July 19, 2024 • 42 mins
Introducing There and Gone: South Street. On this bonus episode of Betrayal, Andrea and Season 2's Ashley Lytton discuss the latest podcast from the team that brought you Betrayal. Please enjoy a special “AD FREE” presentation of Episode 1 of There and Gone: South Street. Ashley shares her feelings about the new hit true crime podcast. Please take a moment to listen and subscribe to There and Gone: South Street by clicking here.
You will find There and Gone: South Street on the iHeartApp, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you want to listen to episodes one week early and ad-free, you can sign up for iHeartTrueCrime+, exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Thank you for listening!
There and Gone: Ep 1 — Ghosts
How do two adults and a pickup truck disappear from a busy Philadelphia street? That’s the question that’s baffled law enforcement and the families of Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone for almost 20 years. The FBI called the crime “personal”. But who would want to harm Danielle or Richard? And why?
To find more episodes of There and Gone: South Street, click here. Please subscribe to the show, leave a review and rate 5 stars!
If you would like to reach out to the There and Gone Team, please email us at thereandgonepod@gmail.com.
If you have any tips on the disappearance of Richard Petrone and Danielle Imbo, please contact the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-546-TIPS (8477).
Jerri Williams hosts the podcast “FBI Retired Case File Review”.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, It's Andrea, host of Betrayal, and I want to
share my new podcast called Therein Gone South Street. I
spent the last three years investigating the disappearance of two
adults who vanished without a trace on one of the
busiest streets in Philadelphia, the city I grew up in.
It's been almost twenty years since Richard Patron and Danielle
(00:21):
Embo went missing. It's become a Philadelphia urban legend, a
story that haunts the city to this day. There are
no suspects, no evidence, and no justice for the families
of the missing. Every story we produce is personal, but
this one feels even more so because it happened in
my backyard. I was in high school when they disappeared,
(00:43):
and for years I drove by a billboard on I
ninety five South with photos of Richard and Danielle smiling,
full of life, with a message asking for tips. And
here's the thing, according to law enforcement, there are still
people out there who know what happened to them. That's
why I decided to take this on three years ago.
(01:04):
Through our own investigation, We've turned over every lead, spoken
with the families, and worked with the FBI, and there
and gone South Street, and we've been hearing from people
in Philadelphia. I have to share I was really touched
when Betrayals Ashley Lytton called me to tell me she
was listening to the new series, Drey.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
You know that I'm a huge crime podcast buff.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
That's that's how we met.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
And of course I wouldn't miss you, know, any of
your projects that you've been working on. I was in
my car on like a break listening and I was
crying and it was so hot outside. I was like,
it is so hot and I have the fucking chills.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
So what part gave you the chills? What resonated it?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
It did resonate with me. Richard and Danielle. They have children,
they have established lives, they have loving families. But another
thing that really hit me was that it's been nineteen years,
because there has to be somebody that knows something, like
somebody has heard something, or somebody slipped when they'd been drinking,
(02:11):
or you know, friends of a friend, or you know
what I mean, somebody knows something. Why isn't anybody coming forward.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
I love this city deeply, and anyone from Philadelphia there's
just this love that runs so deep and the pride
that we have, but I've learned to also, at the
same time, fear the city in a way I didn't
realize just how pervasive and how dark and how scary
(02:43):
this city could be.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I think those that have listened and really heard my
story on Betreal season two will be compelled to listen
to There and Gone South Street because of what you do.
I see how much of you you put into your work,
because I know it's so genuine and authentic. You don't
(03:11):
just work this, You've lived.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I really appreciate your words. Ash, Thank you. I want
nothing more than for our work to bring those who
harmed Richard and Danielle to justice. So, listeners, I want
to share with you a special ad free presentation of
episode one of There and Gone South Street. Please take
a moment to listen, and if you're enjoying the show,
(03:33):
just know new episodes drop every Monday on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if
you want to listen to episodes one week early in
ad free, you can sign up for iHeart True Crime
Plus exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So here is episode one
of They're in Gone South Street.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Throughout this entire time Danielle's been missing. Trying to find
literally consumed me. Some psychic called my mother in law
and said Danielle was dying in a box car. So
in the middle of the night, I went down to
(04:15):
Philadelphia and searched the train tracks under the bridge with
a flashlight. Here I am scaling this fence at midnight
with a flashlight looking in box cars. I got in
trouble for that one. The Mount Laurel police detective called
(04:38):
me up screaming, telling me that they had to stop
all of commerce in Pennsylvania to get me out of
the railroad because I was looking in railroad cars. I
just can't stop. It just consumed me.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
That's Johonna Tobray. His sister Danielle went missing in February
of two thousand and five, but she wasn't alone. Kanielle
and her friend Richard left a bar and simply vanished.
Nineteen years later, they still have yet to be found.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
She was my sister, she was my friend, she was
my blood. I would do anything for her throughout all
these years. Speaking with the FBI, I know my sister
died that night, but to this day, I still don't know,
(05:30):
I can't stop my mind from wandering to the darker things.
She alone? Was she scared? Was she calling out for someone?
Speaker 5 (05:39):
Was?
Speaker 4 (05:42):
For all I know? They have all this information, the FBI.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
So what does the FBI say?
Speaker 6 (05:50):
We have several working theories. We've done a number of
searches in different areas.
Speaker 7 (05:56):
We have a lot of folks that we've talked to.
Speaker 6 (05:58):
We have statements, phone records. I probably have the silver
bullet and all of that stuff. I need somebody to
tie it together. This needs to get solved.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
I'm Andrea Gunning and this is therein Gone South Street,
Episode one, Ghosts.
Speaker 6 (06:22):
All that I know.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Is I say you in that dream, reached out on
the dog for you fe lost to me. I'll never
give up, no matter how long I open my eyes
(06:49):
define you Gone.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
A Note that the views and opinions expressed in this
podcast are so those of the individuals participating. This podcast
contains subject matter which may not be suitable for everyone.
Discretion is advised. For fifteen years, Danielle and Richard were
strangers to me. Ghosts that loomed over I ninety five South.
(07:18):
It's the stretch of highway that connects Philadelphia to New
York City. Each side is lined with billboards. Most are
ads for ambulance chasers or beer, but one shows two
smiling faces next to the word missing. It's Danielle Imbau
and Richard Patron, and it's been there for almost twenty years.
Speaker 8 (07:39):
Inbo and Patron were last seen leaving a South Street
bar in the late evening of February nineteenth, two thousand
and five.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
I knew their faces, I knew their names.
Speaker 8 (07:49):
Investigators have turned up a few promising leads, but have
not found the couple or the car.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
South Street is one of the busiest and most popular
places for nightlife in Philadelphia, at least it was in
two thousand and five. Think Bourbon Street, but without the
balconies and beats. It's not exactly the same, but you
get the idea. No shortage of places to grab a
drink and have a good time. It's not a place
where two people just vanish, and it's certainly a spot
(08:17):
where you'd have plenty of eyewitnesses.
Speaker 8 (08:19):
They had left a bar at Fourth and South, headed
to his pickup truck and simply vanished, not a trace.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Two adults in their mid thirties walk out of a
bar and into oblivion. How is that even possible. I
live within walking distance to South Street. I've been to
those bars, and I've walked those same streets. I know
how busy they are, so this has often haunted me.
(08:49):
The story of Richard Patrone and daniel Embou became an anecdote,
a Philadelphia urban legend. If my team was ever going
to produce a missing persons podcast, this was the one.
And as I'll explain in a bit, it turns out
we're way more connected to the story than I originally thought.
When I begin working on a story, I usually reach
(09:10):
out to law enforcement. From the initial research, it was
clear the FBI was involved, so I decided to start there.
Speaker 9 (09:18):
This case was different because it was two people. They
were adults that were just out having fun, and now
they disappear with you know, no information about where they
could be.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
That's Jerry Williams. She was an FBI agent and the
spokesperson for the Philadelphia Bureau when Danielle and Richard went missing.
Speaker 9 (09:42):
I don't think anybody had heard of a case like
this ever before. Vita would come into my office and
keep me updated.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Vito special Agent Vito Rosselli. He has been working on
this case since the very beginning.
