Key facts
- Names: Danielle Imbo (34); Richard “Rich” Petrone Jr. (35)
- Born: Danielle — 1970, Philadelphia area; Rich — August 29, 1969, Philadelphia
- Age at disappearance: Danielle 34; Rich 35
- Last seen: February 19, 2005, ~11:30–11:45 p.m.
- Location: Abilene’s bar, 429 South Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Height / build: Danielle — 5’5″, ~117 lbs, brown hair, hazel eyes; Rich — 5’9″, 200 lbs, brown hair, blue eyes; tattoos: “Angela” on his left arm, clowns on his right arm
- Missing vehicle: Rich’s 2001 black-over-silver Dodge Dakota pickup, Pennsylvania plate YFH 2319 (possible NASCAR sticker in rear window)
- Status: Still missing — FBI Philadelphia missing-persons investigation; foul play suspected
- Reward: Up to $15,000 (FBI)
- Investigating agency: FBI Philadelphia; Philadelphia Police Department
The last song at Abilene’s
It was a Saturday night in February, the kind of cold that makes neon look sharper than it is. Inside Abilene’s, at 429 South Street, a live band was playing and a table of friends was having exactly the kind of easy evening you don’t think to memorize. Danielle Imbo was there with Richard Petrone — high-school friends from South Jersey who’d reconnected and been dating on and off for months. They’d spent a few weeks apart recently. Tonight they were close again. A friend of Rich’s named Anthony later described them with Rich’s arm around Danielle, the two of them kissing, happy.
Around 11:30, maybe 11:45, they said their goodbyes. Rich was going to drive Danielle back to her place in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. They walked out to his black-and-silver Dodge Dakota.
Nobody has seen either of them since. Nobody has seen the truck.
Not a phone call made. Not a bank card touched. Not a single frame of the Dakota on any camera along the route home. Two people and a full-size pickup truck — gone off one of the most surveilled stretches of pavement in Philadelphia, as if the night had swallowed them whole.
Who they were
Danielle Imbo was 34, a mortgage processor living in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, with a toddler son she adored. The FBI’s 20th-anniversary feature, “A Secret in South Philly,” describes her as warm and outgoing — someone who turned new friends into adopted family. “Anybody who spoke about Danielle would stop at one point and say, ‘You know, she would give her life for that kid,'” recalled Special Agent Philip Blessington, who co-leads the FBI Philadelphia investigation. Her driving goal, he said, was earning enough to buy a house with a grassy backyard so her son could play. She was even enrolled in a class to advance her career.
Rich Petrone was 35, from Philadelphia, the father of a 14-year-old daughter, Angela — her name tattooed on his left arm, clowns inked on his right. He worked, he showed up, he called his mother constantly. Friends said both of them were behaving normally that night, in good spirits, nothing out of the ordinary.
That ordinariness is what makes the case so hard to hold. There was no fight at the bar. No stalker in the parking lot. No final argument overheard. Just two parents who would never have walked away from their children, walking out of a bar and never arriving anywhere.
The investigation
The families reported them missing the next day, February 20. What followed was one of the most exhaustive missing-persons searches in Philadelphia history — and one of the most baffling for what it failed to turn up.
Detectives pulled surveillance footage from up and down South Street and the surrounding routes. The truck never appeared. Investigators considered the possibility that the Dakota had gone off a bridge or into the Delaware River; helicopters, boats, and sonar equipment swept the river and surrounding waterways. Nothing.
The FBI joined the investigation and eventually took the lead. Agents questioned associates of both people. Danielle’s estranged husband, Joe Imbo — who had exchanged threats with Petrone over the phone — was questioned multiple times. He said he was at a birthday party some 50 miles away that night, an alibi reportedly confirmed by several active and former law enforcement officers in attendance. No charges were ever filed against him, and he has never been named as a suspect by the FBI.
One line of thinking has persisted among investigators: the completeness of the disappearance suggests planning, or professionalism. “If there’s only one thing I can guarantee, there is no way that Danielle Imbo and Rich Petrone wouldn’t find a way to get some kind of message back to their kids,” Blessington said. Two adults, a truck, phones, bank accounts, EZ-Pass — every thread a modern life leaves behind, severed at once. It doesn’t look like an accident. It doesn’t look like a walkaway. What it looks like is something the FBI has spent 21 years trying to name.
