← Going West: True Crime
Going West: True Crime
Anthony Urciuoli: Missing After a Mysterious Page // 578
00:44:23
In January of 2001, a 31-year-old man vanished when he left his family’s New York home after receiving a mysterious page. He told his parents he was heading out to play pool with a friend, but the hours ticked by, and he never returned. His car was found abandoned a day later in a quiet parking lot, locked, with his wallet inside. This has left investigators, his family, and the community to continue wondering, 25 years later, what happened to him? This is the disappearance of Anthony Urciuoli.
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- [00:00]
A
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B
Mic check 12 Are we recording? Hi, I'm Michelle Bernstein, an award winning chef, restaurateur and mom. I have a lot on my plate including my psoriatic arthritis symptoms. That's why I was prescribed Cosentyx. It helps me move better.
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B
Your rheumatologist about Cosentynty.
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- [02:14]
C
What is going on? True crime fans? I'm your host Teeth.
- [02:18]
B
And I'm your host Daphne and you're.
- [02:20]
C
Listening to Going West.
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B
Hello everybody. We have a suspicious disappearance for you guys today that needs a lot more attention and it was recommended by Lacey and Sarah. So thank you both so much for sending this one in.
- [02:35]
C
Yes, this is one of those very strange missing men cases. I know Daphne really enjoys these cases and they are extremely mysterious.
- [02:45]
B
I mean that is how we started going west with Brandon Swanson's case way back in the day. So we always, always look into those type of cases when they come our way in our giant pile of recommendations. So again, thank you so much for tuning in. Thank you gals for sending this one in. And oh, before we get going, I want to tell you guys that we have merch coming out finally. We teased it a few months ago, but it is finally coming out on February 6th.
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C
Yes, we have some really cozy crewneck sweaters for you guys. We have some T shirts as well as a full sweatsuit.
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B
Yeah, and I gotta say, they are all very stylish, very cute. So if you want to see those, check out our socials. They're going to be out February 6th and it's going to be on our website. So thank you in advance for snagging some of it. And without further ado.
- [03:36]
C
Alright guys, this is episode 578 of Going West. So let's get into it.
- [04:10]
B
In January of 2001, a 31 year old New York man vanished when he left his family's home after receiving a mysterious pain. He told his parents he was heading out to play pool with a friend, but the hours ticked by and he never returned. His car was found abandoned days later in a quiet parking lot, locked with his wallet inside. And this has left investigators, his family and the community to continue wondering 25 years later, what happened to him. This is the disappearance of Anthony urcioli. Anthony Urcioli Jr. Better known as Tony, was born on October 7, 1969 to Sandra and Tony Sr. Sandra and Tony Sr. Were young parents and maintained an incredibly close bond with their son, especially since he was their only child for a little while because it wasn't until eight years later that his younger sister Lisa was born. From a young age, Tony was known around town for being a loving and friendly guy from a good family like the Ursiolis. Both his immediate family and his large extended family were very tight knit. They had such a good reputation in town. I cannot tell you guys how many positive comments I read about this guy on the Internet about Tony. Like so many people on every post about him is like, I remember when this happened. Like our town is so tight knit, his family is so nice. He was always smiling, he was always nice at his job. Like everybody loved this guy.
- [05:58]
C
Which I think makes this story even more perplexing because it's like who would want to do something to Tony? He's, he's a sweetheart.
- [06:05]
B
This guy literally didn't know an enemy or a stranger. So Sandra recalled, quote, we were all very close. We would go running, laugh and spend lots of time together. He loved his family and we will always love him. Now, Tony spent his whole life in Poughkeepsie. And after graduating from high school, he prioritized his multiple jobs and kind of putting his money aside in savings, probably to secure home ownership for himself in the future. He was a big time saver.
- [06:35]
C
Yeah. And at this point, he's living with his family, but he is working multiple jobs, as you said, because again, he wants to set himself up for the future.