Speaker 9 (10:00):
I could tell that it was more than just another
investigation for him.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Agent Rosselli had spent almost two decades tracking down every
lead in this case but came up short.
Speaker 9 (10:12):
There are so many times over the past few years
that I thought Vito was close in solving this and
then nothing.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
I needed to talk to Vito.
Speaker 10 (10:25):
Hey, Andrea, I really appreciate your effort on this huge hen.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Special Agent Vito Rosselli looks and sounds like someone in
a TV show who's playing an FBI agent. He's a
stocky guy, muscular with dark skin, and seems like someone
you'd want to grab a beer with.
Speaker 6 (10:42):
My dad was an old hover guy. He was an
old FBI agent, so I grew up around that. I
got in Philly in February of ninety seven, and I've
been in Philly pretty much my whole career.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Vito is a warm and welcoming guy, but I could
tell that he carries pieces of this investigation around with him,
and that clearly rests heavily on his heart. I don't
know how else to explain it, but there's a heaviness
to that.
Speaker 6 (11:09):
It wasn't just an accident driving off a bridge, a truck,
and two people just don't disappear. What I do know
is that the people who are involved had to have
the means to get rid of two bodies and a
truck in a very quick amount of time. That means
that they did it before or they had access to
(11:31):
those circles.
Speaker 7 (11:33):
So I don't have the truck and they don't have
the bodies.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Just think about that. Not only are Danielle and Richard missing,
but so is the Dodge Dakota pickup truck they were driving.
And after nineteen years of searching, Fido still has no
physical evidence to work with. He's been trying to figure
out who wanted to kill either Danielle and Richard without
a fingerprint, a tire mark, or a single drop of blood.
(12:00):
But maybe what's stranger than any of that is the why.
Because on paper, neither of these two seem to have
a target on their back.
Speaker 6 (12:09):
What I did on covers that both were good people.
A lot of people cared for him. Danielle was very
close to her mom and her brother, and rich was
very close to both his parents and all his siblings
and had a child that he was raising.
Speaker 7 (12:24):
Both families are still extremely destrought.
Speaker 6 (12:27):
It's very emotional for him, as emotional today as it
was when I first met them.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Vito has a lot writing on this investigation. Obviously, he
felt for Danielle and Richard's families. It's been on his
plate since two thousand and five. And all investigators will
tell you they always feel like they're racing against time,
but Vito had a different clock. You see in the
FBI there's a mandatory retirement age of fifty seven, and
(12:56):
Vido's fifty seventh birthday was fast.
Speaker 7 (13:01):
Every investigator, every detective, has.
Speaker 6 (13:03):
That white whale that hangs over the head, and in
this particular case, where you don't get an answer, that
just crushes people's souls and it's tough. So the case
is very much open, and hopefully we make it arrested.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
I've met with Vito a few times now. After those conversations,
it's become clear what Veto is missing testimony, someone who
heard something or saw something, or remembers anything, anything about
what happened on the night of February nineteenth, two thousand
and five. He just needs someone to come forward.
Speaker 6 (13:37):
Everybody that's working on this case and everybody that has
worked on this case wants this to get out in
the public and wants people to call in.
Speaker 7 (13:46):
And that's why I'm very thankful for you guys.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
This case was a big deal in Philadelphia, and to
be fair, it did get national attention, but that interest
lasted for like two months because in May of two
thousand and five, I'm an American teenager went missing in Aruba,
Natalie Holloway, and the nation turned their attention to her. Slowly,
Danielle and Richard faded from public consciousness, but Philadelphia hasn't forgotten.
(14:15):
For a big metropolitan city, there is a small town
feel here and it's that close knit community that keeps
their memory alive. See, everybody knows everybody here, or at
least knows someone who knows your sister or your cousin,
or used to work with that guy that you used
to work with. All of that is relevant here. The city.
(14:36):
It's people, It's all important to this story. Philadelphia is
the city of brotherly love, and often love extends to
loyalty vows of silence when it comes to nefarious behavior.
The FBI undoubtedly believes that there are people who know
what happened to Richard and Danielle, but have remained silent.
(15:00):
So why now? I once heard this theory from law
enforcement that when it comes to these types of cases,
there are usually three windows of time to solve them,
the first few weeks, the first year, and then the
next best is the twentieth anniversary.
Speaker 6 (15:19):
I've gotten confessions from folks because it was chewing them
up on the inside.
Speaker 7 (15:25):
Not all folks that do illegal activity are evil folks.
Speaker 6 (15:29):
A lot of them have consciences and kids and families
of their own, and eventually it wears on them.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
By the time this podcast launches, we'll approach the opening
of that final window. Maybe after two decades, perhaps someone's
own mortality will change their view and come forward with information.
I approached my team about taking this on and knew
(15:57):
my producing partner Ben would be interested because, like me,
he grew up in Philadelphia too. He knew this story
as well as I did. But there was something I
didn't expect. When discussing it with my colleague Carrie, she
went white. She looked at me and said, you know,
my brother grew up with Richard Patron and was good
friends with him. Right. I had no idea, So she
(16:19):
put me in touch with her brother, Jimmy he.
Speaker 11 (16:21):
Was so likable. He just had such a huge heart.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Jimmy Hartman grew up across the street from Richard, and
the two immediately became fast friends.
Speaker 11 (16:30):
We'd like to play hockey. We would get the guys together,
and we became friends from there. And I knew Danielle
also because I graduated high school for with her.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Like I said, everybody knows everybody.
Speaker 11 (16:42):
She was always nice. I just never got to know
her that well, but I knew her and.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
She knew me.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
So Jimmy not only knew Danielle and Richard, but was
even close with Richard's parents, Richard Senior and Marge Patron.
Speaker 11 (16:56):
You couldn't go to the house without eating, just to
poopole Italian family, and there's just pasta and food and
bread and wine and everything everywhere.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Jimmy said. It's been tough to watch the Patron suffer
all these years.
Speaker 11 (17:13):
You could see the pain, especially in Marge's eyes. You
could just see how much it hurts her, you know,
And when you have somebody taken from me like this,
it's just really hard to say goodbye.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
At first, he said that patrons were dreading that phone
call from police, the call that would confirm that Richard
was dead. But now any information would be welcomed information.
Speaker 11 (17:39):
I would hate for either one of them to leave
the earth without having closure. I mean, they have not
let up on trying to get this mystery solved.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
We had the FBI on our side, but we understood
that to move forward we would need both families to participate.
It's a painful process, but also an opportunity. The more
you talk about a missing person, the more likely it
is that someone who knows something will say something. But
approaching these families, I knew I would be asking them
to relive so much. It's tough. Since Jimmy knew the
(18:15):
Patrons from childhood, he made an introduction, so we started
there we go. Marge Patrone greeted me and my colleague
(18:43):
Ben at her front door. It was a bright Sunday afternoon,
nearly nineteen years after her son, Richard and his friend
Danielle Imbo vanished. We needed to learn who Richard and
Danielle were and understand everything they left behind. On February nineteenth,
two thousand and five, we had been told that both
families were done speaking to the press. Think about it.
(19:06):
The closest people to Richard and Danielle had to answer
the same questions about their disappearance for over nineteen years now,
Yet here I was, with my partner Ben, standing at
the threshold of the patron's family home to again pick
at that scap. It took an introduction from Richard's childhood friend,
(19:26):
many conversations and veto expressing the importance of participating. Ultimately,
the patrons agreed.
Speaker 12 (19:34):
You want to sit like somewhere comfortable.
Speaker 9 (19:36):
Or what do you want to do?
Speaker 1 (19:37):
And much to my surprise and relief, Marge welcomed us
with a warm, friendly smile, and just like I was told,
she immediately wanted to feed us something. Marge is a
grandmother as well as a mother of three, so hosting
us seemed like old hat for March, like we'd been
(19:58):
over for dinner many times before, even though this was
a first for all of us. And that day Marge
invited us for Sunday dinner. I know this isn't just
a meal that happens to fall on Sunday. It's actually
a long running tradition for the Patrons. That's when their
family comes together for a big Italian meal. So we
felt honored to be invited it was just before Christmas,
(20:22):
and every inch of our house was decorated, including the kitchen.
