternoon.
“We’re not exactly sure what we’re going to find there but we’re pretty confident that the investigation is proceeding in the direction that we believed that it would and we don’t know as of yet what exactly will be revealed,” Weintraub said, noting he believes authorities will receive “fruitful information” from the DiNardo family.
Weintraub would not say if investigators have spoken to the DiNardo family or if the investigation has led them to Cosmo DiNardo.
The district attorney said there is information that the missing men knew each other.
“We’re still trying to run that down and ascertain if that is accurate or not,” he said.
Newtown police said Patrick had not been seen or heard from since 6 p.m. on Wednesday from family or friends, and failed to report to work, “which is not normal.”
Finocchiaro was last seen getting into a vehicle on Hampton Drive near his home in Langhorne on Friday, Middletown Township Police reported.
Meo and Sturgis were known friends.
A Facebook post said they were last seen around Route 202 and 263 in Doylestown on Friday night. The post also said Meo is diabetic.
Sturgis’ dad said he was instructed not to speak with the press when he was reached by phone on Monday afternoon.
Before he was censored, however, he told Philly.com that his son’s car was recovered at Peddler’s Village and that Meo’s car was found in the garage of the abandoned property on Aquetong Road. Both locations are a little more than a mile apart from each other, with the cornfield that is being searched smack dab in the center of them.
The district attorney will hold another press conference at 11 a.m. on Tuesday.
He admitted it may take days before more information comes to light, though he said the leads are “incredibly hot and fruitful.”
“It’s like trying to find needles in a haystack,” Weintraub said. “It’s going to take a lot of time but with dedicated people, you can get through anything.”
Anyone with information about the men’s whereabouts is asked to call 215297-8201, or to submit a tip anonymously on Crimewatch.