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Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone were last seen leaving a bar on Philadelphia's South Street. Petrone's black 2001 Dodge Dakota has not been recovered.
Joseph Imbo said raising his and Danielle's son, Joseph III, has kept him from sinking too far into despair.
"I'm with my son every day -- it's a constant reminder," he said. "Everybody holds on to their piece of hope. You still have to go to work. You still have to pay your bills."
According to the Missing Persons Unit of the New Jersey State Police, there are about 1,515 people missing in the state, with about 340 in Gloucester, Burlington and Camden counties.
State Police Detecive Wanda Stojanov said some of the cases date back to the 1930s. She said a missing persons case is not closed until the individual turns 99.
"Basically, as long as there are leads, they are followed up on. Some of the older ones, when the leads dry out, there's nothing to investigate," said Stojanov.
As time passes and leads dry up, the faces of the missing become less and less visible in the media. Imbo's and Petrone's families have made it a point to keep their loved ones' faces in the media, hosting benefit concerts, organizing searches and creating elaborate, interactive Web sites.
In recent weeks, the case of 52-year-old Marianne DeMartin of Evesham has made headlines. DeMartin, a regional manager for an upscale women's clothing company, was last seen Sept. 23.
Authorities found all DeMartin's personal belongings, including her dog, intact. Her car was found a few miles from her home parked behind a Voorhees shopping center. Evesham Capt. Jeff Gural said police are reviewing footage from a surveillance tape that showed a man near DeMartin's car at the shopping center.
For DeMartin's family, the last month has been a nightmare.
"We haven't learned anything to speak of. We're letting the authorities work on it and they are working day and night," said DeMartin's father, Richard DeMartin. "It's tough, but we're OK."
Cheryl Jones' hope and despair hit her on a daily basis, even though three years have passed since her daughter, Tomiene Jones, then 19, was last seen in Penns Grove on April 17, 2002. Tomiene called a friend from her Harrison apartment early the next morning and was reported missing later in the day.
"It turned our life upside down," said Jones. "We're trying to hold on the best we can."
Jones said she doesn't go out much, but when she does, she looks for Tomiene among the living at supermarkets and the mall but also in roadside ditches or patches of woods.
Like Joseph Imbo, Cheryl Jones has a piece of Tomiene to look after in her granddaughter, 5-year-old Janiyah.
"She remembers her smell. She has a habit of smelling people," said Jones of her granddaughter. "She misses her. She cries. She'll cry for hours."
On the Camden County Sheriff's Department missing persons Web page, a picture of Marianne DeMartin is next to a faded photo of Nicholas Peter Zizzamia. On May 12, 1979, Zizzamia, 48, was seen leaving his parents' Cherry Hill home to go to Villanova University. He was never seen again.
Cherry Hill police Lt. Bill Kushina said his department has recently taken a look at many of its older cases, including Zizzamia's, but said it's difficult to keep them on the front burner.
"When you have some spare time, you take a look at them. We've recently been trying to get DNA from family members for missing persons," said Kushina. "It's difficult when they vanish into nowhere."
Reach Jason Nark at (856) 486-2473 or
jnark@courierpostonline.com
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