That's where we all gathered around a charcuterie board filled
with slice delling meats and cheeses, while a huge pot
of red gravy bubbled on the stove behind us. Marge's
freezer door was lined with several baby pictures and a
ton of magnets. She pointed to the Chicago Bears magnet
(20:42):
and said it was Richard's favorite football team. And then
there was this, I have a Susan Lucci doll. You
might remember Susan Lucci from the long running daytime TV
show All My Children.
Speaker 5 (20:55):
You know it's funny because I love soap, a Opwards
and all that.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Marge explained that she always watched All My Children and
how one year for Christmas, Richard surprised her with this
Susan Lucci doll.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
For a guy, he was the best gift giver and
just very thoughtful and did it all himself, Like he
didn't just go to the mall and buy anything. He
knew what you were into.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
I could tell Richard is Marge's first born. She lights
up at every mention of his name, like how he
played hockey from the time he was seven until the
day he went missing, And how she still holds onto
Richard's Bobby Clark jersey. That's when her voice trailed off.
And as the firstborn, you could say Richard got special treatment.
(21:44):
When Richard had a sore throat, I would run him
to the doctors.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
That Christine always would say, if I said I had
a store throat, you'd say, spray your throat. You're right.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
So Christine and Elisa are Margin's daughters. Christine was also
best friends with Daniel Imbo. She was supposed to join
us for dinner, but Christine backed out at the last minute.
Her sister Elisa gave us a clue as to why.
Speaker 13 (22:08):
I think this whole thing was really hard for christinecause
it's her best friend and her brother Richard and Christine
rolling your difference. And she doesn't really say anything too
much about that night.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Alisa is well into her thirties now, but was just
a teenager when her brother Richard disappeared.
Speaker 13 (22:29):
We have no idea what happened to them or how
this happened, and we just lived with that, and it's
an awful feeling.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
There was a row of stockings in the living room
that hung across their mantle, just above the fireplace. I
couldn't help but wonder if Richard's stocking was one of them. Okay,
we all moved to the kitchen table as Marge arrived
with a giant bowl of stuff, mannicotti and homemade meatballs.
It was enough to feed a small army.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Everything's to be is happy and sad.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Marge pointed to where Richard sat for thirty five years,
and then to the empty chair where her husband used
to sit for forty years. Marge and her husband, Richard,
owned and operated a Swedish bakery called Viking Pastries in
the suburbs of Philly. That's where Richard and his father
worked side by side. The two were very close. Richard
(23:24):
Senior suffered multiple strokes and hasn't been home for a
while now.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
He's just never been here since Richard disappeared, left face it.
He's never been the safe no, no, never. He's the
shell of the person he used to but he's not at.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
All who he was with them. You know.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
I don't want to say that life hasn't gone on
for the patron since Richard disappeared, because it has, but
I got the feeling that Marge in particular has been
sort of treading water ever since that day. The void
Richard left was on full display that Sunday.
Speaker 5 (23:55):
I had to keep going, which I still am doing,
even though it's like yesterday for me.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Back on February twentieth, two thousand and five, Richard didn't
make it home for Sunday dinner.
Speaker 5 (24:09):
I remember Christine calling me. She said, Mom, Richard's missing.
I said missing, What do you mean. He's home. There's
a nice car today. You would never leave the house.
He's home.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Marge said she was out running errands with her husband
that afternoon, and she was certain Richard was home. It
was the day of the Daytona five hundred, and Richard
had been looking forward to it all week.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
She's not home, mom.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Christine called Marge from the salon where she worked. She
was concerned about Danielle. Yeah, the same Danielle who was
with Richard the night before.
Speaker 5 (24:41):
And she said, Danielle didn't show up for an appointment
today and she never does that, and he's not home.
He's missing.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Marge and her son Richard were close. They usually talked
multiple times a day, but that Sunday, she hadn't heard
from him.
Speaker 5 (24:57):
And so my coldest phone a million time time, and
I just went right to voicemail. He would never not
answer his phone to me.
Speaker 12 (25:05):
Never.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
One thing to keep in mind. Back in early two
thousand and five, most of us had flip phones and
texting wasn't common yet, so when our phones rang, we'd
actually answer them. The fact that Richard wasn't answering his
phone immediately concerned March.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
And Christine said the same thing with Danielle. It's just
going right to voicemail.
Speaker 10 (25:27):
Now.
Speaker 5 (25:27):
I call my sister and I said to her, you've
got to go in his apartment.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Marge's sister lived down the street from Richard, so she
had a spare key and headed over to the apartment.
She didn't see Richard's truck parked out front, so she
unlocked the door and went inside.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
She said, no, nobody came back here, and the book's barking.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Richard's dog, Bismarck was in distress and needed to go out.
His food bowl was empty, and it was clear Richard
had not been home for hours. From everything I've learned today,
he's a reliable guy, not one to be out of touch.
Leaving his family in the dark like this. It was
out of character.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
He would never go anywhere without telling me. I know
immediately immediately, I like, so, oh my god, this could
not be happening. But I lost my son today. Oh
my god, there's Thine said, we're never going to see
them again, are we?
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Mom?
Speaker 5 (26:30):
I said, no, we're not, We're not.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Christine and Marge feared the worst, but Richard's father wasn't
about to jump to conclusions. Richard was a strong Italian father.
He's as much braun as he is brains, and what
his wife was telling him it wasn't registering.
Speaker 5 (26:51):
He said, what are you saying. I'm saying that something
terrible happened to your son.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
While the fear was hitting the Patron family, John and Tobray,
Danielle's brother, was also realizing Danielle didn't make it home
that night.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
I woke up Sunday morning early and I took a
ride to her house to fix the curtain. I sold
her car out front. I knock on the door. She's
not answering on a cor her cell phone. It goes
right to voicemail. So I called my mother and I said, Mom,
I'm outside at Danielle's I see her car here, but
she's not answering. I have her key. I don't want
(27:35):
to just walk in with if she's in the shower
or something. I don't want her to get scared, and
she said maybe she slept at Richard's.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
At the time, John had been trying to support Danielle
as much as possible. See in the last twelve months,
Danielle's life had gotten complicated. Danielle had recently separated from
her husband, Joe Imbo. To make matters more challenging, Danielle
and Joe welcomed their son together just two years prior.
In February of two thousand and five, Danielle was in
(28:04):
uncharted waters. She was a single parent, navigating custody of
their twenty month old child, and deep in the throes
of dissolving her marriage with Joe. Anything John could do
to help his sister, he would, whether it be helping
out around the condo or looking after the baby.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
It was a typical ugly separation, you know, it was
headed towards divorce, so I didn't think anything of it.
Like hung the curtains up and I left zobbious.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
No one was home, so John packed up his tools
and went about his day like he would any other.
That was until I got a.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
Phone call around three o'clock. It was my mother and
she said, Danielle never came home last night. I'm at
her condo now I need you to come here. And
my mother is in full blown panic. She said, Joe's
getting ready to drop the baby off in the next
hour and she's not here, and no one can get
in touch with either one of them. I knew right
(29:07):
there something was wrong. I just knew it.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
The divorce was nasty. Danielle's mom knew how bad it
would look for her daughter if Joe dropped off her son,
only to find out Danielle never came home that night.
It was currently Mia. You see, over the past few months,
Danielle had been dating Richard Patron, and Joe knew that.
She didn't want to give her soon to be ex
(29:33):
son in law any ammunition.
Speaker 4 (29:39):
My mother said, don't tell him what's going on. I
don't want him to know because I don't want him
to say, well, I'll keep the baby until she comes home.
I said, Mom, don't worry about it.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
It was three o'clock that afternoon when Joe arrived to
drop off their son. That was the agreed upon time
for Joe to end his weekend with a baby, and.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
He kind of walked in look confused, and he said
worth Danielle and my mother said, oh, she went to
dinner with Christine, And then he said something like he
mumbled under his breath, I guess telling a lie is
better than telling the truth. Then he left, like saying
what we were saying was bullshit.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
It was always our intention to start our own investigation,
but we had to ask ourselves, where do you start
on a case when two people go missing. We started
by retracing their last steps. We wanted to understand exactly
where Richard Patron and Danielle Imbo were the night of
February nineteenth, two thousand and five.
