South Philly Review

They filed out of Monday night's Mass at St. Rita of Cascia Church one by one.

Relatives of Richard Petrone Jr., for whom the service was dedicated, gathered in the vestibule and talked quietly. Some friends of the 35-year-old, from the 1600 block of Snyder Avenue, and girlfriend Danielle Imbo, 34, from Mount Laurel, N.J., hugged each other for comfort.

The day after friends offered silent prayers for hope, the missing couple's families issued public pleas for information at a joint press conference.

The Imbo and Petrone families- both from Cherry Hill, N.J.- gathered at the Police Administration Building in Philadelphia with their attorney, Craig Mitnick, to ask for help in locating Richard and Danielle. The couple was last seen leaving Abilene, a bar at 429 South St., around 11:30 p.m. Feb. 19. They were traveling in Petrone's black and silver Dodge pickup with Pennsylvania license plate YFH 2319.

Mitnick, whose practice is in Haddonfield, N.J., opened the press conference by vouching for the couple's reputation. Richard and Danielle had met another couple for drinks and neither was intoxicated, Mitnick said. He added that neither has a criminal background.

"Good, decent, honest people don't just vanish off the face of the earth-nor do big, black Dodge pickup trucks," Mitnick said.

Richard Petrone Sr. announced that the $12,200 Citizens Crime Commission reward for information leading to the couple has grown to $50,000.

A trembling, tearful Marge Petrone clutched her husband's arm while their daughters, Alisa and Christine, put their arms around their sobbing niece- Richard Jr.'s daughter, Angie, 14. Next to the Petrones stood Danielle Imbo's brother, John Ottobre Jr.; his wife, Jodie; Danielle's mother, Felice Ottobre; and Danielle's husband, Joe Imbo, from whom she was separated.

"We're here today to ask the people of the Delaware Valley to help find our children. Since that night, our families' pain has been unbearable," Richard Petrone Sr. told reporters.

"All of our lives have been taken from us," added his wife. "We don't know how to live each day without them."

Emotion overcame Angie Petrone as she said that she missed her father and wanted him back. Her grandfather stepped in to usher her away from the media spotlight.

Also overwhelmed, Felice Ottobre let her son John do the talking. He said his sister's 22-month-old son, Joe Imbo Jr., needs his mother and that Angie Petrone needs her father. Ottobre urged anyone with information to come forward: "Please call- do the right thing."

"We need help from the public," urged South Detective Division Sgt. Tim Cooney, who is heading the probe. "Two people just don't vanish off the face of the earth."

The investigation has become interstate and spans multiple jurisdictions, said the sergeant. Local police continue to use helicopters and boats to search for the couple and have canvassed Tinicum Township to the Jersey Shore, Cooney said.

There is still no cell-phone or credit-card activity for either Imbo or Petrone, he added.

Meanwhile, the case is gaining more national exposure. Imbo's brother was on Fox's cable news channel on Monday, Petrone's sister Christine appeared on CNN last week and Cooney was featured on America's Most Wanted on March 11.

The Ottobres and Petrones also purchased billboards in the tri-state area that feature the couple, while the "Missing" posters that went up a month ago still hang in the windows of many local businesses.

MONDAY NIGHT'S MASS was intended to offer a respite from the anxiety of the search. Petrone's cousin, Donna Valente, organized the service at St. Rita's because she felt compelled to do something in light of the ordeal.