- [06:44]
B
Yeah. I think because of that very close relationship he had with his parents. He didn't mind that around 30 years old, he's living with them. He's like, I don't care. I'm saving money. I get to see these people I love. And he was such a hard worker. He really didn't want that to go to waste. So like we said, he held down multiple jobs at a time. But he was employed as a server at the Duchess Diner in Poughkeepsie at the time of his disappearance. This was his main job. And by the way, the Duchess Diner is known as this nostalgic landmark that's been around since the 50s. It's located just down the street from where his parents lived, and it is still there to this day. It's like very much an institution.
- [07:25]
C
Yeah. A staple of that community.
- [07:27]
B
So this is what I meant, that so many people knew him because they would go to this local diner. There's only like 30,000 people that lived in Poughkeepsie at this time. So people would go in and see him and be so happy to see him. He was universally liked by customers and co workers alike, and he made a decent living for himself on tips and his wages. Now, though, his personal life has been largely kept out of the public eye, honestly, as a lot of things in this case and his life have been. At the time of his disappearance, Tony had just recently come out of a long term relationship that lasted nearly a decade. So he dated this woman throughout his entire 20s, essentially. So this is, you know, pretty serious. That's a time when you, you know, that's a big chunk of time might move into marriage. Right. But that didn't happen. They. They broke up. Now, allegedly, this was not an amicable breakup, according to an interview that Coffey and Cases podcast conducted with Tony's parents and sister. Like that is how little has been released on this case is that this podcast had to do an interview to get this tiny little piece of information about their. Their breakup not being amicable and still not really Fully understanding why that was, but we are going to talk about that a little bit later. Now, after this breakup, Tony refocused his energy on working diligently at his jobs and saving his money. Just kind of putting his head down. And according to reports, at the time of his disappearance, he had nearly $300,000 saved, which he kept concealed in a safe. And eerily, I'll tell you this right now, his parents don't know what became of the money after his disappearance, which.
- [09:17]
C
I think is a huge chunk of this case and possible motivation.
- [09:22]
B
Yes. So we will return to that.
- [09:24]
C
Well, on January 24, 2001, 31 year old Tony was scheduled to work a late shift at Dutchess diner, but was let go around 9pm with his manager citing that it was just kind of a slow, cold winter night. He arrived home around 9:30pm and told his parents that he planned on staying in for the rest of the night. But then around 11pm he came out of his room claiming that someone had paged him asking him to go out. But unfortunately, he didn't tell his parents who he was meeting up with. It was just gonna be this, you know, casual hangout. Tony's 31, so he just kinda let them know that he was gonna be leaving to go meet someone. He headed out late that night around 11:30pm telling his dad that he was planning on shooting a few games of pool, but that he would be home soon. Within an hour or so now, Tony left their house near the Galleria mall in Poughkeepsie, bound for sharks Billiard tavern in Fishkill, New York, which is about 15 minutes south of where the Ursioli family lived.
- [10:34]
B
And it's worth noting right now. So sharks billiard tavern has since closed. And I was looking at other bars in Fishkill and Poughkeepsie to see when they close because this was a Wednesday. So if he's leaving at 11:30, even here in L. A, a lot of bars on a Wednesday will close at midnight or by midnight.
- [10:52]
C
Yeah. And he probably wouldn't have had that much time to shoot pool.
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B
Yeah. Especially if he said he'd be back in an hour or so. I don't know this. I just wanted to point this out because most bars in. I mean, really, every bar right now that I looked at in Poughkeepsie, for example, says that it closes at midnight on Wednesdays or even 9 or 10 or 11. So I don't know what time this bar closed. And you know, this is fish kill, so it's near Poughkeepsie it's actually smaller than Poughkeepsie. So I just wanted to mention that.
- [11:23]
C
Well, by the time that Tony left Sandra, his mom was already in bed and his dad followed shortly after. But the following morning his bedroom was empty and his car never made it home. The night before, Tony Sr. Recalled, Sandy woke me up and said Tony never came home. So obviously puzzled, his parents called around to his friends and co workers asking after him. But no one seemed to have seen or heard from him. As the day wore on with no word from Tony, his parents began to really panic and they reported his disappearance to the Poughkeepsie police department at 5:30pm on Thursday, January 25th. And remember again, this is 2001. And although police were initially skeptical that foul play had occurred. You know, Tony's 31, he can go off and stay at a friend's house or at a girl's house or whatever. But his parents knew how rare it was for Tony to spend a night away from home. And even more so with no word from him. I mean he would usually like at least call his parents to let them know, hey, I'm going here, I'm gonna stay here tonight. So his family and friends started searching the area for any sign of Tony or his gray 2001 Nissan Maxima.
