PA - Richard Petrone, 35, & Danielle Imbo, 34, Philadelphia, 19 Feb 2005 - #1

[PoorPaulaNNJ]

Link to interview on Nancy Grace show.

http://www.richardpetrone.com/files/ngrace.wmv

[Rachael]

This case is very interesting to me now especially since it's so close to my home. They say the husband was in Tom's River, NJ staying with his parents with his son. Tom's River is at the very least an hour or more away from Philly (maybe even closer to two hours). Would it be possible for him to put the baby to bed and slip out of the house without being noticed? He would have had to be gone for a least a 2-4 hours. I also wonder if the boyfriend (Richard) could have done something to Danielle (even by accident) and then took off. I hope that's not the case of course. I feel bad for the family especially after watching that clip from Nancy Grace.

[Rachael]

I have read that the break-up between Richard and Danielle was reported by a friend. Since they were out on a date that night that info may not be true. How long were Danielle and her husband estranged? I also read that the husband left Danielle for a woman he met at the superbowl. Was it this year (Superbowl is at the end of January) or last year? I don't know how true any of it is.. just wondering.

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Well, from what I've read & heard, Danielle finally realized that she just needed some time to be by herself. There are stories of Joe threating Rich, Rich threatening Joe, phone calls being made, Danielle & Joe trying to reconcile unsuccessfully a couple of times. Anyone who's ever been in that situation realizes that it gets old quick. I think that Danielle was probably a bit conflicted. Joe is her baby's father; Richard has always been very kind to her ... both have good reasons for Danielle to want to be with them. But it seems like it was probably a conflicted situation, probably fairly stressful, perhaps guilt feelings for Danielle, and she finally made what was probably the right choice - to just take some time to be by herself, and maybe evaluate things. The fact that she was out with Richard that night doesn't necessarily mean that they were still dating. They have known each other for a very long time. So perhaps they just went out as friends. Perhaps the one wanted to get together with the other to talk. Maybe after leaving Abilene's, they went somewhere to talk. In Philly, we've all done that - gone somewhere to park to talk or argue or what have you. A common area used to be near the airport in South Philly. Also a lot of spots along the river.

In any case, here is part of the time line as I understand it.

March 2004 - Joe Imbo moved out of the house he shared with Danielle. He became involved shortly thereafter with a woman that he had met at the Superbowl a little over a month earlier (in Feb. 2004).

May 2004 - Danielle began dating Richard.

Attempts were made between Joe & Danielle for reconciliation but it never worked out.

January 2005 - Joe Imbo moved to Georgia to be with the woman he had met at the Superbowl the year before. But after only ten days, he returned to try to reconcile with Danielle again.

February-ish 2005 - It is reported that Danielle made the decision to spend some time by herself. I don't know how long after making this decision she told the men.

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Link to interview on Nancy Grace show.

http://www.richardpetrone.com/files/ngrace.wmv

Thanks for this great link. As was mentioned above, Tom's River to Philadelphia is quite a distance. To go there, do something (and well enough that nothing has been discovered after two months), and return to Tom's River without being noticed - it seems impossible. And even if it is correct that the parents wouldn't "rat out" their son, in the link Paula gave us, someone mentions that there was also an off-duty police detective spending time with Joe Imbo that night. Does this make his alibi water-tight? Probably not. Yet somehow, I just don't get the feeling that Joe is directly involved. I could be wrong, and perhaps he is indirectly involved but based on what we know so far, it doesn't seem like Joe.

Unfortunately, if they were carjacked or God forbid, one of them did something to the other, they could have driven almost anywhere beforehand.

[wenchie]

Does it sound like Petrone may have used some kind of ruse to get her out of the house to meet him at the bar?

This sounds very bad to me. Men don't usually call each other up when they're seeing the same woman - at least not at that age.

Do their mutual friends have any theories about what might have happened?

[wenchie]

I'm sorry - I hadn't read the report above and didn't realize that she had gone to Philly to have dinner with her mother.

But I'm still confused. They are looking for his truck, not her car. Does this mean that her car was found parked on the street?


One report said that they were last seen on foot - and another one said that they were last seen in his truck.

[ktanne1]

This case leaves me scratching my head!

[JrZyChris]

This case leaves me scratching my head!

