Charles J. Rini was a 41-year-old businessman and father who left his Moreland Hills, Ohio, home in spring 1981 for a meeting and never returned. He was last seen on March 30, 1981, in the Chagrin Valley area wearing jeans, a brown sports shirt and a leather jacket. He had brown hair, blue eyes and a four-inch scar on the left side of his neck.

On April 30, 1981, Rini’s 1981 Oldsmobile was found abandoned in a Beachwood parking lot near the office of Joseph Gallo. The discovery, and later reporting that Rini was an associate of Gallo, linked his disappearance to organized-crime activity. Accounts say Rini had tried to reclaim confiscated jewels for Gallo by presenting ownership papers to the Summit County sheriff; the papers were ruled invalid and Rini vanished soon after. Federal investigators later said they believed he was likely killed and his body disposed of in wooded areas of Chagrin Valley or on property tied to mob associates.

Rini was not officially listed as a missing person until 2014, after Gallo died in prison.