A woman died after being stabbed in the neck and beaten with a hammer inside a Philadelphia home.

Medics pronounced the 57-year-old woman dead in the home along Hill Creek Drive in the Lawncrest neighborhood Wednesday morning, Philadelphia Police said.

Police recovered weapons at the scene but didn’t immediately make any arrests or reveal a possible motive.

The victim is the third woman killed in the city in less than eight hours as two women were shot and killed overnight inside a pickup truck in North Philly.

It is the middle of tick season and doctors say that there are simple ways to avoid the dangerous pests. Ticks are most common in wooded areas, parks and where deer are present. If you see a bull's eye, call your doctor.

HomeStar Pharmacy on St. Luke’s Anderson campus inthe Lehigh Valley had two unlikely guests last week.

Two dogs escaped from owner Kathy Tamasi and walked right in to the St. Luke’s Anderson Campus Cancer Center through the automatic sliding doors, according to a facebook post by the St. Luke's University Health Network. Security camera footage revealed the dogs’ adventure, and the video went viral. 

Employees took turns petting and playing with the dogs during their time in the building.

The Network announced that the special visitors were safely transported out and back home.

Tamasi thanks the St. Luke’s University Health Network via Facebook for caring for her two “escapees.”

A local law enforcement agency is teaming up with 7-Eleven to continue the annual Operation Chill community service program.

The Abington Township Police Department will be distributing 200 free Slurpees to kids for committing good deeds. This event will continue during the summer months and back-to-school season.

For the 22nd year, the popular convenience store chain is teaming up with police departments to distribute up to 1.33 million free Slurpee coupons.

"We are always looking for ways to help our officers build strong relationships in the community," Abington Police Deputy Chief, Patrick Molloy said.

These coupons are being rewarded for young people who are seen helping another person, deterring crime, or participating in a community or police-sponsored event.

Each reward can be redeemed for one small Slurpee drink at participating 7-Eleven stores.

"Year after year, Operation Chill is our most popular community service program," Mark Stinde, Vice President of Asset Protection for 7-Eleven, said. "Kids love Slurpee drinks, and police officers love having a reason to approach kids and surprise them with a Slurpee coupon as a reward for doing something good. And we, at 7-Eleven, love helping them make those important connections in the community."

The program was started in Philadelphia in 1995 and has since expanded to numerous cities across the country. Since the inception of Operation Chill, over 19 million free Slurpees have been distributed by law enforcement agencies.

"Operation Chill makes it easy to interact with kids in a positive way," Molloy said. "This is a great partnership between 7-Eleven and our police department."

Philadelphia-native U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Antonio Martinez along with four other Marines were awarded Monday for saving a woman on their way down Mount Fuji in Japan during the Fourth of July weekend.

On July 3 a group of five Marines took a hike on Mt. Fuji, when part of the group came across Moe Oda, a local Japanese woman, who Martinez said was lying on the ground unresponsive.

NBC10 interviewed Cpl. Martinez to get the full story.

Martinez said the group, which also includes U.S. Marine Cpls. Otto Thiele, Eric Goodman, Christopher Ehms, and Lance Cpl. Avelardo Guevera Osuna, was just hiking Mount Fuji that day. He recalled the group being high up and the air getting thin before they decided to make their way back down.

Two of the Marines trekked down more quickly than Martinez and two Marines who were with him because Martinez was struggling with pain in his shins.

Goodman saw Oda and screamed for Thiele. The two than signaled the other three.

Martinez recalled thinking at first that the woman may have just been resting, but, once he got closer, he was told the woman was unresponsive. She was struggling to breathe.

“We were all thinking at the same time she’s got to get off this mountain somehow,” Martinez said.

He said they all remained calm but thought quickly.

“We all learned in training you can make an impromptu stretcher out of t-shirts, just a random pair of sticks, anything to hold the body, so we did," he said. "We used two hiking sticks and put our t-shirts together … and put her on.”

The group carried Oda for about two miles until they reached the bottom. They immediately brought her to medical personnel.