Speaker 5 (30:46):
We're all altogether. That right went to Chicky and Pete.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Marge and her two daughters, Christine and Alisa had dinner
with Danielle Imbo and Danielle's mother at Chicky and Pete's,
which is a popular Philadelphia restaurant. Think chicken sandwiches, she
stakes crabfries, and beer. It's a sports bar with games
on TVs everywhere, a good place to blow off steam
after a long week. Here's a Lisa, Richard's sister.
Speaker 13 (31:12):
It was just a girl's night out. I wanted to
tag along anywhere my sister and my mom were going,
so I was there.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Toward the end of dinner, Richard called Danielle to see
if she wanted to join him for the evening. Initially
Danielle wasn't sure, but eventually agreed she was open to
making the most for child free Saturday night.
Speaker 13 (31:36):
And then my sister drove Danielle to meet Richard.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
Christine agreed to drop her off since Danielle's car was
back at her condo in Jersey.
Speaker 5 (31:45):
That was really like a spark of the moment thing.
I don't think he even knew that she was going
to actually go with.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Him, And that's an important detail from Marge and something
to remember. This was a spontaneous meetup between Danielle and Richard.
Speaker 5 (32:01):
Richard was at another tap room having dinner and told
Christine to drop her role she would go with Richard
that night.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
As for Danielle, her brother John got the story of
what happened from his mother.
Speaker 4 (32:14):
She said, well, last night, Danielle and I and Margie
Christine went to Chicken and Pete's, and Richard called and said, Hey,
I'm at this bar, Abilene's on Sale Street. Why don't
you come. Danielle said, she'll meet you as long as
you can get her home at a reasonable time.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Danielle had an appointment at a salon the next morning.
It was the same salon that Christine Patron worked at.
So it's our understanding that from Chicky and Pete, Christine
drives Danielle to meet up with Richard, and Richard and
Danielle drive to abilene'es on sou Street together.
Speaker 12 (32:50):
South Street had this huge strip of bars, Abilene's. One
of them.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Journalists, Steve Vogue, covered the story for Philadelphia Magazine and
explained what happened next.
Speaker 12 (33:02):
I remember that they were having a good time, that
they were enjoying themselves. They sat close together, they shared
a kiss at some point, they were laughing a lot.
You know, they had a nice evening together.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
We heard Danielle and Richard spent a couple hours at
the bar that Saturday night listening to a band.
Speaker 12 (33:19):
They leave before midnight. He was going to drive her
back to her home in Mount Laurel, and that's where
the trail ends.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
No one has seen Danielle or Richard since.
Speaker 12 (33:34):
Not just them, but a truck disappeared into the ether
from one of the most frequented spots in the whole city.
It was stunning. I just wish that the families could
have an answer, and whatever the answer was, to sort
(33:58):
through it and deal with it.
Speaker 6 (34:01):
I'm a father, I'm a brother, I'm a husband, I'm
a son. It is very hard not to see the
human side, the human impact on the two families.
Speaker 7 (34:16):
It keeps me motivated.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
For Vito Rosselli, he lives with the impact of that
reality every day and one of the major factors that
has stopped him from solving this case is the evidence,
or lack thereof. This happened in two thousand and five,
when even basic equipment like security cameras were using outdated technology.
Speaker 6 (34:37):
Back then, everybody was still on VCRs that they were
taping over after two weeks of thirty days, street light cameras,
none of that existed. Back then, you know, the iPhones
weren't a thing, so it was a little different animal.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
Today, we can track our friends. Everyone essentially has a
GPS in their pocket. Plus there's no shortage of documenting
with people recording their life for the whole world to see.
But in two thousand and five, people had flip phones
in MySpace. Even YouTube didn't come out until February of
two thousand and five.
Speaker 6 (35:10):
We have a lot more tools available to us now
than we did back then.
Speaker 9 (35:16):
Today, when something happened, you know, there's cell phone video,
and there's video on buildings, and people are going on
social media and talking about it. Well, we didn't have
any of that back then.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
That's former FBI agent Jerry Williams.
Speaker 9 (35:34):
In my years of doing media relations for the FBI,
I've never heard of a case like this ever before.
I mean, people are concerned. If this happened to this couple,
what could happen to me and my kids if I
let them go on South Street.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
The community was concerned, and law enforcement didn't have much
to work with. After those initial days of the investigation,
the FBI got tapped in and the lack of evidence
actually started to tell a story to Vito.
Speaker 6 (36:09):
Nobody checks into a hospital. Neither one of them would
have left their children. They wouldn't just have run away.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
The idea of Richard and Danielle getting hurt or skipping
town got ruled out. Pretty quickly.
Speaker 6 (36:23):
There was no activity on their credit cards on their phones.
The people who did it made two people.
Speaker 7 (36:29):
In a truck disappear. That's a clean cry, and it.
Speaker 6 (36:34):
Could have been cleaned by accident, it could have been
cleaned by luck, or it could have been clean by design.
So it was clear that something bad happened pretty much
off the start.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Vido and Jerry were adamant about one thing. After nineteen
years of dead ends, they were out of options.
Speaker 9 (36:53):
When you have a case like this, you have to
figure out how to keep it in the news.
Speaker 6 (37:01):
Each year at the anniversary where you put something out
and without fail, we always had tips, callings and more.
Speaker 7 (37:09):
Over the past few years have been pretty consistent.
Speaker 6 (37:11):
So it's good it keeps it out in the public's eye.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Well.
Speaker 3 (37:17):
Today marks ten years since the local couple vanished without
a trace, and despite a decade since their disappearance, today
their relatives made an emotional plea for new information.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Every February twentieth, without fail, the city of Philadelphia is
reminded of Danielle and Richard.
Speaker 8 (37:35):
It has been eleven years to the day since daniel Believe.
Speaker 12 (37:38):
It or not, Today marks twelve years since Danielle IMBO
and Richard Patron Junior first one message they have not.
Speaker 5 (37:43):
Been seen in thirteen years, just right on.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
And from nineteen years now, these segments go out and
tips come in rints and.
Speaker 4 (37:51):
Repeat the family.
Speaker 8 (37:53):
But the MBI says they have not given up on
this case.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
Having lived here my whole life. I've watched the segment
each February with the rest of Philadelphia. Now I have
more of a context as to why. Just like that
billboard I mentioned in the beginning, it's a lifeline thrown
out for Richard and Danielle and their families, anything to
keep hope for justice alive.
Speaker 9 (38:21):
I think putting it out there to the public on
a true crime podcast is a brilliant step to add
to what has been done so far.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
It's crazy for me to say this, but I think
the FBI needs our help and your help. So do
Danielle and Richard. The two left a crowded bar in
a popular area of Philadelphia on a Saturday night two
decades ago, and in those twenty years, we still don't
know who wanted to harm them and why.
Speaker 10 (38:54):
One of the important directions that law enforcement had to
take to determine the history between Danielle and Richard. When
you look deep into anybody's backgrounds, you gotta be digging
up stuff. And we found some angles that were of
interest to us.
Speaker 9 (39:16):
That's when started to look like this may have been
a very personal crime.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
That's next time on There and Gone.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
All is I say you in that dream, reached out
in the dog for you felast to me. I'll never
give up, no matter how I opened my eyes. Define
(39:59):
gone a.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
Hitch corner.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
Lit another puss O peace, I follow the clues, looking
fo the key HOLEVE give up no matter. Hello, I ope.
Speaker 4 (40:28):
My o.
Speaker 3 (40:31):
To find that your gone.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
If you have any information about the disappearance of Danielle
Imbo and Richard Patron, please call the Citizens Crime Commission
tip line at two one five five four six eight
four seven seven, or you can reach out to the
show in our team by email at varngonpod at gmail
dot com. That's There and Gone, p o d at
(40:58):
gmail dot com. Thank you so much for listening. One
way for you to show support is by subscribing to
our show on Apple Podcasts. Don't forget to rate and review,
because five star reviews go a long way. A big
thank you to all of our listeners. Barin Gonn is
a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group,
(41:18):
in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced
by Nancy Glass, Ben Fetterman, and me Andrea Gunning. It's
hosted and written by me Andrea Gunning, with additional reporting
and writing by Ben Fetterman. The series is also written
and produced by Todd Gans. Our associate producer is Kristin Melcurrie.