- [12:43]
B
Around 12:45am the next morning, January 26, Tony's uncle Jerry Gretzinger found Tony's Maxima parked on Wilbur Boulevard near Poughkeepsie's Spratt park. So about 10 minutes north of his parents house. Strangely, this park was in the opposite direction of the pool hall where he was supposedly headed to meet a friend. Tony's car was locked and bore no sign of a struggle either inside or around the vehicle. It was just parked there like Tony had left it. Maybe after spending time at the pool hall. Inside his center console he had left his wallet which contained a small amount of cash. And this also struck investigators as strange because he probably would have needed his license and his money if he was going to a bar. But it also wouldn't make sense for him to park here and go to the bar anyway, unless somebody picked him up from his car and took him. Because again, he would have driven in the opposite direction from his home to get to Spratt park. And his car was about a 15 minute drive from the bar.
- [13:51]
C
Yeah, you wouldn't drive in the opposite direction, park your car and then get into somebody else's car just to go completely the other way to the pool hall.
- [14:00]
B
Yeah, cuz even if you and your friend were like, oh, let's drive there together, which still wouldn't really make sense. Like just meet there.
- [14:07]
C
You could meet halfway, but this wasn't even halfway.
- [14:09]
B
Yeah. If the person is in the opposite direction, you would imagine they would come to you and just pick you up, you know, so this, it just doesn't. There's no way to make sense of this if he's going to the bar.
- [14:19]
C
Which is why you and I both believe that it's possible that he. He never even went to that bar.
- [14:24]
B
Yes, but by the way, Sprott park is a mile long park with sport field, a playground. It has like a running track around the whole thing and it's surrounded by suburban homes. So detectives were left to wonder exactly what Heath just said. Was it possible that Tony had lied to his parents about what he was doing that night? Because no one reported seeing him at Sharks. Now, it's possible that he was there and went unnoticed, but this certainly felt like a strange development. And again, I wish that we knew what time this bar closed on that Wednesday night. Obviously, police would have looked into that and they would have. I'm sure that information would be available that, well, they closed at 11, so he had to be lying. You know, it must have been possible that he went there because that's what police say, that he could have gone there, but nobody noticed him, as we'll mention again. But I don't know, I don't think he went there.
- [15:23]
C
Well, what I think is really frustrating about this is the fact that there's probably a few ways you could have checked to see if he actually did go there. You know, if they did have security cameras within the bar, which. I get it, it's 2001, that's. That might not have been the case.
- [15:39]
B
Oh, no, was not the case.
- [15:40]
C
Yeah. But on top of that, maybe there's a receipt. Maybe there was some sort of credit card transaction or whatever.
- [15:46]
B
Well, they looked into all that, but again, with his wallet left in his. There was no trace of him being at that bar. Yeah. And nobody saw him. But we are going to get into that in a little bit. So let's put a pin in that. But basically there was zero proof that he was actually at that bar.
- [15:58]
C
Right.
- [15:59]
B
Now, Pipy Detective John Wagner, who was spearheading this investigation, thought that it was likely that Tony had driven to the park to meet up with somebody instead and then had possibly even gotten into a car with this person that night. He noted that Tony's car, quote, was. Was locked as Though Tony put it there and then went with someone, but we do not know that for certain. You know, they have to say that they have no proof that that happened. That's just the running theory, because that's the only thing that really makes sense. Because if he has his keys as well. His keys are not in the car. It's locked. It's as if he was planning to return to his vehicle.
- [16:35]
C
Yeah, because again, why would you leave your wallet in there but then take your keys?
- [16:39]
B
Especially because it was in the center console. It's not like, oh, my God, his wallet was right there on the dash and his car was unlocked. The keys were in the ignition. Like, it felt like he left his vehicle willingly.