The group felt it was the normal, humane thing to do, to help someone in need.

Martinez said Oda's family friends had contacted one of the Marines telling him that she was fine and that they were very grateful.

The reactions from the media came as a surprise.

“I didn’t expect people to hear about this,” Martinez said.

He said it was good that the story was out.

“You always want your friends and family to be proud of you," he said. "So they’re proud of me, they’re proud of the organization I stand for and obviously the country.”

The five Marines were awarded the Navy Achievement Medal on Monday for their heroism.

“If I were just a civilian, I would have thought, 'Something has to be done,' but I wouldn’t have known how to react per se," Martinez said. "I definitely can attribute the Marine Corp. training to that.”

While the debate over health care swirls in Congress and around the country, a North Philadelphia church is stepping in to make sure residents get the care they need.

This weekend, the 7th Adventist Church is hosting a free, two day health clinic and community event that is open to anyone. The clinics will take place on Friday, July 14 and Sunday, July 16. The church is trying to provide vital health care for those who aren’t insured.

“We really want people to know it is free and take advantage of the service we’re offering,” says Lorraine Joseph, a member of the 7th Adventist Church and one of the the clinic's organizers.

The medical services and events are all free and open to the public. No appointments are necessary, but all services are first come, first served. A government ID is required to be treated.

All of the events will take place at 16th and Oxford Streets, right near Temple University’s main campus. Here are the services that are being offered:

Friday, July 14 & Sunday, July 16 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

- Dental: Fillings, Extractions, Cleanings, Restorative work

- Vision: Eye exams, prescriptions

- Free breakfast

Saturday, July 15 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.)

- Blood pressure screening

- Glucose/cholesterol screening

Medical services are supported by AMEN, the Adventist Medical Evangelism Network. AMEN is a non-profit that provides free dental and medical care to the uninsured or under-insured through a network of physicians and dentists.

The Church will also be throwing a block party for the community Saturday afternoon, with live music, games, and giveaways.

“We’re just so happy that we can service the community,” Joesph said. “There’s so much people that don’t have insurance and they can take advantage (of this).”

For more information on the clinics, click here.

State-owned schools in Pennsylvania are seeing big declines in enrollment and tuition hikes. NBC10's Randy Gyllenhaal has the details on the report from the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

While parking is tough to come by almost anywhere in Philadelphia, advocates say handicapped-accessible parking is by far the hardest to find. As NBC10 investigative reporter George Spencer uncovered, some lots and garages don't seem to be following the rules.

The 68-acre farm about four miles outside New Hope in Bucks County cost the trucking and concrete family a cool $5.4 million in September 2005.

But Antonio and Sandra DiNardo weren’t done yet. Less than a year later, the couple bought an adjacent property with a farmhouse built in 1821, according to county property records.

In Dec. 2008, they bought another couple of adjacent acres for $500,000 to complete a massive property along Lower York Road that became the center of a search for four missing young men. Dozens of local police and FBI agents have scoured the farm for two days, using backhoes and other earth-moving equipment in what the county district attorney on Wednesday called the biggest search in recent history.

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Cosmo DiNardo, 20, the son of Antonio and Sandra, was ordered held on $5 million cash bail for allegedly being in possession of a car belonging to one of the missing men. The high bail comes a day after his family posted $100,000 bond to free the young man after he was initially held on gun charges while District Attorney Matt Weintraub described him as a person of interest in the confounding case.

Mark Sturgis, 22, of Pennsburg, Montgomery County, 21-year-old Thomas Meo, of Plumstead Township; Dean Finocchiaro, 19, of Middletown Township and Jimi Tar Patrick, 21, of Newtown Township all vanished last week. Weintraub said the four and DiNardo all apparently knew each other.

Officials later announced human remains were found on the DiNardo family's Lower York Road farm and one set of the remains was identified as that of Finocchiaro.

But how exactly Cosmo DiNardo came to be the focus of the investigation and why his parents’ farm is in law enforcement’s cross hairs remained shrouded in mystery.

