RI RI - Doreen Marfeo, 34, Johnston, 29 March 1990

Richard

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It is rather obvious what happened to this woman. But where is her body?

Doreen Ann Marfeo
Missing since March 29, 1990 from Johnston, Providence County, Rhode Island.
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: July 7, 1955
Age at Time of Disappearance: 34 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'7"; 115 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Medium brown hair; green eyes. Pale complexion with freckles.
Marks, Scars: Large chicken pox mark on front of one calf.
Dentals: One of front teeth is capped.

Circumstances of Disappearance
On March 30, 1990, Doreen Marfeo disappeared from her Johnston, Rhode Island, home. Doreen and Stephen Marfeo lived in a house in Johnston, Rhode Island, a small town west of Providence. They were married seven years, but in 1990, their marriage was falling apart. Doreen was getting counseling, she even quit her job, to try and save her marriage, but it wasn't working.

On March 29th, 1990, something happened. Stephen Marfeo, who took 20 minute lunch breaks every other day, took a lunch break that lasted an hour and half. March 29th was the last day Doreen Marfeo was ever seen alive. Stephen Marfeo didn't report his wife missing for two and half days. Odd, considering Marfeo thought his wife was cheating on him, and hired two private investigators to follow her. At the Marfeo house there was no sign of struggle. Doreen' s car was still parked here. Everything normal, except, no Doreeen. She didnt' take any of her personal belongings. Searches yielded nothing.

In June the Police recieved two typewritten letters.

The first: an account of the murder of Doreen Marfeo. The letter reads:
"Doreen sleeping on couch in living room. Stephen got hot under the collar, and strangled Doreen. He stuffed Doreen's shoes and handbag in a shopping bag and tied it on her waist." The letter goes on to say: "Stephen dumped his wife's body in a Providence pond in the reeds." The letter concludes: "Marfeo is highly skilled in the fine art of deception."

The second letter accuses Doreen of affairs at work. It names co-workers. Police believe her husband sent the letters. This second letter is crucial, because investigators were able to identify the typewriter. It came from Stephen Marfeo's mother's house. Stephen Marfeo dnied having written the letters.

The local police suspects she was murdered by her husband, though they have never been able to prove it. In July 1999, nine years after Doreen's disappearance, Stephen Marfeo shot and killed his estranged girlfriend. Then, drove to Connecticut and killed himself.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Johnston Police Department 401-231-4210

NCIC Number: M-416067945
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
Projo.Com
Fox 25
The Doe Network: Case File 1077DFRI

Link:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1077dfri.html
 
Sounds like it's probably in a Providence pond in the reeds. Such a shame that another innocent had to die at the hands of this "man." Good thing Stephen finished himself off IMO. Seems like maybe the right interrogater could have cracked his story soon after receiving the letters. In reading, it seems like a window of opportunity existed through and by the letters.

Would be good to find her body and give her a decent final resting place. I wonder if they ever followed up by searching bodies of water in that area? Does she have family who are still interested?
Just wondering....what was meant by the statement "Marfeo is highly skilled at the fine art of deception." Was he presumably talking about his wife, Doreen Marfeo (since he suspected she was having an affair)---or was he presumably talking about himself, since he apparently got away with murder? (I guess if he was talking about himself he wasn't as skilled as he thought he was since he ultimately couldn't handle it.)
 
Mullins said:
Sounds like it's probably in a Providence pond in the reeds. ...

Just wondering....what was meant by the statement "Marfeo is highly skilled at the fine art of deception." Was he presumably talking about his wife, Doreen Marfeo (since he suspected she was having an affair)---or was he presumably talking about himself, since he apparently got away with murder?...)
It would seem that she probably is buried somewhere close to her home. I could not tell exactly what the reference to "Marfeo" means. The writer refers to Stephen and to Doreen by first names earlier in the letter. Unfortunately, whoever edited the case summary left out a bit before the reference to "Marfeo". My guess would be that he meant it as a reference to whomever he mentioned just before it in his letter.
 
A quick map search shows numerous ponds in and around Johnson. My guess is that there are smaller ponds that aren't even on the map. Still, it shouldn't be hard to search... too bad I'm nowhere near Rhode Island...
 
An old article to add to Doreen's thread:

Police To Search For Body Near Barkhamsted Reservoir
August 03, 1999|By DAVID OWENS; Courant Staff Writer

Snipped:

Police are focusing on the area because the woman's husband, Stephen Marfeo, 50, a suspect in her disappearance, killed himself there Saturday.

Marfeo, of Johnston, R.I., was being sought Friday by Rhode Island police in connection with the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend, Laura Vincent, 38, and the shooting of her boyfriend, Salvatore Puleo, 56, both of North Providence. Puleo remained hospitalized Monday in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence.

http://articles.courant.com/1999-08-03/news/9908030119_1_rhode-island-police-state-police-trooper
 
Another old article:

Search Yields No Clues To Woman's Disappearance
August 04, 1999|By DAVID OWENS; Courant Staff Writer

Snipped:

Stephen Marfeo, who apparently shot himself in the head as the trooper approached his car, had no known ties to Barkhamsted or the region. That caused police in Johnston to wonder whether the area has any significance to his wife's disappearance.

