Update: Following his release on bail, Cosmo DiNardi has been arrested again, on allegations that he stole and attempted to sell a car belonging to one of the missing young men. He is now in custody on $5 million cash bail.
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Investigators searching for four missing young men in Bucks County have uncovered important evidence at the farmland property that has been the focus of the search for several days.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, four young men vanished under mysterious circumstances in the last week: Mark Sturgis, 22, of Pennsburg, Montgomery County; Tom Meo, 21, of Plumstead Township; Dean Finocchiario, 19, of Middletown Township; and Jimi Tar Patrick, 19, of Newtown Township (pictured left to right).
Police reportedly traced one of the missing men’s cell phone signals to a vast rural property in Solebury Township, about 30 miles north of Philadelphia, which remains the primary focus of the search.
On Monday, police arrested Cosmo DiNardo, 20, on unrelated firearm charges. Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub confirmed that DiNardo is a person of interest, but not a suspect, in the disappearances. His family owns the property where investigators are searching for the men.
Weintraub said in a press conference on Wednesday that investigators had uncovered important evidence.
“We have not yet uncovered any human remains that I can report, but we have uncovered several important pieces of evidence at this site … and another location,” Weintraub told reporters.
Asked if investigators believe that the four missing men are on the property, Weintraub gave an indirect answer.
“We’re going to continue in the direction that we’re going … we are going to keep digging and searching that property until we are confident they are not there,” he said.
Weintraub also confirmed that DiNardo had posted 10% of his $1 million dollar bail on Tuesday evening in order to be released, and said he did not believe DiNardo was wearing an electronic monitor. Weintraub said he was not certain where the man was staying at this time, but that if he changed his address within 48 hours of his release he must inform authorities as a condition of his bail.
On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Bucks County prosecutors had asked the Bensalem Police Department to arrest DiNardo on a felony weapons charge weeks before the four young men disappeared. DiNardo was arrested in February after he was found to be in possession of a firearm, which he is not legally permitted to own because he had been previously committed to a psychiatric institution.
The charge was later dismissed, but on June 21 an assistant district attorney asked the police department to reinstate it. The request was not honored, for reasons that remain unclear, until Monday.
The District Attorney cautioned reporters on Wednesday that the search of the property could take much more time, and reiterated that police have not arrived at any solid conclusions about the circumstances of the men’s disappearance.
“This investigation is still wide open,” Weintraub said.
“The stakes are incredibly high — life and death. So we ask for your patience.”
Feature photo: Police handout