The young man comes from a family that has built a fortune on real estate in Philadelphia, Montgomery and Bucks counties. His grandfather, also named Cosmo DiNardo, owned several properties, with property records dating back to the 1970s showing a mix of residential and commercial rental properties.

The diverse holdings include a property leased to a behavioral health non-profit on Adams Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia that brings in as much as $32,000 a month, and a multi-unit apartment house on West Avenue in Jenkintown.

The elder Cosmo DiNardo died in 1997 at the age of 55. He lived with his wife on Mayfield Avenue in Elkins Park since 1974. It’s not clear how he got his start — or the initial capital required — to begin buying real estate.

But his next purchase was the house on Wayland Circle in Bensalem where his grandson was twice arrested this week. Antonio and Sandra DiNardo continue to use that suburban home as the base for their real estate and business holdings.

Between 1979 and 1989, Cosmo DiNardo bought three commercial properties and the Jenkintown apartment house.

The first purchase was a strip of storefronts at 1016 Cottman Avenue for $67,500 in 1979, which was sold in 2004 by his son Antonio for $425,000.

The next was 3159 Summerdale Avenue, bought for an unknown amount in 1981.

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A third commercial property, bought in 1986 for $95,000, is 10 Shady Lane in Rockledge, Montgomery County. It’s currently rented to a dentist.

As his son came of age, Cosmo and Antonio DiNardo shared one real estate deal before Antonio eventually took over. The elder Cosmo and Antonio DiNardo purchased a Philadelphia house on Longmead Lane for $50,000 in early 1989 and flipped it two years later for $210,000.

In the late 1990s and 2000s, Antonio DiNardo purchased four more properties, two in Philadelphia and two in Bensalem. In 1998, DiNardo bought 4455-65 Castor Avenue for $94,000. It is home to the family concrete business called Metro Ready Mix and Supply.

The other property on Adams Avenue, purchased for $140,000 in 2001, is leased through 2032, according to property records, to a health care non-profit called The Bridge.

One of the Bensalem properties, 3636-3649 Hulmeville Road, which was bought in 2004 for $450,000, is home to the family’s other business, Bella Trucking.

By later that year, the DiNardos began collecting the farmland outside New Hope that would become the scene for the evolving mystery surrounding four missing men and a son who now sits inside Bucks County Jail.

The DiNardos have remained tight-lipped but an attorney did release a statement on behalf of Antonio and Sandra DiNardo before the discovery of the remains on their property.

"As parents, Mr. and Mrs. DiNardo sympathize with the parents and families of the missing young men and they are cooperating in every way possible with the investigation being conducted by law enforcement," the lawyer wrote.

Cadaver dogs helped lead investigators to a patch of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, farmland where the remains of at least one missing young man were buried deep underground, the county's district attorney announced early Thursday.

The discovery marked a grim turn in the intense search for four men who disappeared late last week.

Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said the remains of 19-year-old Dean Finocchiaro, of Middletown Township, were positively identified. 

Weintraub said there were other human remains buried in the 12-1/2 foot deep "common grave" on the vast 90-acre Solebury Township farm, but that investigators are still working to distinguish their identities.

Weintraub also revealed that Finocchiaro's death was ruled a homicide, though he did not have an exact cause.

"This is a homicide, make no mistake about it," Weintraub announced shortly after midnight during a news conference attended by a throng of media and residents, as well as friends of the missing men. "We just don't know how many homicides. We are yet to know the answer to that question."

Finocchiaro, along with 22-year-old Mark Sturgis of Pennsburg, Montgomery County; 21-year-old Tom Meo of Plumstead Township; and 19-year-old Jimi Tar Patrick of Newtown Township, vanished last week.

WATCH LIVE: Weintraub is expected to give more details on the investigation at 11 a.m.

Meo's grandfather, Chuck Meo, told an NBC News producer that crews found the remains under a blue tarp after lifting a propane tank out. Weintraub didn't reveal what else was found in the large hole.

Cosmo DiNardo, 20, was named a person of interest in the case on Tuesday. His family owns the farm, located along Lower York Road in Solebury Township about 30 miles north of Philadelphia, where the remains were found.