- [16:49]
C
Yes, 100%. Well, police deployed K9 units on two separate occasions to search the vicinity of where his car was abandoned, but they found no clues as to Tony's whereabouts. The initial assumption was that he had left on his own accord, despite the fact that he hadn't seemed to bring anything with him, including, of course, his wallet and his car. And the motivation being robbery was also largely ruled out, given the fact that $21 was found inside his wallet and nothing else was missing from the car. There were also no foreign fingerprints found on the car, making it even more likely that Tony had met up with someone else and gotten into their vehicle. Now, because of this assumption, Tony's family wasn't happy from the beginning with how law enforcement was handling this case. You know, feeling that maybe their approach was not focused enough and that he was not truly considered a missing person, they more so made it seem like he just went off with someone with or without plans to return. Tony Sr. Said with frustration. It's inconceivable that he would up and leave. We haven't gotten one nibble. Nobody, nobody, nobody will come forward. In addition to their disbelief that Tony would be willing to leave his entire family and life behind in the only hometown he had ever known, his parents shared with law enforcement that Tony disappeared a few days before his mom's birthday and a week before his dad's, two family events that he would not have missed. They also had a family trip to Las Vegas that was coming up, which the whole family was looking forward to. Tony said matter of factly, My son would not do this unless he had no other choice. Tony Sr. Also feels that unspoken biases were holding the investigation back and that his case wasn't taken seriously because he was a man. Tony Sr. Said candidly. Most guys are thought to be macho. If it's A girl, you get national coverage. If it's a guy, they don't pay any mind to it.
- [19:02]
B
Well, when the employees from Sharks were questioned again, no one had seen Tony on the night that he was supposedly planning on coming in. And thus police came to the assumption that Tony had not made it there again because there was no other proof that he had been there. No surveillance footage, no receipts. And he loved playing pool. So this was a place that he visited and surely somebody there would have recognized him or noticed that he was there, noticed that this tall, dark haired man had been playing pool there that night. Well, when his parents were asked if they had any inkling about who could possibly have wanted him out of the picture, they brought up one of the managers of the Duchess Diner who apparently didn't get along with Tony, which according to those who knew him, was a rarity. And this manager apparently liked to force him to carry out his shift in the kitchen rather than on the floor with the customers like he usually did. Of course, he preferred being on the floor. He loved talking to people and seeing familiar faces. And this manager kind of seemed to punish him by keeping him back in the kitchen for whatever reason. But other than a mild workplace grievance that unfortunately we do not know anything more about, Tony has no known enemies. Now the question of who paged Tony on the night of his disappearance remains a mystery, at least as far as the public is concerned. Though his family has hinted that it was probably somebody who worked with Tony at the diner. However, they reportedly questioned everybody who worked at the diner and found no link to his disappearance. According to his co workers, who he spent a lot of time with, you know, this is a big group of people that he sees all the time they speak in and outside of work. According to them, he was known for being very amiable and described as hard working and trouble free. No one who knew him believed that he would have left of his own accord. But despite his parents, for whatever reason, assuming that he probably got a page from somebody he worked with which would make me believe that he hung out with his coworkers often, nobody knows who this page came from because police were never able to trace it, which is obviously like this would be one of the biggest clues. And I can't believe we don't have the answer.
- [21:27]
C
Yeah, if they were able to figure out who had, you know, sent that page, they would, they would know who Tony was with that night. I mean, it's so obvious, but that's.
- [21:35]
B
Like the whole thing.
- [21:35]
C
But I'm sure that whatever Happened to Tony. Whoever did something to Tony probably got rid of that pager as well.
- [21:42]
B
Tony's uncle Jerry Gretzinger maintained, quote, the family is still holding out hope. It's been very hard. It's not like Anthony to leave without telling anybody where he's going. In the early days of Tony's disappearance, there was a trickle of tips and even a few potential sightings. One of which came in from Alaska, so all the way across the country. And another which came in from White Plains, New York, which is a suburb of New York City located about an hour south of Poughkeepsie. And although both were followed up on, neither resulted in any sign of Tony. We see this in a lot of cases where people think they see somebody and they actually don't. So it seems like that is what happened here. And then the tip slowed to a crawl. Detective Michael o' Dell said in an interview, quote, I sympathize with the family. It would tear me up if it were my son. There's no concrete evidence either way. You can make a case that he's dead, and you can also make a case that he decided to run from something. It's a mystery, but somebody can unravel it. If he's dead, somebody killed him. If he ran, somebody helped him. And that case was from the earlier days of the investigation. So, you know, obviously you have. I feel like you probably have more ideas then. And then as time passes and there are still no answers, certain things kind of come off the table just as time passes and there's no sightings, there's no word, there's no communication.