Research by Mason Klinder, Anna Hamilton, and Bella Riki. Our
(41:42):
iHeart team is Ali Perry and Jessica Krincheck. Audio editing
and mixing by Matt Delvecchio, additional editing support by Nico Ruka. Thereon.
Gonn's theme and original compositions were composed by Oliver Bains
and Darry McCauley of Neuser Music Library, provided by my
Music Special thanks to both to Betrone and a tow
(42:03):
Ray Families. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hi, It's Andrea, host of Betrayal, and I want to
share my new podcast called Therein Gone South Street. I
spent the last three years investigating the disappearance of two
adults who vanished without a trace on one of the
busiest streets in Philadelphia, the city I grew up in.
It's been almost twenty years since Richard Patron and Danielle
(00:21):
Embo went missing. It's become a Philadelphia urban legend, a
story that haunts the city to this day. There are
no suspects, no evidence, and no justice for the families
of the missing. Every story we produce is personal, but
this one feels even more so because it happened in
my backyard. I was in high school when they disappeared,
(00:43):
and for years I drove by a billboard on I
ninety five South with photos of Richard and Danielle smiling,
full of life, with a message asking for tips. And
here's the thing, according to law enforcement, there are still
people out there who know what happened to them. That's
why I decided to take this on three years ago.
(01:04):
Through our own investigation, We've turned over every lead, spoken
with the families, and worked with the FBI, and there
and gone South Street, and we've been hearing from people
in Philadelphia. I have to share I was really touched
when Betrayals Ashley Lytton called me to tell me she
was listening to the new series, Drey.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
You know that I'm a huge crime podcast buff.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
That's that's how we met.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
And of course I wouldn't miss you, know, any of
your projects that you've been working on. I was in
my car on like a break listening and I was
crying and it was so hot outside. I was like,
it is so hot and I have the fucking chills.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
So what part gave you the chills? What resonated it?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
It did resonate with me. Richard and Danielle. They have children,
they have established lives, they have loving families. But another
thing that really hit me was that it's been nineteen years,
because there has to be somebody that knows something, like
somebody has heard something, or somebody slipped when they'd been drinking,
(02:11):
or you know, friends of a friend, or you know
what I mean, somebody knows something. Why isn't anybody coming forward.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
I love this city deeply, and anyone from Philadelphia there's
just this love that runs so deep and the pride
that we have, but I've learned to also, at the
same time, fear the city in a way I didn't
realize just how pervasive and how dark and how scary
(02:43):
this city could be.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I think those that have listened and really heard my
story on Betreal season two will be compelled to listen
to There and Gone South Street because of what you do.
I see how much of you you put into your work,
because I know it's so genuine and authentic. You don't
(03:11):
just work this, You've lived.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I really appreciate your words. Ash, Thank you. I want
nothing more than for our work to bring those who
harmed Richard and Danielle to justice. So, listeners, I want
to share with you a special ad free presentation of
episode one of There and Gone South Street. Please take
a moment to listen, and if you're enjoying the show,
(03:33):
just know new episodes drop every Monday on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if
you want to listen to episodes one week early in
ad free, you can sign up for iHeart True Crime
Plus exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So here is episode one
of They're in Gone South Street.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Throughout this entire time Danielle's been missing. Trying to find
literally consumed me. Some psychic called my mother in law
and said Danielle was dying in a box car. So
in the middle of the night, I went down to
(04:15):
Philadelphia and searched the train tracks under the bridge with
a flashlight. Here I am scaling this fence at midnight
with a flashlight looking in box cars. I got in
trouble for that one. The Mount Laurel police detective called
(04:38):
me up screaming, telling me that they had to stop
all of commerce in Pennsylvania to get me out of
the railroad because I was looking in railroad cars. I
just can't stop. It just consumed me.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
That's Johonna Tobray. His sister Danielle went missing in February
of two thousand and five, but she wasn't alone. Kanielle
and her friend Richard left a bar and simply vanished.
Nineteen years later, they still have yet to be found.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
She was my sister, she was my friend, she was
my blood. I would do anything for her throughout all
these years. Speaking with the FBI, I know my sister
died that night, but to this day, I still don't know,
(05:30):
I can't stop my mind from wandering to the darker things.
She alone? Was she scared? Was she calling out for someone?
Speaker 5 (05:39):
Was?
Speaker 4 (05:42):
For all I know? They have all this information, the FBI.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
So what does the FBI say?
Speaker 6 (05:50):
We have several working theories. We've done a number of
searches in different areas.
Speaker 7 (05:56):
We have a lot of folks that we've talked to.
Speaker 6 (05:58):
We have statements, phone records. I probably have the silver
bullet and all of that stuff. I need somebody to
tie it together. This needs to get solved.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
I'm Andrea Gunning and this is therein Gone South Street,
Episode one, Ghosts.
Speaker 6 (06:22):
All that I know.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Is I say you in that dream, reached out on
the dog for you fe lost to me. I'll never
give up, no matter how long I open my eyes
(06:49):
define you Gone.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
A Note that the views and opinions expressed in this
podcast are so those of the individuals participating. This podcast
contains subject matter which may not be suitable for everyone.
Discretion is advised. For fifteen years, Danielle and Richard were
strangers to me. Ghosts that loomed over I ninety five South.
(07:18):
It's the stretch of highway that connects Philadelphia to New
York City. Each side is lined with billboards. Most are
ads for ambulance chasers or beer, but one shows two
smiling faces next to the word missing. It's Danielle Imbau
and Richard Patron, and it's been there for almost twenty years.
Speaker 8 (07:39):
Inbo and Patron were last seen leaving a South Street
bar in the late evening of February nineteenth, two thousand
and five.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
I knew their faces, I knew their names.
Speaker 8 (07:49):
Investigators have turned up a few promising leads, but have
not found the couple or the car.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
South Street is one of the busiest and most popular
places for nightlife in Philadelphia, at least it was in
two thousand and five. Think Bourbon Street, but without the
balconies and beats. It's not exactly the same, but you
get the idea. No shortage of places to grab a
drink and have a good time. It's not a place
where two people just vanish, and it's certainly a spot
(08:17):
where you'd have plenty of eyewitnesses.
Speaker 8 (08:19):
They had left a bar at Fourth and South, headed
to his pickup truck and simply vanished, not a trace.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Two adults in their mid thirties walk out of a
bar and into oblivion. How is that even possible. I
live within walking distance to South Street. I've been to
those bars, and I've walked those same streets. I know
how busy they are, so this has often haunted me.
(08:49):
The story of Richard Patrone and daniel Embou became an anecdote,
a Philadelphia urban legend. If my team was ever going
to produce a missing persons podcast, this was the one.
And as I'll explain in a bit, it turns out
we're way more connected to the story than I originally thought.
When I begin working on a story, I usually reach
(09:10):
out to law enforcement. From the initial research, it was
clear the FBI was involved, so I decided to start there.
Speaker 9 (09:18):
This case was different because it was two people. They
were adults that were just out having fun, and now
they disappear with you know, no information about where they
could be.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
That's Jerry Williams. She was an FBI agent and the
spokesperson for the Philadelphia Bureau when Danielle and Richard went missing.
Speaker 9 (09:42):
I don't think anybody had heard of a case like
this ever before. Vita would come into my office and
keep me updated.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Vito special Agent Vito Rosselli. He has been working on
this case since the very beginning.
Speaker 9 (10:00):
I could tell that it was more than just another
investigation for him.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Agent Rosselli had spent almost two decades tracking down every
lead in this case but came up short.
Speaker 9 (10:12):
There are so many times over the past few years
that I thought Vito was close in solving this and
then nothing.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
I needed to talk to Vito.
Speaker 10 (10:25):
Hey, Andrea, I really appreciate your effort on this huge hen.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Special Agent Vito Rosselli looks and sounds like someone in
a TV show who's playing an FBI agent. He's a
stocky guy, muscular with dark skin, and seems like someone
you'd want to grab a beer with.
