Key facts
- Name: Adam Charles Emery
- Born: November 10, 1962, Warwick, Rhode Island
- Age at disappearance: 31
- Last seen: November 10, 1993
- Location: Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island
- Height / build: 6’1″, 175 lbs, brown hair, blue eyes
- Status: Still missing — declared legally dead 2004; former FBI fugitive (unlawful flight to avoid prosecution)
- Conviction: Second-degree murder (November 10, 1993) in the 1990 stabbing death of Jason Bass
- Investigating agency: FBI — 1-800-CALL-FBI; tips.fbi.gov
The whisper in the courtroom
November 10, 1993, was Adam Emery’s 31st birthday. It was also the day a Kent County jury convicted him of second-degree murder. He faced up to 25 years. And then, in a decision that still baffles everyone who revisits this case, the judge let him walk out on bail pending sentencing.
Cameras caught a whispered exchange between Adam and his wife Elena as the verdict sank in. Rhode Island State Police later hired a lip reader, who concluded Elena had told her newly convicted husband: “We will do what we originally said. You promised me. We should have done this before.”
Hours later, the couple bought two black hooded sweat suits and 80 pounds of exercise weights. They ate Burger King, sipped wine, and drove to the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge. That night, their Toyota Camry was found idling on the bridge — Elena’s high heels, her purse and wallet, cut-up credit cards, folded clothing, cash, driver’s licenses, and both of their wedding rings inside.
No driver on that busy bridge reported seeing anyone stop, get out, or jump.
The killing that started it
Three years earlier, on the night of August 30, 1990, Adam and Elena were picking up food at a seafood stand in Warwick with another couple when a car sideswiped Adam’s vehicle and sped off. Adam — by every account a man with no criminal history, a purchasing agent at a plastics company who loved his car — gave chase. Elena pointed at a Ford LTD she believed was the culprit. It wasn’t. The car belonged to 20-year-old Jason Bass, who had no idea why a furious stranger was running him down.
Adam forced Bass to stop, took a military-style knife Elena had given him for her own protection, and stabbed Bass once through the heart as Bass clung to his own car’s hood. Jason Bass died at the scene, in front of horrified onlookers. Paint-chip analysis later proved Bass’s car had never touched Adam’s. Adam had killed an innocent 20-year-old over a scratched fender — and in court, he showed no emotion, maintaining he “had to defend himself.”
The bridge
What happened on the Newport Bridge that night is the whole mystery. The weights, the sweatsuits, the rings left behind — it reads like a suicide pact, staged with terrible deliberation. Nine months later, a fisherman dredged up a skull in his net in Narragansett Bay. DNA confirmed it was Elena Emery.
Adam was never found. Not a bone, not a sighting anyone credible would stand behind. In 2004, a court issued a death certificate. At St. Ann Cemetery in Cranston, a headstone bears both names — Adam and Elena Emery — with the epitaph “Together Sharing God’s Eternal Love.” Only one of those names, law enforcement will tell you, belongs to someone they can say with certainty is dead.
The case aired on Unsolved Mysteries in October 1994, on America’s Most Wanted, on Dateline. The FBI once noted Emery might travel to Florida or Italy — Elena’s parents had emigrated from Italy. Thirty-three years later, the question Newport This Week posed in 2020 still stands unanswered: did Adam Emery die in the bay that night, or did he stage it and walk away?
Theories: what might have happened
Double suicide. The sweat suits, the 80 pounds of weights, the abandoned rings and cut-up cards, Elena’s recovered skull — the physical evidence points at two people who strapped on weights and went over the rail together. What undercuts it: no witness on a busy bridge saw anyone jump, and Adam’s body never surfaced while Elena’s did.
Staged death — Adam fled alone. He bought the weights and suits, helped stage Elena’s jump (or she jumped willingly), and disappeared to start over — Florida, Italy, anywhere. What supports it: his body never found; the FBI fugitive theory. What undercuts it: 33 years with no credible sighting, no paper trail, no contact — a long time for a man with no criminal tradecraft to stay invisible.
Elena was murdered, Adam fled. A darker reading: the pact was cover. But nothing in the evidence — the lip-reader’s transcript suggests mutual planning — supports this over the simpler theories, and it remains speculation.
Have information?
Adam Emery was formerly wanted by the FBI for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submit a tip at tips.fbi.gov. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- November 10, 1962 — Adam Charles Emery is born in Warwick, Rhode Island.
- August 30, 1990 — Emery stabs 20-year-old Jason Bass to death in a road-rage incident in Warwick; Bass’s car is later proven innocent of the sideswipe.
- November 10, 1993 — Convicted of second-degree murder on his 31st birthday; released on bail.
- November 10, 1993 (evening) — Adam and Elena buy sweatsuits and 80 lbs of weights, then drive to the Newport Bridge. Their Camry is found idling; both are gone.
- 1994 — A fisherman recovers Elena’s skull from Narragansett Bay; DNA confirms her identity. Unsolved Mysteries airs the case.
- 2004 — Adam Emery declared legally dead. His body has never been found.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Adam Emery still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026 — nearly 33 years later — no trace of Adam Emery has ever been found. He was declared legally dead in 2004, but his body was never recovered.
Was Adam Emery’s wife found?
Yes. About nine months after the disappearance, a fisherman dredged up a skull in Narragansett Bay that DNA testing confirmed was Elena Emery’s.
Did Adam Emery fake his death?
It’s one of the two main theories — that he staged a double suicide and fled, possibly to Florida or Italy. The FBI once listed him as a fugitive. But in 33 years there has never been a credible sighting, and the weights, sweatsuits, and abandoned rings point just as strongly at a genuine suicide pact.
What did Elena Emery whisper in court?
A lip reader hired by Rhode Island State Police concluded she told Adam: “We will do what we originally said. You promised me. We should have done this before” — moments after his murder conviction.
Who was Jason Bass?
A 20-year-old Warwick man whom Emery chased down and stabbed in 1990, mistakenly believing Bass’s car had sideswiped his. Paint analysis later proved Bass was innocent.
How can I help?
If you have any information about Adam Emery, contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: FBI wanted poster (unlawful flight to avoid prosecution); Rhode Island State Police (lip-reader analysis, via Newport This Week).
- News: Newport This Week, “The Mysterious Case of Adam Emery” (2020); URI News (2015).
- Reference: Wikipedia, “Adam Emery” (retrieved Oct 2026); Unsolved Mysteries Wiki.
- Media: Unsolved Mysteries (Oct 14, 1994); America’s Most Wanted; Dateline NBC.
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.