In the fall of 1966, a fourteen-year-old boy named Anthony Peter Tumolo vanished from his Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, neighborhood, leaving behind a mystery that has endured for decades. On October 15th, Anthony, a responsible paperboy for the Philadelphia Inquirer, spent the day with his best friend, Jack Marino. After a morning of delivering newspapers, the two friends enjoyed some doughnuts and rode their bikes around the city before heading to their respective homes for dinner.
They made plans to meet up again afterward. Anthony, described as being 5'2' and 110 pounds with black hair, brown eyes, and a scar on his right cheek, was last seen leaving his house on his bicycle to ride to Jack's home. He was wearing a blue corduroy shirt, black Levi's, a navy wool three-quarter length coat with a red plaid lining, and black shoes. He never arrived at his friend's house and was never seen or heard from again.
Initially, Anthony's parents were not immediately alarmed when he didn't come home that night, assuming he had stayed over at his friend's house. The gravity of the situation became clear the next morning when customers on his paper route started calling to report that their newspapers had not been delivered, something that was very out of character for the dependable teenager. The police were contacted, but at the time, they treated his disappearance as a probable runaway case. This theory was fueled by a recent argument Anthony had with his parents about his declining grades and their desire for him to quit his paper route to focus on school. A few days later, a false sighting by two of his classmates further solidified the runaway theory for law enforcement, causing the investigation to lose momentum. It wasn't until years later that one of the classmates admitted they had fabricated the story to avoid being punished for being late to school.
Despite the initial assessment by police, Anthony's family and his best friend, Jack, never believed he ran away. They pointed to the fact that he was very close to his eight siblings and that it was uncharacteristic of him to leave without a word. He had also left behind personal belongings, an uncashed paycheck, and some cash in his room. Over the years, Jack, who later became a police officer, has held onto a theory that his friend may have been the victim of a hit-and-run accident. He speculates that the driver, in a panic, could have hidden Anthony's body and his bicycle, which has never been found. This theory is given some weight by the fact that Interstate 95 was under construction near the area at the time, which could have provided a place to conceal what had happened. The case of Anthony Peter Tumolo remains an unsolved and heartbreaking mystery in Philadelphia. His parents passed away without ever knowing what happened to their son, but his remaining siblings and his childhood friend continue to search for answers, holding out hope for closure.Last Seen: Oct 15, 1966