- [23:15]
C
Right. It gets a little bit harder because obviously, again, there's really no evidence in this case. It's not like they have DNA. It's not like they have fingerprints. That's the toughest part.
- [23:24]
B
Yeah. And then the theories just kind of get darker as well. With the investigation stalled indefinitely, Tony's parents did what they could to keep his name in the news. They frequently spoke with media outlets and brought forth a reward of $10,000. They papered Poughkeepsie and its neighboring communities with missing posters and even established a PO Box where people could submit anonymous tips. But nothing came in.
- [23:52]
C
Well, at the seven month mark, local paper the Poughkeepsie Journal ran a feature about Tony's disappearance and the lack of information in the aftermath. And Tony Sr. Offered a heartbreaking testimony to what being a grieving parent actually felt like saying. I'm in denial. The nights are rough. I would sooner not be born than to go through what I'm going through right now. The lead investigator, John Wagner, has admitted from the beginning that they've had no information to offer the family resigning. We have not given them their son. There's nothing short of giving them their son. Poughkeepsie detective Sergeant Dave Lundgren agreed, saying, maybe the first three or four days, there's a lot of activity. If nothing happens, you go through this long subpoena process, After a day or so, you can be anywhere in the world. You have to consider that it's very bad and hope it isn't, rather than work the other way. But in the case of Tony's disappearance, there was no evidence to prove one way or the other, Just the idea that, for some reason, someone did something terrible to him. So detectives subpoenaed his credit card statements, his bank records, and phone records, hoping to link them back to his location or at least, you know, prove that some activity had taken place. But all of his accounts were static following his disappearance.
- [25:20]
B
Yeah. And as far as we know, he didn't purchase anything that night. There was no gas station he stopped at or pool hall he stopped at that he spent money at. I mean, he could have gone somewhere and used cash. Absolutely. But we don't have any proof of purchase.
- [25:35]
C
It just feels so unlikely. And usually when something like this happens where you don't use your phone or your bank cards or anything like that, you just become untraceable. While investigator John Brooks with the New York state police admitted, quote, circumstances dictate how these things are approached, Police may dump a lot of resources in a short period of time, but an adult capable of functioning where there is no suspicion of foul play, we're not going to send the world right away. So he's kind of saying, well, doesn't seem like there was anything nefarious going on here, so we're not gonna dump a whole bunch of resources into it.
- [26:15]
B
Which, in a way, makes sense, because they have nothing to go off of, which is why this case is so devastating and tragic, because there is literally nothing.
- [26:23]
C
Yeah. And we also don't know the extent of what they were doing in the first days of his disappearance. Like, if they were really, really digging, like, we don't know how hard they actually worked in those early days because their investigation was very frustrating to his family, of course, who claimed that they knew from the jump that Tony had been met with foul play and that precious time had been wasted in the early days of the investigation, you know, waiting in hopes that Tony would just come back. Tony is now officially listed as endangered missing, which makes his fingerprints and dental records available to the police. But this is only helpful when potential remains are found.
- [27:15]
A
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- [29:25]
C
Why have I asked my electrician I found on Angie.com to bury my pet hamster? I was so moved by how carefully.
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A
He buried my electrical wires, I knew.
- [29:32]
C
I could trust him to bury my sweet nibbles after his untimely end.
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- [31:25]
C
Absolutely. And you can get caught later on, you know. But the sad part about this story is the fact that there's this, you know, young guy and all they find, all the only trace that they find of him is his is his car locked on a side street near a park and then just nothing else. And it's, it's like almost like he was just vanished into thin air.
- [31:47]
B
Yeah. Like he was just plucked from earth.
- [31:49]
C
Yeah.
