Unsolved Mysteries Wiki
Don't have an account?
Register
Advertisement
Register
Unsolved Mysteries Wiki
Unsolved Mysteries Wiki
1,936
pages
in: Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania,
and 7 more

Robert Corrado

Edit
Robert corrado

Robert Corrado

Real Name: Robert Anthony Corrado
Aliases: Bob
Wanted For: Theft, Drug Possession
Missing Since: April 4, 1989

Case[]

Details: Twenty-nine-year-old Robert Corrado of West Chester, Pennsylvania, is wanted for grand theft and drug dealing. Although his family believes he committed suicide by jumping from the Delaware Memorial Bridge (which connects South New Jersey and Wilmington, Delaware), the police believe he faked his death to escape the charges.
Over the years, ninety-seven people have leapt from the Delaware Memorial Bridge to their deaths. Because of the Delaware River's predictable currents, all but five of the bodies have been recovered. On April 4, 1989, the river apparently claimed its ninety-eighth victim. At around 3am that morning, two unidentified commuters reported to a toll booth operator that they had seen a man walking alone on the bridge near a parked car.
The Delaware State Police were dispatched to the scene. They located the car in the middle of the bridge, its engine still running. The car's owner was nowhere to be found. On the front seat was a wallet. In it, they found a Pennsylvania driver's license belonging to Robert. On the dashboard was a suicide note. For the next three hours, boat rescue teams conducted an extensive search of the river and combed its banks.
No body was recovered. According to the Delaware Bridge authorities, of the nearly 100 people who had jumped from the bridge since it opened in 1952, nearly 95% of the bodies had been recovered. When the FBI learned that Robert's body had not been recovered, they immediately became suspicious.
Robert was due to stand trial for grand theft and drug dealing in just six days. Immediately the question arose: was it a genuine suicide, or had Robert staged his own disappearance, leaving his parents to pay his $250,000 bail? His mother, Evelyn, does not believe he would have walked out on his family. She thinks his decision to commit suicide was the simpler solution to the big problem in his eyes.
A mother's anguish, a friend's betrayal – Evelyn believes that when Robert's best friend and business partner turned against him, it helped push him toward suicide. The FBI disagrees. They believe he is hiding out somewhere in the United States.
Along with two partners, Robert owned a thriving auto body shop in Elkton, Maryland, sixty miles from Baltimore. In less than a year of operation, they netted close to $1 million. No one outside the business had any idea that Robert was a convicted thief who had served just under two years in prison. Rising Sun Motors was, in fact, the front for a highly profitable auto and electronics theft ring involving a large network of people from New England to South Carolina.
Robert and one of his partners, Erik Shaw, often stole the cars themselves. Shaw was also a convicted thief. He says they specialized in Mazda RX-7s because they were easy to steal. They stole cars off the street, from dealerships, and from parking garages. They bought cars from people who were also stealing them. Whenever they needed a car, they would either buy or steal one.
After stealing the cars, the ring would dismantle them and replace their serial numbers with ones from similar wrecked vehicles they had purchased. They would then reassemble the cars with the new parts to produce "clean" cars for resale. The vehicles were then laundered at a South Carolina title service before being re-titled in Pennsylvania or Maryland for resale.
The ring also stole electronics from Stereo Discounters Inc. during the company's Baltimore sales shows. The ring members created fake sales invoices, picked up electronic equipment, and then resold them in the West Chester area. Drugs, including cocaine and marijuana, were also sold by the ring.
On April 21, 1988, acting on an anonymous tip, the Maryland State Police and the FBI raided Rising Sun Motors. Robert, Shaw, and their other partner, Richard Barbato, were arrested. The Maryland State Police confiscated four stolen cars, thirty pounds of marijuana, and a pound of cocaine. Robert and Shaw were charged with thirty-two counts, including grand theft and distributing drugs. They each faced up to twenty years in prison.
Robert's bail was set at $250,000. His parents posted bond, and the trial was set for September 13, 1988. At the trial, Shaw was the state's star witness. He testified against Robert and Barbato in exchange for a lighter sentence. He says he initially had mixed feelings about it, but he realized it was the right thing to do. He says he "came out of it pretty good." He believes that if Robert had cooperated, he would have gotten a light sentence as well.