Speaker 6 (10:42):
My dad was an old hover guy. He was an
old FBI agent, so I grew up around that. I
got in Philly in February of ninety seven, and I've
been in Philly pretty much my whole career.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Vito is a warm and welcoming guy, but I could
tell that he carries pieces of this investigation around with him,
and that clearly rests heavily on his heart. I don't
know how else to explain it, but there's a heaviness
to that.
Speaker 6 (11:09):
It wasn't just an accident driving off a bridge, a truck,
and two people just don't disappear. What I do know
is that the people who are involved had to have
the means to get rid of two bodies and a
truck in a very quick amount of time. That means
that they did it before or they had access to
(11:31):
those circles.
Speaker 7 (11:33):
So I don't have the truck and they don't have
the bodies.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Just think about that. Not only are Danielle and Richard missing,
but so is the Dodge Dakota pickup truck they were driving.
And after nineteen years of searching, Fido still has no
physical evidence to work with. He's been trying to figure
out who wanted to kill either Danielle and Richard without
a fingerprint, a tire mark, or a single drop of blood.
(12:00):
But maybe what's stranger than any of that is the why.
Because on paper, neither of these two seem to have
a target on their back.
Speaker 6 (12:09):
What I did on covers that both were good people.
A lot of people cared for him. Danielle was very
close to her mom and her brother, and rich was
very close to both his parents and all his siblings
and had a child that he was raising.
Speaker 7 (12:24):
Both families are still extremely destrought.
Speaker 6 (12:27):
It's very emotional for him, as emotional today as it
was when I first met them.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Vito has a lot writing on this investigation. Obviously, he
felt for Danielle and Richard's families. It's been on his
plate since two thousand and five. And all investigators will
tell you they always feel like they're racing against time,
but Vito had a different clock. You see in the
FBI there's a mandatory retirement age of fifty seven, and
(12:56):
Vido's fifty seventh birthday was fast.
Speaker 7 (13:01):
Every investigator, every detective, has.
Speaker 6 (13:03):
That white whale that hangs over the head, and in
this particular case, where you don't get an answer, that
just crushes people's souls and it's tough. So the case
is very much open, and hopefully we make it arrested.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
I've met with Vito a few times now. After those conversations,
it's become clear what Veto is missing testimony, someone who
heard something or saw something, or remembers anything, anything about
what happened on the night of February nineteenth, two thousand
and five. He just needs someone to come forward.
Speaker 6 (13:37):
Everybody that's working on this case and everybody that has
worked on this case wants this to get out in
the public and wants people to call in.
Speaker 7 (13:46):
And that's why I'm very thankful for you guys.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
This case was a big deal in Philadelphia, and to
be fair, it did get national attention, but that interest
lasted for like two months because in May of two
thousand and five, I'm an American teenager went missing in Aruba,
Natalie Holloway, and the nation turned their attention to her. Slowly,
Danielle and Richard faded from public consciousness, but Philadelphia hasn't forgotten.
(14:15):
For a big metropolitan city, there is a small town
feel here and it's that close knit community that keeps
their memory alive. See, everybody knows everybody here, or at
least knows someone who knows your sister or your cousin,
or used to work with that guy that you used
to work with. All of that is relevant here. The city.
(14:36):
It's people, It's all important to this story. Philadelphia is
the city of brotherly love, and often love extends to
loyalty vows of silence when it comes to nefarious behavior.
The FBI undoubtedly believes that there are people who know
what happened to Richard and Danielle, but have remained silent.
(15:00):
So why now? I once heard this theory from law
enforcement that when it comes to these types of cases,
there are usually three windows of time to solve them,
the first few weeks, the first year, and then the
next best is the twentieth anniversary.
Speaker 6 (15:19):
I've gotten confessions from folks because it was chewing them
up on the inside.
Speaker 7 (15:25):
Not all folks that do illegal activity are evil folks.
Speaker 6 (15:29):
A lot of them have consciences and kids and families
of their own, and eventually it wears on them.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
By the time this podcast launches, we'll approach the opening
of that final window. Maybe after two decades, perhaps someone's
own mortality will change their view and come forward with information.
I approached my team about taking this on and knew
(15:57):
my producing partner Ben would be interested because, like me,
he grew up in Philadelphia too. He knew this story
as well as I did. But there was something I
didn't expect. When discussing it with my colleague Carrie, she
went white. She looked at me and said, you know,
my brother grew up with Richard Patron and was good
friends with him. Right. I had no idea, So she
(16:19):
put me in touch with her brother, Jimmy he.
Speaker 11 (16:21):
Was so likable. He just had such a huge heart.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Jimmy Hartman grew up across the street from Richard, and
the two immediately became fast friends.
Speaker 11 (16:30):
We'd like to play hockey. We would get the guys together,
and we became friends from there. And I knew Danielle
also because I graduated high school for with her.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Like I said, everybody knows everybody.
Speaker 11 (16:42):
She was always nice. I just never got to know
her that well, but I knew her and.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
She knew me.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
So Jimmy not only knew Danielle and Richard, but was
even close with Richard's parents, Richard Senior and Marge Patron.
Speaker 11 (16:56):
You couldn't go to the house without eating, just to
poopole Italian family, and there's just pasta and food and
bread and wine and everything everywhere.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Jimmy said. It's been tough to watch the Patron suffer
all these years.
Speaker 11 (17:13):
You could see the pain, especially in Marge's eyes. You
could just see how much it hurts her, you know,
And when you have somebody taken from me like this,
it's just really hard to say goodbye.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
At first, he said that patrons were dreading that phone
call from police, the call that would confirm that Richard
was dead. But now any information would be welcomed information.
Speaker 11 (17:39):
I would hate for either one of them to leave
the earth without having closure. I mean, they have not
let up on trying to get this mystery solved.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
We had the FBI on our side, but we understood
that to move forward we would need both families to participate.
It's a painful process, but also an opportunity. The more
you talk about a missing person, the more likely it
is that someone who knows something will say something. But
approaching these families, I knew I would be asking them
to relive so much. It's tough. Since Jimmy knew the
(18:15):
Patrons from childhood, he made an introduction, so we started
there we go. Marge Patrone greeted me and my colleague
(18:43):
Ben at her front door. It was a bright Sunday afternoon,
nearly nineteen years after her son, Richard and his friend
Danielle Imbo vanished. We needed to learn who Richard and
Danielle were and understand everything they left behind. On February nineteenth,
two thousand and five, we had been told that both
families were done speaking to the press. Think about it.
(19:06):
The closest people to Richard and Danielle had to answer
the same questions about their disappearance for over nineteen years now,
Yet here I was, with my partner Ben, standing at
the threshold of the patron's family home to again pick
at that scap. It took an introduction from Richard's childhood friend,
(19:26):
many conversations and veto expressing the importance of participating. Ultimately,
the patrons agreed.
Speaker 12 (19:34):
You want to sit like somewhere comfortable.
Speaker 9 (19:36):
Or what do you want to do?
Speaker 1 (19:37):
And much to my surprise and relief, Marge welcomed us
with a warm, friendly smile, and just like I was told,
she immediately wanted to feed us something. Marge is a
grandmother as well as a mother of three, so hosting
us seemed like old hat for March, like we'd been
(19:58):
over for dinner many times before, even though this was
a first for all of us. And that day Marge
invited us for Sunday dinner. I know this isn't just
a meal that happens to fall on Sunday. It's actually
a long running tradition for the Patrons. That's when their
family comes together for a big Italian meal. So we
felt honored to be invited it was just before Christmas,
(20:22):
and every inch of our house was decorated, including the kitchen.
That's where we all gathered around a charcuterie board filled
with slice delling meats and cheeses, while a huge pot
of red gravy bubbled on the stove behind us. Marge's
freezer door was lined with several baby pictures and a
ton of magnets. She pointed to the Chicago Bears magnet
(20:42):
and said it was Richard's favorite football team. And then
there was this, I have a Susan Lucci doll. You
might remember Susan Lucci from the long running daytime TV
show All My Children.