- [31:49]
B
Well, the woods near Shark's Billiard tavern were searched by volunteers. Obviously, the park where his car was found was as well, by volunteers and law enforcement alike. But again, turned up nothing. Still, less than a year into the investigation, Tony Senior remained hopeful, though the outlook was decidedly bleak. He said, quote, right now my mission is to find my son alive and well. I think someone he trusted entrapped him with some kind of scheme. Nine years after Tony's disappearance, the family held their annual candlelight vigil which was covered by the Poughkeepsie Journal, Friends and neighbors gathered at the exact parking spot near Spratt park where Tony's car was found. A pastor led a prayer and a blessing, and family members gave speeches and performed music. Tony's Uncle Jerry said, everyone coming together today is an assurance to the family that we're always here for you and you will never walk alone. We're here to give you whatever support you need. Poughkeepsie locals, many of who hadn't even known Tony, you know, this is almost a decade later, came out to support as well. And the following year, which officially marked the passage of a decade, Tony Sr. Told the attendees, sadly, it's been 10 years, not 10 days, not 10 weeks, not 10 months. Time does not erase the pain. To this day, his family continues to believe that law enforcement has not done enough to track down Tony. Tony Sr. Maintains that he and Sandra have done everything they can to keep their son's name alive, but that it still isn't enough, saying, sadly, I have called the stations. Nobody bothers. I've written emails to everybody, and they don't even get back to me. Has it been frustrating? Without a doubt, it's an understatement. Lisa agreed with her father's sentiment, saying, there's no closure. It's the same every year. We relive that day.
- [34:00]
C
But the police claim that their hands are tied when somehow not a single shred of evidence or person of interest has materialized. Detective Michael o' Dell told the Poughkeepsie Journal, there's no concrete evidence either way. For years after his disappearance, the Ursiolis maintained their residence and left Tony's room frozen in time. It's like he never even left. A stereo he received for Christmas just a month before his disappearance still sat in its box at the foot of his bed. As the years have passed, Sandra believes, I just feel in my heart it was violence. He would have called. Unfortunately, with no direction in the investigation and no new developments or information, theories are all that remainder. So let's talk about a few of those theories, because there is some speculation that swirls around online. Though some have suspected that Tony was caught up in a drug trade, either using or selling, the police have mostly debunked this story, which I think feels.
- [35:09]
B
Like the easy thing for your mind to go to. Like, why else would he lie to his parents about where he was going, even though he's an adult? Of course, sometimes you just don't want your parents to know things. And when you think about the world of drugs and how secretive it is and how dangerous it is. It would make sense that Tony maybe owed somebody money. You know, he got into their car, and they quietly and successfully got rid of him, as can very much happen. So the fact that police don't think this is the angle really makes you wonder.
- [35:37]
C
Yeah. I wonder if maybe they just fully looked into his background and his character and they just decided, you know, it doesn't really seem like something that Tony would be involved with or do.
- [35:48]
B
Yeah. I would imagine his friends, like, you would imagine the police did ask the friends that, and then they would have reported. No, like, Tony wouldn't do that. Which, like, to be fair, there are many friends of ours that if police. If they disappeared and police said they were into drugs. Right. You'd be like, what?
- [36:04]
C
Yeah, like, no, if Daphne disappeared and somebody was trying to bring up this theory of her going and buying drugs.
- [36:11]
B
I would maybe a little kush.
- [36:12]
C
Yeah. I would be like, yeah, that's. There's no fucking way. Yeah, it's not happening.
- [36:17]
B
No. But his mom did say, quote, all they said was that he was a good kid and that there were no drugs involved.
- [36:24]
C
And I fully believe that.
- [36:26]
B
So it's like, his parents think that. And even police are like, nah, this was a good kid. This was not a drug. A drug man.
- [36:33]
C
Well, his family has agreed that Tony never had any struggle or dependency on alcohol or drugs. I mean, obviously, as far as they knew, and they knew him really well. I mean, he lived in their house, and there was no evidence of drug use or possession found in his room when it was searched. So they're like, yeah, there's just no way. But police have not announced publicly how or why they were able to take that particular theory out of consideration. Now, another possibility, based on the fact that Tony's car was left near a wooded area and a river in the lush landscape of upstate New York, was that he had suffered an accident. Though, of course, his remains never turned up. And there was no proof of an.