DiNardo was arrested Wednesday after investigators determined he tried to sell Meo's 1996 Nissan Maxima to a friend after his disappearance. He has not been charged, however, in Finocchiaro's death. DiNardo is being held in the Bucks County jail on $5 million cash bail.

DiNardo was also arrested Monday on an unrelated weapons charge but left the Bucks County jail Tuesday night after his father, Antonio DiNardo, posted 10 percent of $1 million bail.

According to an affidavit obtained by NBC10, DiNardo was accused of possessing a 20-gauge shotgun and ammunition in February despite being barred from owning a firearm due to a history of mental illness that included an involuntary commitment. A district judge dismissed the charge in May, but the district attorney authorized for it to be refiled on Monday.

A family lawyer released a statement Wednesday, before the human remains were discovered, on behalf of DiNardo's parents.

"As parents, Mr. and Mrs. DiNardo sympathize with the parents and families of the missing young men and they are cooperating in every way possible with the investigation being conducted by law enforcement," the lawyer wrote.

High-powered attorney Fortunato Perri Jr., who has represented several local celebrities including Philadelphia hip-hop artist Beanie Sigel, was also hired to represent DiNardo in court.

DiNardo and the missing men all appeared to know one another, prosecutors said.

According to Sturgis' father, Mark Potash, Sturgis and Meo are longtime friends who work in construction for him. Finocchiaro was a mutual friend of theirs, Potash said. Investigators began looking at DiNardo after they received tips indicating he was seen with the men shortly before they went missing.

Patrick went missing on Wednesday, July 5. He has not contacted family or friends or shown up for work, police said. Finocchiaro was last seen alive Friday around 6:30 p.m. getting into a vehicle on Hampton Drive.

According to a newly obtained criminal complaint, Meo's mother reported him missing Saturday. Meo's girlfriend said she last texted him Friday at 6:53 p.m. and didn't hear from him after.

Sturgis, who was last seen leaving his home on Walt Road in Pennsburg around 6 p.m. Friday, told his father he was going to meet with Meo in Doylestown.

On Sunday at 2:10 a.m., Sturgis' vehicle was found in the area of Peddler's Village in Buckingham Township about two miles away from a DiNardo family home on Aquetong Road.

Less than two hours later, Meo's car was discovered at the DiNardo home. Detectives say they found Meo's car keys hanging up on the wall of the garage. They also found Meo's diabetic supplies inside the vehicle.

On Sunday at 4:30 p.m., Bucks County detectives interviewed DiNardo's friend, whose identity police are withholding. The friend told police DiNardo had called him Saturday at 5 p.m. The two then met on Bristol and Galloway roads in Bensalem where DiNardo allegedly offered to sell Meo's Nissan Maxima to him for $500, the criminal complaint reads.

Police also interviewed DiNardo Sunday. DiNardo allegedly told detectives he was driving a silver Ford pickup truck Friday night.

A Solebury Township police mobile license plate reader data found DiNardo's Ford pickup truck was on 2541 Street Road in Solebury Township Friday at 7:49 p.m. Within a few seconds, the license plate reader also captured Meo's vehicle at the same location.

The location where both vehicles were captured is within two miles away of the DiNardo home and less than one mile away from where Sturgis' vehicle was found.

Based on the information, investigators say they had probable cause that DiNardo did "unlawfully take and retain control" of Meo's vehicle.

Law enforcement members scoured the DiNardo family's Solebury Township farm for several days.  Investigators also used heavy equipment to dig on the property and deployed canines to search for clues.

Susan Coleman, a woman who lives near the farm, told NBC10's Deanna Durante that she heard gunshots from around the property on Saturday — hours after Meo and others were last seen.

"We heard a series of blasts, they were loud," Coleman said.

Coleman said she was sitting outside with her husband when she heard the gunfire but at first didn't think much of it since people go hunting in the area. But, she decided to talk to investigators after hearing what sounded like more gunshots then yelling and commotion.

