10 Years On, FBI Task Force Takes Up Imbo-Petrone Case
A new FBI “cold case” task force is looking at the case of Richard Petrone Jr. and Danielle Imbo; the pair vanished during a date on South Street in 2005.
“The FBI is planning a press conference for February 19, with new information on the reward being offered and how the public can help,” CBS Philly reports. Feb. 19 is the anniversary date of their disappearance.
In April, Philly Mag’s Steve Volk wrote about the case, describing the last moments Petrone and Imbo were seen together:
At around 11:45 p.m., they got up to leave. Richard said he’d drive Danielle home to Mount Laurel before returning to his place in South Philly. And so, on a night when the temperature was about 27 degrees and the crowd at 4th and South was probably a little thinner than usual, Danielle and Richard walked out of Abilene’s toward Richard’s truck.
And vanished. Nothing has ever been found — not a bolt, not a screw, not a purse or a hair, no clue at all — to explain what happened that night more than nine years ago.
Nothing has been found, but investigators have their theories. In 2008 FBI officials said evidence pointed to a “murder for hire” plot in the case.
The FBI has questioned Imbo’s estranged husband, Joe Imbo, many times. Just days before he vanished, Petrone told his father he had angry words with Joe Imbo over the phone.
“He said “I got, like, 25 or 30 phone calls from this kid.’ I said, ‘What did he want?'” said Richard Sr. “‘He kept telling me ‘stay away from her, leave her alone, he’s her husband.””
However, the FBI will not call Joe Imbo, who now lives in South Carolina, a person of interest as they launch a cold case investigation.
“We’re not identifying anybody as a suspect, but we’re not ruling anyone out. Everybody is ruled in at this point,” said J.J. Klaver of the FBI.
The families have websites at DanielleImbo.com and RichardPetrone.com.