- [37:16]
B
Accident and no proof of him having any kind of mental health episode and walking off from his car. You know, he's in a neighborhood next to a park in a suburb in a city. Somebody would have seen him. I mean, the population, again, was only around 30,000 at the time, and a lot of people knew him, though there's no way of knowing how he would have been met with this particular fate. It's a possibility that he became lost or disoriented and fell prey to the elements. And his remains were consumed by animal activity or have yet to be found. But this just feels too far fetched for many.
- [37:54]
C
Yeah, I don't. I don't think that that was the case.
- [37:58]
B
And his family also assured investigators that Tony was not depressed and he had every reason to be excited about his future as well as his career and the money that he was working so hard to save for so many years. Now, though no one in his orbit knew of a current romantic interest, it's possible that he was headed to the park to meet with somebody he had recently started seeing. This also brings to mind his former girlfriend, who he may have had some unfinished business with. You know, there could have been a dramatic love affair involved on his ex girlfriend's side, or maybe a love triangle even. And this angle is discussed on online forums quite a bit, with locals alleging that the Poughkeepsie rumors were always that he was paged by his ex girlfriend, which, of course, nobody actually knows, so this is a total guess. And that the page was actually sent by the other guy that she was seeing, wanting to meet Tony, and he did something to him. You know, the only person who would know about the page would be the person who sent it.
- [39:01]
C
Yeah. And also, just going back a little bit, we did talk about the fact that his relationship did not end amicably. I wonder what that means. And we're definitely going to go into a little bit more about that.
- [39:16]
B
Well, let's actually go into it now because I think you're probably hinting at the small fortune thing that he had saved three. I mean, I say small fortune. $300,000 is a lot of freaking cash.
- [39:28]
C
Yeah.
- [39:29]
B
And he apparently had this in a safe. We don't know the fate of this money. His parents say they don't know what happened to it, if it was kept in a physical safe, and they don't know what happened to it. I have so many questions about that. And if police know the fate of that cash.
- [39:43]
C
Yeah, I mean, because that's the most suspicious part of this entire story. The fact that, like, nobody knows what happened to that 300k.
- [39:52]
B
And also how many people knew that he had that much money? Because it makes you wonder if somebody he trusted, like maybe a friend or a co worker, even may have kind of used him or did something to him to get to this money that they knew about, because that's so much money. So this just feels like a big potential motive. So let's bring it back to the ex girlfriend. Basically, local rumors allege that the reason he and his ex Girlfriend's breakup was so bad, or part of the reason is because she was planning to open a business, which Tony was going to fund either out of the kindness of his heart or because he actually owed her money. And a lot of people think that the ex's. So the ex girlfriend's new boyfriend went to meet Tony to get the money, and then something happened from there. And maybe they never got the money anyway. But of course, as I said, this is a total rumor. I know this theory has been shared with police. Police, of course, know the ex girlfriend's name. I am sure they have questioned her. Um, but, yeah, this is just what the locals say.
- [40:59]
C
But I think it's interesting because, you know, sometimes when people talk, little things start to slip through. So maybe there is a little bit of truth in what these people are saying, you know, especially if they did know Tony.
- [41:12]
B
Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, either way, I really don't think that Tony was actually going to play pool with a friend. I think that was a front. I think he was trying to deal with something, possibly his ex girlfriend. I don't necessarily think he was involved in anything sketchy. I think that somebody took advantage of his kindness and his goodness and his hard work and that something happened to him that night because of it. Like you said, he told his parents that he was only going to be gone for an hour or so if he had to drive to the bar, play a few games of pool, by the way, to a bar that was probably closing sometime soon anyway. Like, it does sound like he was popping out to meet somebody really quick, which we know is what he said to his parents anyway, but it seems like he was handling something well.
