On a summer day, July 10, 1994, 21-year-old Carmine Gargano Jr. left his family's home on Ridge Boulevard in Brooklyn, New York. A student at Pace University, he reportedly had plans to go jet-skiing that afternoon. At the time of his disappearance, he was described as a Caucasian male with black hair and brown eyes, standing at 6'2' and weighing 230 pounds. He was last seen at approximately 12:30 p.m. wearing a white t-shirt, blue shorts, white sneakers, and a silver TAG watch. Carmine never returned home that day, and an air of mystery and sorrow descended upon his family as they began a search that would span decades.
The circumstances surrounding Carmine's disappearance quickly pointed toward a sinister conclusion. Just days before he went missing, Carmine had been involved in a physical altercation at a Brooklyn bar called T-Birds with a man named Michael 'Mikey Flattop' De Rosa, an alleged associate of the Luchese crime family.
During the fight, De Rosa was injured and reportedly threatened to kill Carmine as he was being escorted out of the establishment. Federal informants later suggested that Carmine was murdered by John Pappa, a member of the Colombo crime family, as an act of revenge against Carmine's cousin, Anthony 'Tigger' Dellavecchia. Pappa allegedly believed Dellavecchia was involved in the murder of his best friend. Because Dellavecchia was reportedly protected by the Luchese crime organization, Pappa may have targeted Carmine instead. It is believed Pappa thought the blame for Carmine's death would fall on De Rosa due to their recent public fight.
Over the years, the investigation into Carmine's case saw several grim developments, though his remains were not immediately found. In 1997, John Pappa was convicted of four Mafia-related murders and sentenced to two life terms plus 65 years in federal prison, though he has consistently denied any involvement in Carmine's disappearance and was never charged in the case. A tip in 2000 led investigators to an auto body shop in Coney Island, where it was believed Carmine was buried in the foundation, but a search proved fruitless. Testimonies in later years suggested Carmine was killed at the auto body shop and his body later moved to an industrial park in Farmingdale, New York, though excavations at this site also yielded no results. Despite receiving numerous threats for their persistence, Carmine's family never stopped searching for answers, even sending a letter to Pappa in prison pleading for information. In 2018, his parents filed a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against two other members of the Colombo crime family, who were convicted of his murder but received reduced sentences for their cooperation with prosecutors. Eventually, investigators returned to the original body shop location and were able to recover remains that were confirmed through DNA to be Carmine Gargano Jr.Last Seen: Jul 10, 1994