"It certainly piques our interest as to why he did this,'' Johnston police Chief Richard S. Tamburini said Tuesday as troopers searched the area. "We're kind of hoping . . . that he came to the place where he disposed of his wife's body to say goodbye.'' Marfeo had three guns in his car when he shot himself, police said.

http://articles.courant.com/1999-08...rs-woman-s-disappearance-wife-s-disappearance
 
Could be Ormond Beach Jane Doe found in April 1990. She was strangled. The dates match and they look the same. He didnt report her missing for a few days so he could have taken a long road trip.

(First time poster here...)
I see what you mean, CaseCracker1- I think there’s a striking resemblance between Doreen Marfeo (first pic) and the newer reconstruction of Ormond Beach Jane Doe:

attachment.php
attachment.php

As you say, the dates match up- height a bit off, but...

Namus lists dentals for both as “available and entered”. Can we assume they would’ve been compared by someone if that’s the case?
https://identifyus.org/cases/full_report/923
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/case_report_html/8644
 

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Could he have driven from RI to Fl and return in time? Was he ever missing longer after she was reported missing? Like, could he have stashed her away somewhere and then driven to FL at a later time?
 
Does anybody know where Stephen worked or what he did for a living. I live in RI. It's the tiniest state ever. A pond in Providence could only mean so many places. I'm just wondering if we knew where he worked we could calculate how long it would have taken him to drive home, commit the crime, dump her in a pond and get back to work. Assuming he dumped the body right afterwards it could narrow down the possible bodies of water even more.
 
Could he have driven from RI to Fl and return in time? Was he ever missing longer after she was reported missing? Like, could he have stashed her away somewhere and then driven to FL at a later time?

According to Google Maps, that's an 18 hour drive. That's too much work to dump a body
 
Missing for 30 years...

Doreen Ann Marfeo
doreen_ann_marfeo_1.jpg
doreen_ann_marfeo_2.jpg
marfeo_doreen3.jpg
marfeo_doreen5.jpg

Doreen, circa 1990


marfeo_doreen_stephen.jpg

Stephen Marfeo

  • Missing Since 03/29/1990
  • Missing From Johnston, Rhode Island
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 07/07/1955 (65)
  • Age 34 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'7, 115 pounds
  • Medical Conditions Doreen suffers from severe allergies, which occasionally cause her throat to swell.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, green eyes. Doreen has a pale, freckled complexion. One of her front teeth is capped and she has pierced ears and a large chicken pox scar on the front of one of her calves. Her maiden name is Dobson and she has a strong Massachusetts accent.
Details of Disappearance

Doreen was last seen in her home on Hartford Avenue in Johnston, Rhode Island on March 29, 1990. She disappeared from there and has never been heard from again. She had a poor relationship with her husband of seven years, Stephen Marfeo, and had quit her purchasing director job at the Rhode Island School of Design to work on their marriage.

On the day of Doreen's disappearance, Stephen took seventy-minute lunch break from work. His lunch breaks were usually only twenty to thirty minutes. He claims he went home, ate lunch with Doreen, and went back to work, and when he returned home at 4:00 p.m. that day she was gone. A photo of Stephen is posted with this case summary.

Doreen was supposed to call her mother on the day of her disappearance; she did not. Stephen said packed a suitcase with a week's worth of clothes and took $600 from the safe when she left their home. She did not, however, take her 1984 Ford Tempo, her toothbrush, her hair curlers, her two pet cats, or any of the $50,000 in her and Stephen's joint bank accounts. There was no sign of a struggle at the residence.

Stephen did not report Doreen missing for two days. At the time of her disappearance, he suspected she was having an affair and had hired private detectives to follow her. There is no evidence that Doreen was actually being unfaithful, however.

Investigators do not believe Doreen left of her own accord; they think Stephen murdered her. Her family says she was close to them and would never have left without contacting them.

In June 1990, police received two typewritten letters. The first one stated that Stephen had strangled Doreen on the day of her disappearance and dumped her body in a pond in Providence, Rhode Island. The second letter accused Doreen of having affairs with some of her co-workers, men which the letter identified by name.

Both letters were typed on a typewriter from Stephen's mother's house; authorities believe Stephen wrote them, although the letters referred to him in the third person. When the police confronted Stephen about the letters, he hired an attorney and stopped cooperating in the investigation.

Nine years after Doreen's disappearance, in 1999, Stephen told his family members he was going on vacation to straighten out his life. Shortly after he returned, he shot his estranged girlfriend to death and seriously wounded her new boyfriend, then drove to a secluded reservoir in Connecticut and shot himself in the head. He left a suicide note for his mother which referred to his feelings of guilt about Doreen's disappearance but did not say what happened to her.

Stephen was never charged in connection with his wife's disappearance, but investigators believe he was responsible. Doreen's mother, however, describes Stephen as a kind and supportive man; she does not believe he was involved in her daughter's disappearance.

Some agencies state that Doreen disappeared on March 30, 1990.

Investigating Agency
  • Johnston Police Department 401-231-4210
Source Information
 

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