- [42:00]
C
The reward for information now sits at $100,000, but even that has not been enough to bring forward a single person of interest. Along with the listing about the increased reward, which was printed across local newspapers and also hung up all over town, was a plea from his sister Lisa that read, there are so many people hurting since my brother went missing. I think we'd know more if the media had taken an interest, but they didn't seem to care. We have no closure, just an empty seat at the dinner table. Detective Captain Paul LeCompte with the Poughkeepsie police has assured the public the case is still open. We're also checking databases constantly for any missing persons. It can't hurt, the more publicity that's out there. You never know when someone's going to read something or hear something. And John Wagner agrees with this. Maintaining. It's my belief that somebody can help find out where Tony is and what happened to Tony. Unfortunately, we're no closer today than we were a year ago. We want to get closure for the family, but we. We're not there yet.
- [43:11]
B
And we know cases like this are so frustrating when not only does the public us have enough information to really actually dig into anything here, but the police don't even seem to have anything. But that frustration is nothing compared to what Tony's family has felt. Having absolutely no shred of anything to hold on to, no direction to look. Which is why we have to cover cases like this sometimes, because the more people that know about them, the closer police can get to finding justice. Because what you just said, Heath, is so accurate. Somebody out there obviously knows something. Somebody paged him, and as we always say, that's really suspicious if you're a part of a case. If the person who paged him is not involved in what happened to him, they would have said, oh, yeah, that was me, and we had a great time at the bar, and then I didn't see him again.
- [44:02]
C
Exactly. Why not come forward and, you know, say, hey, I was the one that, you know, it's like, yeah, I was the one that paged him, and we met up and we hung out for a little while, but then he left. And that's all I know. Like, nobody has come forward and said that even.
- [44:16]
B
Which is why I wholeheartedly believe that whoever paged him killed him. I honestly think that because that would have happened, somebody who is close enough to him to have his pager number would have come forward and said, oh, my God, I was the last person who saw him. Here's how I can help you. And that's because they know what happened.
- [44:36]
C
That's also a very interesting angle about this as well, is that you don't just give out your pager to random people. It's. It's got to be somebody that you know fairly well, whether it's a co worker or a friend or a family member or whatever, it's somebody. Somebody that knows you.
- [44:52]
B
Somebody that needs to be able to get in touch with you at the drop of a hat.
- [44:55]
C
Yeah.
- [44:56]
B
I. E. With a page to page you and say, hey, call me, you know, so this isn't your Instagram page. So I truly believe that whoever paged him that night did something very, very bad to him, and they've been getting away with it for two and a half decades. Friends of Tony still post about his case occasionally on social media platforms. Like Reddit and Facebook, always leading with what a kind and genuine person he was and how they wish they could offer answers to his grieving family. For years, Tony Sr. Openly maintained hope that his son was still alive. But by now, 25 years later, his family has concluded that it is most likely that Tony was met with foul play. Sandra and Tony Sr. Still live in the area and are still waiting for answers about their son. According to Tony Sr. He still runs over the details of his son's disappearance in his head on a daily basis, as he's done thousands of times, hoping for answers and closure. At the time he vanished, Tony was 31 years old, stood at 5ft 10 inches tall, and weighed about 140 pounds. He had dark hair and hazel eyes and was last seen wearing a black down jacket and baggy jeans. He would now be 56 years old. If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Tony Ursioli, please call the Poughkeepsie Police Department at 845-451-4000. Thank you so much, everybody for listening to this episode of Going West.
- [46:45]
C
Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. We're going to make a missing poster for Tony, so make sure you head on over to our socials and check that out and make sure that you.
- [46:55]
B
Share because somebody, as we're saying, knows what happened to Tony and they have been getting away with it for far too long.
- [47:01]
C
Yeah. And I know that sometimes these cases are frustrating, but like Daphne said, these are the cases that really boggle your mind when there's just nothing there and, you know, the family can't point to any sort of theory or any direction at all.
- [47:15]
B
It's like there's nothing there, but there's everything there.
- [47:18]
C
Yeah, it just pisses you off, you know? Truly.
- [47:20]
B
Well, thank you guys so much for tuning in to this one. And of course, we will be back with another episode on Tuesday.
- [47:27]
C
All right, guys, so for everybody out.
- [47:29]
B
There in the world, don't be a stranger.
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C
Sa.
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A
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