TADP Season 2 Episode 8 – The disappearance of Richard Petrone and Danielle Imbo

Richard Petrone Jr. and his friend, Danielle (Ottobre) Imbo, were last seen around 11:45 pm on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2005 leaving Abilene’s bar at 429 South Street in Philadelphia, where they met with some friends. They were heading for Richard’s 2001 black Dodge Dakota pickup truck, PA license plate # YFH-2319 parked in the neighborhood.

Richard, Danielle, or the truck haven’t been seen since and there have been no traces or clues as to their whereabouts.

They planned to spend the night at Danielle’s house in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. The next day, Richard was to come back to his apartment on Snyder Avenue near 16th Street in South Philadelphia to watch the Daytona 500. No one knows if the couple ever made it to Danielle’s house Saturday night.

Richard was 35 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall, 200 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. He had an “Angela” tattoo on his left arm and clowns on his right arm. Richard was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers. Danielle was 5 feet 5 inches tall, 117 pounds, with hazel eyes, fair skin and brown hair. She had a tattoo of flowers on her lower back. She was wearing a black jacket, cream-colored sweater and blue jeans.

Richard worked with his father at Viking Pastries, the family-owned bakery in Ardmore, PA. He had been working there since he graduated high school . He used to live in Ardmore but moved to South Philadelphia to be near Angela, his then 14 year-old daughter. Danielle on the other hand had a 1 1/2 year old son. Both Richard and Danielle knew each other since they were 15 years old.

Petrone and his girlfriend, Danielle Imbo, were last seen at Abilene's (sometime's spelled "Abeline's" or "Abiline's"), a bar and restaurant in the 400 block of South Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 19, 2005.

They had drinks with friends at the establishment before leaving between 11:30 and 11:45 p.m.; they stated they were going to Imbo's home in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Neither of them have been heard from again. Their friends stated that both of them behaved normally and seemed happy that evening.

Petrone's vehicle is also missing: it's a black and silver four-door 2001 Dodge Dakota or Dodge Ram pickup truck with the Pennsylvania license plate number YFH2319 and possibly a NASCAR #99 sticker in the rear window. Photographs of the truck and license plate are posted with this case summary.

Neither Imbo nor Petrone have accessed their bank accounts or used their credit cards or EZ-Pass cards since they went missing. Their cellular phones have stayed turned off.

Petrone and Imbo have one child each; Imbo has a toddler son and Petrone has a teenage daughter. Their loved ones stated they would never have voluntarily abandoned their families, whom they were close to. The couple knew each other in high school and began dating ten months before their disappearances after they separated from their respective partners.

Both Petrone, then 35, and Imbo, then 34, were described as dedicated parents with nothing in their lifestyle that would suggest they could be targets of foul play.

Authorities have questioned associates of both people. Petrone and Imbo's estranged husband had allegedly exchanged threats with one another over the telephone and Imbo had made multiple failed attempts to reconcile with her husband, who was involved with another woman.

Shortly before she disappeared, Imbo told her husband and Petrone that she wanted "space" from both of them; she was reportedly considering ending her relationship with Petrone altogether. Their loved ones believe foul play was involved in their cases, and both families have accused members of the other family of causing their disappearances.

Investigators stated that very little evidence is available to indicate what happened to Petrone and Imbo, but they have ruled out kidnapping and think a random act of violence is also unlikely.