BUCKS COUNTY — Investigators searching a sprawling property in suburban Philadelphia discovered the body of one of four missing men buried in a 12.5-foot-deep grave, Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said.
At a midnight news conference, Weintraub identified the man as 19-year-old Dean Finocchiaro. Additional human remains were found inside the grave but haven’t been identified, Weintraub said.
“We are not done yet. This is a homicide, make no mistake about it,” Weintraub told reporters. “We just don’t know how many homicides.”
Finocchiaro, who was last seen at about 6:30 p.m. Friday, was one of four young men who mysteriously disappeared over several days last week within miles of each other.
The “all hands on deck” investigation into their whereabouts, including local and state police and the FBI, has centered on a farmland property in Solebury Township owned by Antonio and Sandra Dinardo.
Cadaver dogs led authorities to discover the grave Wednesday, Weintraub said.
The son of the property owners, Cosmo Dinardo, 20, was arrested Wednesday and accused of stealing and attempting to sell the vehicle of Thomas Meo, another of the missing men. Bail was set at $5 million after Weintraub argued in court that Dinardo was a flight risk.
The Dinardo family owns a cement and construction company called Cosan LLC.
Investigators will continue carefully excavating the grave for more evidence and to identify the other human remains.
“We are going to bring each and everyone one of these lost boys home to their families, one way or another,” Weintraub said.
Missing men
Finocchiaro and three other men between 19 and 22 went missing over several days last week within miles of each other.
The first to vanish was Jimi Patrick of Newtown Township. He was last seen at 6 p.m. on July 5 and was reported missing the next day after he had no contact with friends or family.
Police say the 19-year-old also didn’t show up for work. He was a beer runner at a restaurant-bar in nearby Doylestown, CNN affiliate WPVI-TV reported.
“He was on the shyer side, but you would get a smile out of him, a little conversation,” bartender Jennifer Albrecht told WPVI.
Two days later, Finocchiaro, Mark Sturgis, 22, of Pennsburg and Tom Meo, 21, of Plumstead Township went missing.
Close friends Sturgis and Meo were last seen near the Doylestown area in Bucks County, CNN affiliate KYW-TV reported. Both young men didn’t go to work on Saturday, police said.
Meo’s girlfriend told investigators that she had been texting with him on Friday until just before 7 p.m. After that, she had no contact with Meo, which was “out of the ordinary and not common,” court documents said.
An arrest
While a search for the missing men intensified, a 20-year-old from the area was arrested and accused of stealing and attempting to sell Meo’s 1996 Nissan Maxima.
Data from a police license plate reader captured Cosmo Dinardo’s pickup and Meo’s car driving in Solebury Township within seconds of each other at about 7:49 p.m. Friday, court documents said.
Meo’s vehicle was found at a property owned by the Dinardo family, a day after authorities said Dinardo attempted to sell Meo’s car to a friend for $500, according to a criminal affidavit.
The car was still registered to Meo and had not been legally exchanged. The keys and title to the vehicle were folded up and hanging on the wall inside the garage of the property, the affidavit said.
Meo is a diabetic, yet his diabetic life-saving kit was still in the vehicle, Weintraub said.
Dinardo was first arrested Monday on a charge of possession of a firearm, an offense dating to February unrelated to the missing men case, Weintraub said.
Dinardo was prohibited from possessing a firearm because he had a mental illness and had been involuntarily committed to a mental institution for inpatient care, court documents said.
A judge dismissed the charge in May, but the Bucks County district attorney’s office authorized police to reinstate and refile charges last month.
Dinardo was released Tuesday evening after his father paid 10% of his $1 million bail in cash, but by Wednesday Dinardo was arrested again.
This time, he’s facing one count each of theft and receiving stolen property. His bail was set at $5 million cash after Weintraub argued he was a flight risk.
Dinardo may be the only person facing charges in connection with the case as of Thursday, but it’s still unclear whether he knew or had contact with Finocchiaro or any of other three men.
Fortunato Perri Jr., an attorney representing the Dinardo family, released a statement, WPVI reported.
“As parents, Mr. and Mrs. Dinardo sympathize with the parents and families of the missing young men and they are cooperating in every way possible with the investigation being conducted by law enforcement,” the statement said.
Farmland search
Local and state police and the FBI have embarked on an “all hands on deck” search of a 90-acre property in Solebury Township, north of Philadelphia.
For five days, dozens of law enforcement officers have searched the farmland owned by Dinardo’s parents, Antonio and Sandra Dinardo, on foot and by air.
“I am still encouraged by the pace of the investigation, but as you can imagine, it’s just massive in scope,” Weintraub said.
Later he said: “Take the biggest (investigation) you’ve ever seen and multiply it by a million.”
Large makeshift tents were set up across the property, and investigative teams dug for evidence using large machinery.
Susan Mangano and her teenage daughters said this quiet community has not seen anything like this before.
“We live here, we pass by, we saw the helicopters,” Mangano said. “As a parent, it’s been sickening to watch this. I have kids this age. It’s just devastating.”