In February 2025, on the 20th anniversary, the FBI published “A Secret in South Philly,” its most detailed public accounting of the case, renewing the $15,000 reward and urging anyone with information to come forward. The case remains open and active.
Theories: what might have happened
Foul play — targeted attack. The leading theory, and the FBI’s working assumption. The total absence of evidence — no crime scene, no vehicle, no digital trace — suggests whoever was responsible knew how to make people and a truck disappear. Some investigators have privately raised the possibility of a professional hit, possibly tied to a dispute neither family fully understood. What undercuts it: no motive has ever been publicly established, and no one has ever been charged.
Wrong-place, wrong-time abduction. A carjacking or robbery that escalated, with the truck disposed of somewhere it has never been found. Possible — but carjackers usually dump vehicles, and the Dakota’s plate, YFH 2319, has never been spotted in two decades. A vehicle that size doesn’t vanish without help.
Accident in the river. Early searches focused on the Delaware. It would explain the missing truck. But sonar and dive searches found nothing, and an accident doesn’t explain two silenced phones and zero bank activity — Danielle and Rich would have had to die instantly, together, in a crash that left no wreckage.
Voluntary disappearance. The families and the FBI both reject this. Two devoted parents, a toddler and a teenager left behind, careers and classes and a hair-salon appointment Danielle never kept — nothing in either life pointed at running.
Have information?
Contact the FBI Philadelphia Field Office: (215) 418-4000, or call 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). Tips can also be submitted online at tips.fbi.gov. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $15,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved. Reference the 2001 Dodge Dakota, PA plate YFH 2319. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- August 29, 1969 — Richard Petrone Jr. is born in Philadelphia.
- 1970 — Danielle Imbo is born in the Philadelphia area.
- 2004 — Danielle and Rich, high-school friends, reconnect and begin dating.
- February 19, 2005, evening — The couple joins friends at Abilene’s, 429 South Street, Philadelphia.
- February 19, 2005, ~11:30–11:45 p.m. — Danielle and Rich leave the bar in Rich’s Dodge Dakota, headed for Mount Laurel, NJ. Last confirmed sighting.
- February 20, 2005 — Both families report them missing.
- 2005–2006 — Delaware River and waterway searches with sonar; surveillance footage reviewed; no trace found.
- February 2025 — FBI publishes “A Secret in South Philly” for the 20th anniversary; $15,000 reward renewed.
- Today — Still missing. No trace of Danielle, Rich, or the truck has ever been found.
FAQ
Are Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, both have been missing for more than 21 years. The FBI’s Philadelphia office lists the case as an open, active missing-persons investigation.
Was Danielle Imbo’s ex-husband a suspect?
Joe Imbo was questioned by the FBI multiple times because of past tensions with Rich Petrone, but he provided an alibi — a birthday party about 50 miles away, reportedly confirmed by law-enforcement attendees — and has never been charged or publicly named as a suspect.
Was their truck ever found?
No. Rich’s 2001 black-over-silver Dodge Dakota pickup (Pennsylvania plate YFH 2319, possibly with a NASCAR sticker in the rear window) has never been recovered, despite searches of the Delaware River and reviews of surveillance footage.
What is the reward in the Imbo-Petrone case?
The FBI is offering up to $15,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in their disappearance.
What did the FBI say on the 20th anniversary?
In February 2025 the FBI published “A Secret in South Philly,” quoting Special Agent Philip Blessington: “There is no way that Danielle Imbo and Rich Petrone wouldn’t find a way to get some kind of message back to their kids.”
How can I help?
Share this case file — especially the truck’s description and plate number, YFH 2319. If you have any information, contact FBI Philadelphia at (215) 418-4000 or 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: FBI, “RICHARD PETRONE” wanted poster (reward up to $15,000); FBI, “A Secret in South Philly” (Feb 20, 2025).
- News: 92.5 XTU, “Unsolved Mystery: Search Continues 20 Years Later for Danielle Imbo, Richard Petrone” (Mar 7, 2025); NBC10 Philadelphia (via retired FBI agent Vito Roselli).
- Reference: The Charley Project, “Danielle Imbo” and “Richard Petrone Jr.” case files (retrieved Oct 2026).
- Media: Unresolved podcast, “Danielle Imbo & Richard Petrone Jr.”
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.