“The mere fact that he buried her right under their home and continued to live there with his two children is almost unbelievable.”
KDKA TVMary Arcuri with her girl .
When a Pittsburgh cleaning woman enigmatically disappeared one day in 1964 , her husband enjoin law that she had bequeath him . The family was lay waste to , but it sure seemed like the truth — her wearing apparel and belongings were missing , too , and husband Albert Alcuri seemed overcome with grief .
What has taken more than half a century to discovery , however , is that Mary Arcuri , then 36 , was never truly missing .
KDKA TVMary Arcuri with her daughter.
Her husband die in a car shipwreck one year after she disappeared , and with Mary ’s own vanishing , their house finally go to novel owners .
It was in February of last twelvemonth that structure workers , who were influence in the thou of the family , discovered the remains of Mary Arcuri . And the grounds advise that Albert had something to do with that body being there .
At the time of her disappearance , no police or overleap person reports were filed , The Pittsburgh Post - Gazettereported . The fact that this showcase has finally been solved , 55 year later , hinge entirely on the fact that go to sleep Assistant Chief Therese Rocco — who led the bureau ’s overleap someone unit — materialise to know next room access to the Arcuris .
Alexandra Wimley/Post-GazetteThe former Arcuri home, as seen on Feb. 21, 2019.
Alexandra Wimley / Post - GazetteThe former Arcuri nursing home , as find on Feb. 21 , 2019 .
“ It ’s good we find out , ” said Charles Sberna , Mary Arcuri ’s great - nephew . “ We wait all these years . ”
In accession to her coincidental role as both neighbor and missing somebody functionary , Rocco was also made godmother to Mary Arcuri ’s girl .
Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-GazetteThe former Arcuri home’s backyard, as seen on Feb. 28, 2018.
“ I was just a young girl and ( Mary ) come to the doorway with this tiny little baby and she put the sister in my weapons system and said , ‘ I want you to be the godmother , ’ ” said Rocco .
The friendly neighbour finally memorise that Mary and her husband were going through married problems and that he had accused his married woman of being unfaithful — this was around the same fourth dimension that Mary disappeared . For Rocco , her departure seemed legitimate , in terms of a marriage end naughtily and the wife operate off .
“ I know there were problems and I guess , ‘ Leave it alone , ’ ” allege Rocco . “ But I also wondered why she did n’t attempt to get in touch with her kid . ”
Pam Panchak/Post-GazetteTherese Rocco, godmother to Mary Arcuri’s daughter, and former Pittsburgh Police Assistant Chief who led the missing person unit, 2017.
For Sberna , who grew up in the same house when she disappeared , the intact incident seemed suspect — a notion partly inherited by his mother , who was implicated about foul play .
Antonella Crescimbeni / Post - GazetteThe former Arcuri home ’s backyard , as seen on Feb. 28 , 2018 .
“ My mother , we talked about it , and she knew something pass off to her , ” sound out Sberna .
The inkling of a bad - slip scenario could ’ve turned to conspicuous criminal misgiving when Albert Arcuri built a cementum patio in the backyard , curtly after Mary ’s purportedly voluntary disappearance — but it never did .
“ I do n’t cognize what my family was thinking back then , ” order Sberna , who was five years old at the time .
Perhaps most disconcertingly , besides the strong grounds suggesting a hubby mutilate his wife and covered the incident up in his own backyard , is Sberna ’s belief that his mother and another relative actually did file a overleap mortal account — but that the constabulary never take it seriously .
The mid-1960s , of course , differed greatly in terms of marital issues and the public ’s amour in them . The police likely consider this a private matter , and that a wife ’s infidelity and subsequent move by from town was n’t their concern .
“ They did n’t treat it like they do today , ” he sound out .
Sberna also claimed that Albert Arcuri “ did n’t like kids ; he was mean , ” and that the late suspect would bedevil Sberna ’s toys over the fence of the backyard on several occasions .
Rocco , on the other paw , commemorate Mary ’s husband wholly other than . In her experience , he was sonant - spoken , gentle , and kind .
Pam Panchak / Post - GazetteTherese Rocco , godmother to Mary Arcuri ’s daughter , and former Pittsburgh Police Assistant Chief who led the missing person unit , 2017 .
“ Even to this day it is hard for me to think he could have killed her , or anyone for that subject , ” allege Rocco . “ The mere fact that he inter her correctly under their home and keep on to live there with his two children is almost unbelievable … but it was n’t long after that , that he direct his own life . ”
Rocco ’s latter statement was in reference the 1965 railroad car crash that took Albert Arcuri ’s life . It was only a yr after his wife ’s seeming disappearance , that he rammed right on into a Chevrolet car franchise and died .
A new item continue the moot accident in the Pittsburgh Press note that he was “ travel at a marvelous rate of speed , ” and leave alone skid marks leading up to the dealership for 250 feet .
“ It was determined that ( the crash ) could have been avoided , ” explained Rocco .
As for the analysis of Mary Arcuri ’s remnants , the Allegheny County Medical Examiner ’s Office say that the cause and manner of death ca n’t be set . Consequently , no charges have been file .
“ Police can not speculate on how Mary Arcuri died or why she was buried in the backyard , ” said police spokesman Chris Togneri .
In the end , it was Therese Rocco that allowed for Mary Arcuri to be correctly identify in the first place , as she provided Detective Edward Fallert with the dental records of the char he thought these remains belonged to , in purchase order to rule her out .
She then remembered the Arcuris , that they previously possess the home , and recalled rumor about her neighbor ’s strange disappearance . This lead police detective to contact Mary Arcuri ’s relatives to collect DNA samples , which finally led to the friction match that put an ending to the mystery .
While the quest for solution has taken over 50 years , Mary ’s expectant - nephew Charles Sberna has finally retrieve the closure he needed . Unfortunately , the word come too late for some .
“ It would have been dainty if my female parent and grandmother knew , ” he tell .
Next , take about the disturbingly unsolved disappearance ofMaura MurrayandJennifer Kesse .
