Mario Joseph Rossi was 50 when he vanished after a family Christmas in New Jersey. On December 29, 1982, his relatives drove him to Philadelphia International Airport for a flight to the Bahamas; he waved goodbye from inside the terminal and was never seen again.

On January 2, 1983, a woman who gave only her first name phoned the family to say Rossi had been killed in a plane crash off the Bahamas. That claim could not be verified, no official record of a crash around that time was found, the caller was never heard from again, and the plane Rossi was alleged to have piloted was later shown to have been sold multiple times. His body and personal effects were never recovered. The family also received a later call from a man warning them not to involve the authorities.

Rossi was known as an innovative NASCAR engine builder and mechanic and had developed a driver restraint system after a friend’s death. By the mid-1970s he had fallen on hard times and family members later said they suspected links to South Florida drug activity; theories range from murder to witness protection or voluntary disappearance, but none are proven.

Does anyone have memories of Rossi, his travels in late 1982, or information about the alleged plane or the mysterious callers?