Speaker 5 (20:55):
You know it's funny because I love soap, a Opwards
and all that.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Marge explained that she always watched All My Children and
how one year for Christmas, Richard surprised her with this
Susan Lucci doll.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
For a guy, he was the best gift giver and
just very thoughtful and did it all himself, Like he
didn't just go to the mall and buy anything. He
knew what you were into.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
I could tell Richard is Marge's first born. She lights
up at every mention of his name, like how he
played hockey from the time he was seven until the
day he went missing, And how she still holds onto
Richard's Bobby Clark jersey. That's when her voice trailed off.
And as the firstborn, you could say Richard got special treatment.
(21:44):
When Richard had a sore throat, I would run him
to the doctors.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
That Christine always would say, if I said I had
a store throat, you'd say, spray your throat. You're right.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
So Christine and Elisa are Margin's daughters. Christine was also
best friends with Daniel Imbo. She was supposed to join
us for dinner, but Christine backed out at the last minute.
Her sister Elisa gave us a clue as to why.
Speaker 13 (22:08):
I think this whole thing was really hard for christinecause
it's her best friend and her brother Richard and Christine
rolling your difference. And she doesn't really say anything too
much about that night.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Alisa is well into her thirties now, but was just
a teenager when her brother Richard disappeared.
Speaker 13 (22:29):
We have no idea what happened to them or how
this happened, and we just lived with that, and it's
an awful feeling.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
There was a row of stockings in the living room
that hung across their mantle, just above the fireplace. I
couldn't help but wonder if Richard's stocking was one of them. Okay,
we all moved to the kitchen table as Marge arrived
with a giant bowl of stuff, mannicotti and homemade meatballs.
It was enough to feed a small army.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Everything's to be is happy and sad.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Marge pointed to where Richard sat for thirty five years,
and then to the empty chair where her husband used
to sit for forty years. Marge and her husband, Richard,
owned and operated a Swedish bakery called Viking Pastries in
the suburbs of Philly. That's where Richard and his father
worked side by side. The two were very close. Richard
(23:24):
Senior suffered multiple strokes and hasn't been home for a
while now.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
He's just never been here since Richard disappeared, left face it.
He's never been the safe no, no, never. He's the
shell of the person he used to but he's not at.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
All who he was with them. You know.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
I don't want to say that life hasn't gone on
for the patron since Richard disappeared, because it has, but
I got the feeling that Marge in particular has been
sort of treading water ever since that day. The void
Richard left was on full display that Sunday.
Speaker 5 (23:55):
I had to keep going, which I still am doing,
even though it's like yesterday for me.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Back on February twentieth, two thousand and five, Richard didn't
make it home for Sunday dinner.
Speaker 5 (24:09):
I remember Christine calling me. She said, Mom, Richard's missing.
I said missing, What do you mean. He's home. There's
a nice car today. You would never leave the house.
He's home.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Marge said she was out running errands with her husband
that afternoon, and she was certain Richard was home. It
was the day of the Daytona five hundred, and Richard
had been looking forward to it all week.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
She's not home, mom.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Christine called Marge from the salon where she worked. She
was concerned about Danielle. Yeah, the same Danielle who was
with Richard the night before.
Speaker 5 (24:41):
And she said, Danielle didn't show up for an appointment
today and she never does that, and he's not home.
He's missing.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Marge and her son Richard were close. They usually talked
multiple times a day, but that Sunday, she hadn't heard
from him.
Speaker 5 (24:57):
And so my coldest phone a million time time, and
I just went right to voicemail. He would never not
answer his phone to me.
Speaker 12 (25:05):
Never.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
One thing to keep in mind. Back in early two
thousand and five, most of us had flip phones and
texting wasn't common yet, so when our phones rang, we'd
actually answer them. The fact that Richard wasn't answering his
phone immediately concerned March.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
And Christine said the same thing with Danielle. It's just
going right to voicemail.
Speaker 10 (25:27):
Now.
Speaker 5 (25:27):
I call my sister and I said to her, you've
got to go in his apartment.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Marge's sister lived down the street from Richard, so she
had a spare key and headed over to the apartment.
She didn't see Richard's truck parked out front, so she
unlocked the door and went inside.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
She said, no, nobody came back here, and the book's barking.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Richard's dog, Bismarck was in distress and needed to go out.
His food bowl was empty, and it was clear Richard
had not been home for hours. From everything I've learned today,
he's a reliable guy, not one to be out of touch.
Leaving his family in the dark like this. It was
out of character.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
He would never go anywhere without telling me. I know
immediately immediately, I like, so, oh my god, this could
not be happening. But I lost my son today. Oh
my god, there's Thine said, we're never going to see
them again, are we?
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Mom?
Speaker 5 (26:30):
I said, no, we're not, We're not.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Christine and Marge feared the worst, but Richard's father wasn't
about to jump to conclusions. Richard was a strong Italian father.
He's as much braun as he is brains, and what
his wife was telling him it wasn't registering.
Speaker 5 (26:51):
He said, what are you saying. I'm saying that something
terrible happened to your son.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
While the fear was hitting the Patron family, John and Tobray,
Danielle's brother, was also realizing Danielle didn't make it home
that night.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
I woke up Sunday morning early and I took a
ride to her house to fix the curtain. I sold
her car out front. I knock on the door. She's
not answering on a cor her cell phone. It goes
right to voicemail. So I called my mother and I said, Mom,
I'm outside at Danielle's I see her car here, but
she's not answering. I have her key. I don't want
(27:35):
to just walk in with if she's in the shower
or something. I don't want her to get scared, and
she said maybe she slept at Richard's.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
At the time, John had been trying to support Danielle
as much as possible. See in the last twelve months,
Danielle's life had gotten complicated. Danielle had recently separated from
her husband, Joe Imbo. To make matters more challenging, Danielle
and Joe welcomed their son together just two years prior.
In February of two thousand and five, Danielle was in
(28:04):
uncharted waters. She was a single parent, navigating custody of
their twenty month old child, and deep in the throes
of dissolving her marriage with Joe. Anything John could do
to help his sister, he would, whether it be helping
out around the condo or looking after the baby.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
It was a typical ugly separation, you know, it was
headed towards divorce, so I didn't think anything of it.
Like hung the curtains up and I left zobbious.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
No one was home, so John packed up his tools
and went about his day like he would any other.
That was until I got a.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
Phone call around three o'clock. It was my mother and
she said, Danielle never came home last night. I'm at
her condo now I need you to come here. And
my mother is in full blown panic. She said, Joe's
getting ready to drop the baby off in the next
hour and she's not here, and no one can get
in touch with either one of them. I knew right
(29:07):
there something was wrong. I just knew it.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
The divorce was nasty. Danielle's mom knew how bad it
would look for her daughter if Joe dropped off her son,
only to find out Danielle never came home that night.
It was currently Mia. You see, over the past few months,
Danielle had been dating Richard Patron, and Joe knew that.
She didn't want to give her soon to be ex
(29:33):
son in law any ammunition.
Speaker 4 (29:39):
My mother said, don't tell him what's going on. I
don't want him to know because I don't want him
to say, well, I'll keep the baby until she comes home.
I said, Mom, don't worry about it.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
It was three o'clock that afternoon when Joe arrived to
drop off their son. That was the agreed upon time
for Joe to end his weekend with a baby, and.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
He kind of walked in look confused, and he said
worth Danielle and my mother said, oh, she went to
dinner with Christine, And then he said something like he
mumbled under his breath, I guess telling a lie is
better than telling the truth. Then he left, like saying
what we were saying was bullshit.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
It was always our intention to start our own investigation,
but we had to ask ourselves, where do you start
on a case when two people go missing. We started
by retracing their last steps. We wanted to understand exactly
where Richard Patron and Danielle Imbo were the night of
February nineteenth, two thousand and five.
Speaker 5 (30:46):
We're all altogether. That right went to Chicky and Pete.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Marge and her two daughters, Christine and Alisa had dinner
with Danielle Imbo and Danielle's mother at Chicky and Pete's,
which is a popular Philadelphia restaurant. Think chicken sandwiches, she
stakes crabfries, and beer. It's a sports bar with games
on TVs everywhere, a good place to blow off steam
after a long week. Here's a Lisa, Richard's sister.
