FL FL - Patrick DiFrancesco, 24, Fort Pierce, 26 Aug 1985

FORT PIERCE — In the more than 20 years his brother has been missing, Tony DiFrancesco has heard all the stories.

His brother's plane crashed in the middle of the ocean. His brother is locked away in a South American jail. His brother was killed in an orange grove and buried out west of town.
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What is known for sure is that Patrick DiFrancesco disappeared on Aug. 26, 1985, and his family has heard nothing from him since.
"There've been rumors ever since he disappeared," Tony DiFrancesco said. "They didn't find him in jail, hospitals, nothing. I called all of them ... people don't just disappear into thin air like that."
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Tony DiFrancesco, who runs Tri-County Towing, now is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of his brother or the discovery of the plane he was flying the night he vanished. The family believes if the missing plane is found, it will confirm DiFrancesco is dead.
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Part of the mystery that surrounds DiFrancesco's disappearance comes from his ties to the drug trade. His family knew he was involved in bringing drugs into St. Lucie County and think he was supposed to be picking up a shipment in a plane that night. DiFrancesco, who had his student pilot license at the time, reportedly left the area in a plane with James Woodford "Buddy" Johnson, a 61-year-old pilot who also is missing. It was supposed to be a one-night trip, with DiFrancesco returning in a day.
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He was last seen at a home on Sunrise Drive in Fort Pierce and the missing person's report from 1985 is a single page with three sentences. The report says he was supposed to go to the Bahamas or St. Thomas and a note at the bottom indicated DiFrancesco was in jail in Jamaica. Later, investigation by the family revealed this was only a rumor, not fact. Nearly a decade after the disappearance, the search was reopened and the family offered a $10,000 reward for information, but nothing came of it.
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Still, the tips seemed to confirm an old rumor — that DiFrancesco was buried with an airplane out west of town and the family learned about a general location. Last fall, they hired experts to fly over and analyze the ground with a magnetometer to see if it could be detected. The outline of what appeared to be a plane was spotted and with the landowner's permission, the family brought in a bulldozer and backhoe to dig up the ground. Ultimately, some old pipes were found, but no plane.
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For Tony DiFrancesco's part, he hopes that he can finally put to a rest a mystery that has torn at his family for the better part of two decades. "I won't stop. We aren't going to stop," he said. "Just finding the plane would be reward enough. Tell us where it is and we'll find it."

http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_4715063,00.html

Do any photographs of Patrick exist?

Is he listed in ANY of the many Missing Persons data bases?

I put his name into the google search and came up with zip, whereas there are search results for his brother, Tony/Anthony.

wondering22 said:

Do any photographs of Patrick exist?

Is he listed in ANY of the many Missing Persons data bases?

I put his name into the google search and came up with zip, whereas there are search results for his brother, Tony/Anthony.

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I cannot answer your questions Wondering22, I just saw this in the newspaper this morning and found it interesting. I have done no research on Patrick's disappearence.

My daughter went to school with Patrick. There may possibly be one in the year book, but the scanners down right at the moment.

Not to sound mean, and I do have sympathy for the family, but this sounds like a case of living by the sword and dying by the sword. Unfortunate for all involved.

Shadow205 said:

I cannot answer your questions Wondering22, I just saw this in the newspaper this morning and found it interesting. I have done no research on Patrick's disappearence.

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Thanks, but I wonder why his family hasn't submitted the case to Doe Network. Unless my search was so poor, that it missed it completely.

I'm getting really appalled with how many missing people are in this country, I knew we had a "bad problem," but really, it's much worse than that, the problem is massive, simply huge beyond belief.

Opie said:

Not to sound mean, and I do have sympathy for the family, but this sounds like a case of living by the sword and dying by the sword. Unfortunate for all involved.

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I find it fascinating the different responses different posters have to the same info. For me, in reading the basics of the first posting, my impression was that they both intentionally disappeared together, and are living under assumed identities. And either they left with a huge amount of cash that wasn't theirs, or else they simply owed dangerous people a huge sum of money they couldn't possibly pay, and so faking their own deaths was the only escape.


Isn't it interesting how different our speculations are? And, yikes, we have such a small amount of information, LOL.

If they headed to the Bahama's and crashed their plane at sea, it wouldn't necessarily be found. It happens alot more than you realize.

Family Offers $100,000 Reward for Missing Brother's Whereabouts

(FORT PIERCE) In 1985 a student pilot was supposed to take off on a plane and was never seen again.

Now his brother is offering up $100,000 of his own money to find out what happened to Patrick DiFrancesco.

His brother Tony put up flyers around Fort Pierce to encourage tips about Patrick's whereabouts.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/man-offers-100k-for-word-of-02

This has been investigated time and time again. My cousin and uncle have been accused of being involved in Patrick's and Buddy's disappearance. There are rumors upon rumors upon rumors. I was a child when this all went on. But it has caused somewhat of a rivalry between my family and the DiFrancesco's but I actually dated Tony's brother in law. And I become close with Tony. he is really just concerned in findingout what happened. They know that he was involved in a dangerous business but it doesnt make it any less painful about what happened. Back in the early 80's drugs and drug dealing was HUGE. my cousins went to jail over it. And people I know very well were in jail for long periods of time. But it still doesnt change the fact that people are missing and the family deserves the right to know.

Patrick also has 2 daughter who would really like to know what happened.

Remains Found in Wreckage Pulled from Lake Meredith

Human remains have been found inside a plane that crashed into Lake Meredith nearly 25 years ago.