I don't know - since the very beginning there is a part of me that REALLY REALLY thinks they went off the road somewhere. I know this is probably NOT the case, but how do you explain two missing people AND a car? Usually the car turns up shortly after a person goes missing. Whatever the case, I hope something comes to surface soon for the poor families of these two.

[wenchie]

I don't think there's any way they could have gone off the road - UNLESS they headed somewhere besides back to Jersey.

The entire highway from the bridge to Mt. Laurel is densely populated with businesses....and I'm sure that any short stretches that aren't have been thoroughly searched.

I've thought long and hard for if there's any way a car could go off the bridge and can't think of one. And...the river is very shallow there, as far as I know.

And...it looks like her car was left parked in Phila.? How did she get there in the first place? The news I read said that she "met" her mother in Phila., not that she went there with her - so she would have had to have driven there.

Why would she leave her car there and have him take her home? They must have been headed for somewhere else. Maybe parked in one of the parks somewhere to talk.....and were carjacked/kidnapped?

[Rachael]

I can't imagine anyone kidnapping a man and a woman. I am sure it has happened before but it just doesn't seem all that likely. I also don't see many ways for a car to go over any of the bridges from PA to NJ (I have driven on all of them I believe) without their being damage to the bridge or without being seen by someone. I don't know how deep the Delaware River is but it is fairly long (from De to Philly). I know there used to be spots were you could park your car by the river at least in Delaware County but I am not sure about Philly or NJ.

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

I can't imagine anyone kidnapping a man and a woman. I am sure it has happened before but it just doesn't seem all that likely. I also don't see many ways for a car to go over any of the bridges from PA to NJ (I have driven on all of them I believe) without their being damage to the bridge or without being seen by someone. I don't know how deep the Delaware River is but it is fairly long (from De to Philly). I know there used to be spots were you could park your car by the river at least in Delaware County but I am not sure about Philly or NJ.

There would definitely be evidence of them going off the bridge, IMO. But there are plenty of spots all over Philly where they could have gone to talk. The Philadelphia International Airport is, (I believe), just beyond the South Philly (Broad Street?) exit on I-95, and there were many spots where we used to park when we were teens and young adults. The spots were fairly secluded, and you could lie on top of your car hood, and look up at the dark sky to watch the planes on their descents.

I don't see a problem with Danielle leaving her car in Philly. If her & Richard were going to go back to her place, she could have just gone with Richard, and he could take her to get her car the next morning. Where was her car parked? Did she drive herself to Abilene's or did she meet Richard somewhere, (at his mom's house or her mom's house)? I'm sure that there are details that we don't know. At least, I sure hope there are.

[wenchie]

I just don't see why....if they were headed back to her house she wouldn't just go in her car and he in hers. Leaving a car on the street in downtown Philly overnight isn't a good idea, and in a garage it would be expensive.

I wonder if they've looked around the airport.....although, again: if they were just going to talk....her house wasn't really further than the airport, so why drive there?

The only reason someone would kidnap both a man and woman would be if it were a carjack and they didn't want anyone around to report it.

I don't want to speculate that he forced her to go somewhere with her....cause he is a victim too at this point.

I defintely don't think she would have left her car there if they were headed to her house, though. What a hassle...coming back in the morning for it, worrying about it being left overnight, paying for parking, etc.

It's all so very, very strange. The one thing I think everyone accepts is that they didn't voluntarily go off somewhere together and disappear on purpose.

[Rachael]

If Danielle was drinking she probably would have left her car in Philly with the intention of retrieving it the next morning. I don't remember reading anything about her car being parked in Philly before these last few posts. Maybe her mother or someone picked her up with the intention of Richard driving her home that night. This case is very odd since there are two missing people instead of one. If she had been driving by herself back to NJ that night I could think of many things that could have happened but what could possibly have happened to a man and a woman driving from PA to NJ? Maybe they got into a car accident and their car went off the road and has been sitting in a ditch somewhere.

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

I defintely don't think she would have left her car there if they were headed to her house, though. What a hassle...coming back in the morning for it, worrying about it being left overnight, paying for parking, etc.

Has it been established that she drove her car into Philly that day or where her car was left? I don't find it at all unusual that she'd leave her car to drive with him. I've been in similar scenarios countless times.