DA: Man held on $5M cash bail amid search for 4 missing men
BUCKS COUNTY (WTXF) - Authorities in Bucks County have re-arrested a person of interest in the case of the four missing men and charged him with stealing and attempting to sell a car belonging to one of the young men. DiNardo was named a 'person of interest' in the case of four missing boys from Bucks County on Tuesday.
Cosmo DiNardo, 20, was taken back into custody Wednesday afternoon, less than 24-hours after posting bail on an unrelated gun charge.
District Attorney Matt Weintraub announced charges against DiNardo for receiving stolen property. They say DiNardo tried to sell the car belonging to one of the missing men Thomas Meo two days after he was last seen. Authorities say the car was found on the DiNardo property. The DA says, DiNardo attempted to sell the car to a friend for $500 back on July 9, two days after Meo was last seen. Bail has been set at $5 million.
Meo is one of the four missing men from Bucks County, who was last seen July 7. Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub explained Wednesday that Meo is diabetic and his diabetic kit was found inside the car and the title was not signed by Meo.
Search teams scoured Dinardo’s 90 acres of farmland in New Hope owned by his parents, Antonio and Sandra DiNardo. Investigators said Wednesday afternoon that the search at the scene in Solebury Township was ‘intensifying.’
"The search at the scene right up the road is really intensifying," said DA Andrew Weintraub. "We're going to get some finality in this, just, prolonged ordeal."
Wednesday morning, Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said investigators "have not yet recovered any human remains" on the Solebury Township farm where authorities have been searching for several days.
“We have recovered important pieces of evidence at this site that we’re currently working hard on with the majority of our manpower, and at other locations,” Weintraub said at the press conference.
On Wednesday night, authorities uncovered a major clue. A large piece of evidence covered by a tarp was hauled away on a flat bed truck with a police escort. A source says it was an underground oil tank.
DiNardo's parents, who live in Bensalem, have been subpoenaed to appear before a Bucks County grand jury on Thursday.
Police are still asking for the public's help in finding 22-year-old Mark Sturgis, 21-year-old Tom Meo, 19-year-old Dean Finocchiaro and 19-year-old Jimi Taro Patrick. Patrick disappeared last Wednesday, the other three on Friday.
The DA has since explained that foul play is suspected to have been a factor in the disappearances.
Both Cosmo’s cell phone and the phones belonging to both of his parents have been seized by investigators as they try to piece together a timeline of Cosmo’s whereabouts since last Wednesday, when the first of the young men, Jimi Patrick, went missing.
Sources say the spotlight is being shifted to DiNardo's parents as investigators want to question them under oath about their son's actions last weekend after four young Bucks County men disappeared. The DA stop short of calling DiNardo's father a person of interest.
MORE: Parents of 'person of interest' called to Bucks County grand jury
SKYFOX was over the DiNardo’s New Hope property Tuesday as authorities surrounded around a deep trench, apparently dug with the help of a backhoe, as officers gathered up dirt and ran it through sifters.
The search for the missing men has utilized cross-country law enforcement resources, according to Weintraub. In addition to a busload of police cadets who took part in the third day of the search on Tuesday, the FBI, state police and at least five local law enforcement agencies also were investigating.
When asked if the four missing men could still be alive, Weintraub responded, "I think it's very important to hang on to hope."
“We’re considering the whole thing a place of interest. I can’t say the whole entire property is a crime scene," Weintraub said.