Officials with the Hutchinson County Airport, where the plane is being stored for investigation, confirmed bones were discovered today.

http://www.newschannel10.com/Global/story.asp?S=9643216


Looks to be northern Texas area. Seems it be off track but who knows for sure.

This story has always been of interest to me. I am from Fort Pierce and I know the Difrancescos, I used to live and work at horse heaven rescue right behind Tony ' s house and cow pasture, let's just say the Difrancescos are not well liked by everyone, Tony especially because he has a real attitude and acts like he is far better than everyone. My Mom Also Dated Him For A Short Time In High school. Well, aside from all that I still hope one day Patrick can be found and his family can have some closure. I just wonder if they ever compared the Unidentified Male Body that was discovered in October 1986 to Patricks DNA however the Namus site says there is no DNA sample available for the UID. But it stands out that the UID had dark brown hair and was wearing cowboy boots, blue jeans, and what may have been a button up shirt, as it just says dress shirt. I think they need to see if there are any connections between this UID and Patrick. Here is the UID https://identifyus.org/en/cases/1225

capoly said:

Remains Found in Wreckage Pulled from Lake Meredith

Human remains have been found inside a plane that crashed into Lake Meredith nearly 25 years ago.

Officials with the Hutchinson County Airport, where the plane is being stored for investigation, confirmed bones were discovered today.

http://www.newschannel10.com/Global/story.asp?S=9643216


Looks to be northern Texas area. Seems it be off track but who knows for sure.

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These bones turned out not to be human.

http://www.myhighplains.com/story/not-human-remains/d/story/BfBrHMzEh0i6YKLaLuOd7A

Charlie Project
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/d/difrancesco_patrick.html

Has photos

Equinista said:

This story has always been of interest to me. I am from Fort Pierce and I know the Difrancescos, I used to live and work at horse heaven rescue right behind Tony ' s house and cow pasture, let's just say the Difrancescos are not well liked by everyone, Tony especially because he has a real attitude and acts like he is far better than everyone. My Mom Also Dated Him For A Short Time In High school. Well, aside from all that I still hope one day Patrick can be found and his family can have some closure. I just wonder if they ever compared the Unidentified Male Body that was discovered in October 1986 to Patricks DNA however the Namus site says there is no DNA sample available for the UID. But it stands out that the UID had dark brown hair and was wearing cowboy boots, blue jeans, and what may have been a button up shirt, as it just says dress shirt. I think they need to see if there are any connections between this UID and Patrick. Here is the UID https://identifyus.org/en/cases/1225

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I am working on that UID currently, Dentals are available on the UID so a comparison could be made. Having dark brown hair, jeans and cowboy boots and being the correct height is certainly interesting. Here is the UID thread.

FL FL - Fort Pierce, WhtMale UP1225, 36-45, Cowboy Boots-$372 Cash in Pocket, Oct'86 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

Patrick is on NamUs:

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/14618/1/

Equinista said:

This story has always been of interest to me. I am from Fort Pierce and I know the Difrancescos, I used to live and work at horse heaven rescue right behind Tony ' s house and cow pasture, let's just say the Difrancescos are not well liked by everyone, Tony especially because he has a real attitude and acts like he is far better than everyone. My Mom Also Dated Him For A Short Time In High school. Well, aside from all that I still hope one day Patrick can be found and his family can have some closure. I just wonder if they ever compared the Unidentified Male Body that was discovered in October 1986 to Patricks DNA however the Namus site says there is no DNA sample available for the UID. But it stands out that the UID had dark brown hair and was wearing cowboy boots, blue jeans, and what may have been a button up shirt, as it just says dress shirt. I think they need to see if there are any connections between this UID and Patrick. Here is the UID https://identifyus.org/en/cases/1225

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Ruled out by dentals per Florida.

"He refuses to lose hope. Nearly 34 years after one of his brothers went missing, a St. Lucie County man is taking matters into his own hands to find his brother’s body. Tony DiFrancesco has received plenty of calls and possible tips over the years, but very few seem legitimate. Recently, he got a call from someone out of state who seemed to know where the body of DiFrancesco’s brother, Patrick DiFrancesco, might be...

That took DiFrancesco to a large property off of Orange Avenue in the western part off the county. He hired two search teams, consisting of 12 cadaver dogs, and received assistance from the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office...

Looking at old maps of the area, they learned the caller told them to search an area that used to be a landing strip. DiFrancesco said the plane never turned up, so this location would make sense. “I figured if we find an airplane, my brother can’t be far from it.”

Cadaver dogs seemed to indicate there could be something of interest at a couple sites on the property. DiFrancesco probed the ground at those areas to release the scent of human remains should they be buried deeper in the ground. The dogs never alerted to any possible remains after their efforts."

St. Lucie brother leads search for man missing for decades

Family resumes search for Fort Pierce man missing for 33 years after getting new tip





A new search in a 33-year-old missing persons case has a Fort Pierce family scouring new territory and looking for new clues about the whereabouts of their loved one.

Patrick and the plane he was supposed to be flying went missing back in 1985. His brother said he had gotten his pilot's license and was flying planes for dangerous people.

“He got in with he got in with the wrong people that were a drug smuggling ring, he was way in over his head,” Di Francesco said.

Patrick was a former U.S. Marine, but made a dangerous lifestyle change when he got involved with trafficking drugs.

Regardless of his past, his family said they deserve closure and want Patrick or his body home.
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His family has put up a $100,000 reward and they hope somebody will give them the answers they’re looking for. “This money is for anybody who will show me where the airplane is, where Pat's body is and I can get my closure,” Di Francesco said.

Family resumes search for Fort Pierce man missing for 33 years after getting new tip