Speaker 13 (31:12):
It was just a girl's night out. I wanted to
tag along anywhere my sister and my mom were going,
so I was there.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Toward the end of dinner, Richard called Danielle to see
if she wanted to join him for the evening. Initially
Danielle wasn't sure, but eventually agreed she was open to
making the most for child free Saturday night.
Speaker 13 (31:36):
And then my sister drove Danielle to meet Richard.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
Christine agreed to drop her off since Danielle's car was
back at her condo in Jersey.
Speaker 5 (31:45):
That was really like a spark of the moment thing.
I don't think he even knew that she was going
to actually go with.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Him, And that's an important detail from Marge and something
to remember. This was a spontaneous meetup between Danielle and Richard.
Speaker 5 (32:01):
Richard was at another tap room having dinner and told
Christine to drop her role she would go with Richard
that night.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
As for Danielle, her brother John got the story of
what happened from his mother.
Speaker 4 (32:14):
She said, well, last night, Danielle and I and Margie
Christine went to Chicken and Pete's, and Richard called and said, Hey,
I'm at this bar, Abilene's on Sale Street. Why don't
you come. Danielle said, she'll meet you as long as
you can get her home at a reasonable time.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Danielle had an appointment at a salon the next morning.
It was the same salon that Christine Patron worked at.
So it's our understanding that from Chicky and Pete, Christine
drives Danielle to meet up with Richard, and Richard and
Danielle drive to abilene'es on sou Street together.
Speaker 12 (32:50):
South Street had this huge strip of bars, Abilene's. One
of them.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Journalists, Steve Vogue, covered the story for Philadelphia Magazine and
explained what happened next.
Speaker 12 (33:02):
I remember that they were having a good time, that
they were enjoying themselves. They sat close together, they shared
a kiss at some point, they were laughing a lot.
You know, they had a nice evening together.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
We heard Danielle and Richard spent a couple hours at
the bar that Saturday night listening to a band.
Speaker 12 (33:19):
They leave before midnight. He was going to drive her
back to her home in Mount Laurel, and that's where
the trail ends.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
No one has seen Danielle or Richard since.
Speaker 12 (33:34):
Not just them, but a truck disappeared into the ether
from one of the most frequented spots in the whole city.
It was stunning. I just wish that the families could
have an answer, and whatever the answer was, to sort
(33:58):
through it and deal with it.
Speaker 6 (34:01):
I'm a father, I'm a brother, I'm a husband, I'm
a son. It is very hard not to see the
human side, the human impact on the two families.
Speaker 7 (34:16):
It keeps me motivated.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
For Vito Rosselli, he lives with the impact of that
reality every day and one of the major factors that
has stopped him from solving this case is the evidence,
or lack thereof. This happened in two thousand and five,
when even basic equipment like security cameras were using outdated technology.
Speaker 6 (34:37):
Back then, everybody was still on VCRs that they were
taping over after two weeks of thirty days, street light cameras,
none of that existed. Back then, you know, the iPhones
weren't a thing, so it was a little different animal.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
Today, we can track our friends. Everyone essentially has a
GPS in their pocket. Plus there's no shortage of documenting
with people recording their life for the whole world to see.
But in two thousand and five, people had flip phones
in MySpace. Even YouTube didn't come out until February of
two thousand and five.
Speaker 6 (35:10):
We have a lot more tools available to us now
than we did back then.
Speaker 9 (35:16):
Today, when something happened, you know, there's cell phone video,
and there's video on buildings, and people are going on
social media and talking about it. Well, we didn't have
any of that back then.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
That's former FBI agent Jerry Williams.
Speaker 9 (35:34):
In my years of doing media relations for the FBI,
I've never heard of a case like this ever before.
I mean, people are concerned. If this happened to this couple,
what could happen to me and my kids if I
let them go on South Street.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
The community was concerned, and law enforcement didn't have much
to work with. After those initial days of the investigation,
the FBI got tapped in and the lack of evidence
actually started to tell a story to Vito.
Speaker 6 (36:09):
Nobody checks into a hospital. Neither one of them would
have left their children. They wouldn't just have run away.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
The idea of Richard and Danielle getting hurt or skipping
town got ruled out. Pretty quickly.
Speaker 6 (36:23):
There was no activity on their credit cards on their phones.
The people who did it made two people.
Speaker 7 (36:29):
In a truck disappear. That's a clean cry, and it.
Speaker 6 (36:34):
Could have been cleaned by accident, it could have been
cleaned by luck, or it could have been clean by design.
So it was clear that something bad happened pretty much
off the start.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Vido and Jerry were adamant about one thing. After nineteen
years of dead ends, they were out of options.
Speaker 9 (36:53):
When you have a case like this, you have to
figure out how to keep it in the news.
Speaker 6 (37:01):
Each year at the anniversary where you put something out
and without fail, we always had tips, callings and more.
Speaker 7 (37:09):
Over the past few years have been pretty consistent.
Speaker 6 (37:11):
So it's good it keeps it out in the public's eye.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Well.
Speaker 3 (37:17):
Today marks ten years since the local couple vanished without
a trace, and despite a decade since their disappearance, today
their relatives made an emotional plea for new information.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Every February twentieth, without fail, the city of Philadelphia is
reminded of Danielle and Richard.
Speaker 8 (37:35):
It has been eleven years to the day since daniel Believe.
Speaker 12 (37:38):
It or not, Today marks twelve years since Danielle IMBO
and Richard Patron Junior first one message they have not.
Speaker 5 (37:43):
Been seen in thirteen years, just right on.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
And from nineteen years now, these segments go out and
tips come in rints and.
Speaker 4 (37:51):
Repeat the family.
Speaker 8 (37:53):
But the MBI says they have not given up on
this case.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
Having lived here my whole life. I've watched the segment
each February with the rest of Philadelphia. Now I have
more of a context as to why. Just like that
billboard I mentioned in the beginning, it's a lifeline thrown
out for Richard and Danielle and their families, anything to
keep hope for justice alive.
Speaker 9 (38:21):
I think putting it out there to the public on
a true crime podcast is a brilliant step to add
to what has been done so far.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
It's crazy for me to say this, but I think
the FBI needs our help and your help. So do
Danielle and Richard. The two left a crowded bar in
a popular area of Philadelphia on a Saturday night two
decades ago, and in those twenty years, we still don't
know who wanted to harm them and why.
Speaker 10 (38:54):
One of the important directions that law enforcement had to
take to determine the history between Danielle and Richard. When
you look deep into anybody's backgrounds, you gotta be digging
up stuff. And we found some angles that were of
interest to us.
Speaker 9 (39:16):
That's when started to look like this may have been
a very personal crime.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
That's next time on There and Gone.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
All is I say you in that dream, reached out
in the dog for you felast to me. I'll never
give up, no matter how I opened my eyes. Define
(39:59):
gone a.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
Hitch corner.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
Lit another puss O peace, I follow the clues, looking
fo the key HOLEVE give up no matter. Hello, I ope.
Speaker 4 (40:28):
My o.
Speaker 3 (40:31):
To find that your gone.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
If you have any information about the disappearance of Danielle
Imbo and Richard Patron, please call the Citizens Crime Commission
tip line at two one five five four six eight
four seven seven, or you can reach out to the
show in our team by email at varngonpod at gmail
dot com. That's There and Gone, p o d at
(40:58):
gmail dot com. Thank you so much for listening. One
way for you to show support is by subscribing to
our show on Apple Podcasts. Don't forget to rate and review,
because five star reviews go a long way. A big
thank you to all of our listeners. Barin Gonn is
a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group,
(41:18):
in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced
by Nancy Glass, Ben Fetterman, and me Andrea Gunning. It's
hosted and written by me Andrea Gunning, with additional reporting
and writing by Ben Fetterman. The series is also written
and produced by Todd Gans. Our associate producer is Kristin Melcurrie.
Research by Mason Klinder, Anna Hamilton, and Bella Riki. Our
(41:42):
iHeart team is Ali Perry and Jessica Krincheck. Audio editing
and mixing by Matt Delvecchio, additional editing support by Nico Ruka. Thereon.
Gonn's theme and original compositions were composed by Oliver Bains
and Darry McCauley of Neuser Music Library, provided by my
Music Special thanks to both to Betrone and a tow
(42:03):
Ray Families. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Andrea Gunning
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