CANADA Canada - Giuseppe “Joe” Renda, 54, Montreal, 4 May 2012

Montreal mobster mysteriously vanished in 2012, but only now are police talking about the case

The strange disappearance in 2012 of a Montreal man who was a quiet part of important moments in the history of the Mafia in Canada took an odd twist Tuesday when police suddenly released a public appeal to help solve the mystery.

Giuseppe “Joe” Renda, who would now be 56, vanished after leaving his Westmount home at lunchtime on May 4, 2012, Montreal police say. His car was later found in Montreal’s Little Italy. He spoke English and had a beard and a scar on his right ear.

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Renda was linked to the powerful Mafia group in Montreal led at the time by Vito Rizzuto.

Renda shared a name with the more notorious and criminally powerful Renda family, that of Paolo Renda, who was Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto’s brother-in-law and consigliore, the third most powerful position in a mob clan.

His involvement in the family was far less than his distant relative, but he nonetheless played a role in three gangland events that marked the Mafia’s development in Canada.

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Missing Person Profile​

Description​

L'homme s'exprime en anglais et portait une barbe au moment de sa disparition. Il a une cicatrice à l'oreille droite. Il portait, au moment de sa disparition, un manteau de style «bummer» marine, des jeans, un chandail gris et des souliers gris.
Monsieur Renda aurait été vu pour la dernière fois le 4 mai 2012 vers 12 h 30 sur la rue Saint-Viateur Ouest, dans l'arrondissement du Plateau-Mont-Royal. Dans l'année précédent sa disparition en mai 2012, Monsieur Renda ne sortait plus beaucoup de chez lui. Il habite Westmount.

The man spoke in English and wore a beard at the time of his disappearance. He has a scar in his right ear. At the time of his disappearance, he was wearing a navy bummer coat, jeans, a grey shirt and grey shoes.
Renda was reportedly last seen on May 4, 2012 at approximately 12:30 p.m. on Saint-Viateur Street West in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough. In the year before his disappearance in May 2012, Mr. Renda did not leave his home much. He lives in Westmount. (English translation)


''Renda, who was 53 years old at the time of his disappearance, went to a meeting in Little Italy on May 4, 2012, but never returned. His car was found and searched. Investigators from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) have even combed through a building in the Mile End neighborhood in search of clues, to no avail.'' (English translaion)

''His relatives confirmed that Renda befriended Lorenzo Lo Presti and Salvatore Montagna, and that his life changed radically after their assassination in 2011.

From that moment on, he became extremely nervous. He feared for his life and the safety of his family. He didn’t go out much, except with trusted people, carrying a Beretta pistol and wearing a bulletproof vest. He had curtains installed on the windows of his house, especially his solarium, so as not to be seen from the outside. In November 2011, he was advised by police that his name was on a kill list.'' (English translation)