Robert's mother, Evelyn, says that Shaw once worked for her, and she treated him like he was her son. She wonders why he "betrayed" Robert and testified against him. Robert had told her that if he had been offered the same deal that Shaw had received, he would not have taken it because so many other people would have been hurt by his testimony.
Despite Shaw's testimony, a mistrial was declared due to a legal technicality. Robert was ordered to appear for a second trial on April 10, 1989. Six days before that, on April 4, his car was found on the Delaware Memorial Bridge. Evelyn says that during the six months between the first and second trials, things were getting tough for him. One evening, he came to her house, sat down, and cried. She thinks he realized how his life had taken such a terrible turn. His defense attorney says that he seemed depressed the last time they spoke.
The FBI believes that before his disappearance, Robert had been making regular trips to Atlantic City, where he gambled heavily and lost. A parking stub in his abandoned car showed that he had been in Atlantic City on the night of April 4. Evelyn believes things did not go well for him while he was there. She thinks he was overcome by despair.
Evelyn knows that when he disappeared, Robert was on medication – a painkiller for a back injury. She thinks he might have been drinking that night. She wonders if his feeling of hopelessness had reached a point where he decided to commit suicide and "solve the problem once and for all."
Robert's suicide note was an odd combination of remorse and anger. It read, in part, "Sorry folks. I've had it. To the ones who cared, I'm sorry to go out like this. To Erik Shaw, come see me soon. I'll be waiting for you in Hell. Love you Mom + Dad, please don't be sad."
The FBI and local authorities believe the suicide note was simply a part of Robert's scam. Although his Pennsylvania driver's license and car were found on the bridge, he also held an illegal Delaware license, which was never recovered. Shaw says that Robert knew how to forge and was good at it. He says they could easily get identification and become somebody else.
Authorities even theorize Robert waited on the bridge for an accomplice to pick him up and drove to the toll booth, where they reported observing a man on the bridge. The toll operator saw no reason to take the men's names or the car's license plate number. Their identities remain unknown.
State's Attorney John Scarborough theorizes that Robert was under the belief that if he were considered dead, his parents would not be financially responsible for the bail money. But until his body is found, they are still responsible for the $250,000.
Shaw believes that Robert is alive. He thinks that if Robert was going to commit suicide, he would not have jumped off the bridge because it was "too dramatic." He thinks that Robert would have done it another way. Scarborough also thinks that Robert is alive. Evelyn says that she cannot rest because there is no grave for her to visit or put flowers on. She says it will never end.
Before he disappeared, Robert told a friend he planned to obtain a South Carolina driver's license under an assumed name. He may now be working in the computer field or the auto body business.
Extra Notes:

  • This case first aired on the October 24, 1990 episode.
  • It was excluded from the FilmRise release of the Robert Stack episodes.
  • Some sources state that Robert's car was found on April 2.
Corrado update photo

Photo sent of Robert (right) in 1990

Results: Captured - After this story aired, a viewer provided the FBI with a photograph taken of Robert in 1990, nine months after he disappeared. In February 1991, he and seven others were indicted for their involvement in the theft ring.
At around midnight on May 26, 1992, Corrado arrived at a marijuana field in Centerville, Tennessee, which was being staked out by law enforcement officers. When the field was raided, he was arrested. He was driving a stolen car and using the alias "David Plank." He also had several other driver's licenses with him. A positive identification was made after checking his fingerprints.
Robert was returned to Maryland, where he faced theft and drug charges. In June 1993, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and interstate transportation of goods taken by fraud. In November, he was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison. He was also fined $5,000. He has since been released.
Links:

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
Advertisement

Fan Feed

More Unsolved Mysteries Wiki