Family members kept vigil Wednesday though some relatives of one of the victims were seen fighting amongst each other in the early evening. 

Weintraub said he notified Finocchiaro's family about the discovery of their son's remains shortly before he made the public announcement.

About 50 students, faculty and staff also gathered at a chapel at Loyola University in Maryland where Patrick was a rising sophomore to pray for him and the three other men. Director of Campus Ministry Sean Bray told the Baltimore Sun the group wanted to honor the request of Patrick's grandmother to "storm heaven with our prayers for Jimi's safe return."

Officials continue to work to identify the other human remains that were found Wednesday night. The investigation is ongoing.

"We're going to remain strong," Weintraub said after announcing Finocciaro's death. "We're going to see this investigation to the end and we're going to bring each and every one of these lost boys home to their families, one way or another. And we will not rest until we do that."

This story is developing. Check back for updates.

NBC10's Tracy Davidson and Vai Sikahema give some easy tips on how to stop mosquitoes from ruining your summer.

Seven men were arrested and charged with drug trafficking in New York and New Jersey following a wiretap investigation after a 24-year-old woman fatally overdosed in Staten Island, authorities said. And another 16 people were arrested on Long Island in a separate bust. 

The NYPD-Richmond County district attorney's office investigation, dubbed “Operation Smack Down,” began following the death of a 24-year-old woman who overdosed in her home at Port Richmond, Staten Island in 2016. An autopsy showed heroin, fentanyl and cocaine were present in the woman’s system.

Police recovered empty glassine envelopes stamped with the name "Passion."

Mack Patterson of Staten Island was believed to have sold the drugs with the special packaging to the victim.

Over the course of six months, undercover NYPD officers purchased narcotics including heroin, fentanyl from Patterson and his alleged co-conspirators 11 times, totaling $20,000. 

Brandon Felix, Marcus Alexander, Odell Wilson were identified as alleged suppliers based in Newark, officials said. Frank Hopkins was identified as an alleged supplier from Jamaica, Queens, officials said. Robert Barbosa and Javier Solis were said to work with Patterson, according to officials.

“Like other New York City officials, I fear we will see a record number of fatal overdoses again this year. The spike in deaths is due to highly potent fentanyl, mixed with heroin and cocaine or packaged and sold alone. It is critical that we cut off the supply of drugs and bring those who are profiting from this tragedy to justice,” said Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan.

Arraignments were scheduled for Wednesday at Manhattan Supreme Court.

In a separate investigation, authorities said Wednesday 16 people were arrested in a heroin ring bust in Suffolk County that took in $1.5 million a year.

Drugs were delivered to customers' homes throughout Suffolk communities.

The alleged drug kingpin Oswald Alfaro, of Queens, and one other man face up to life in prison.

The Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police Department urged residents to lock their doors and be on the lookout for two women police say burglarized home while the resident slept.

With temperatures in some parts of the country soaring as high as 120 degrees this summer, combating the heat is no easy task. Last year, 94 people suffered from heat related deaths, more than double the number from 2015, according to data from the National Weather Service.

Here are tips from the National Weather Service you can use to help keep cool and stay safe during this summer.

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Track the Heat
If you’ve been outside for long enough it can be hard to tell how hot is too hot to be outdoors. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health have created a mobile app that calculates the heat risk index of any given location.

What to Know About Fans
During times of extreme heat risk, limit the time you spend outside as much as possible. If you can’t get access to air conditioning, fans can help. But try not to point the fan directly at you because the dry air can make you become dehydrated faster, according to the National Weather Service.

Reapply Sunscreen
If you must go outside, stay in the shade and apply sunscreen at least every two hours. Reapply immediately after swimming. 

Warmer Water Is Better Than Icy
Make sure to drink plenty of water, even if you aren’t thirsty. Excessive sweating will cause you to lose fluids at a rapid pace. Although ice water may feel refreshing, opt for room temperature fluids. When water is especially cold your body will exert more energy trying to adjust to the temperature.

Watch Out for Seatbelts
The inside of a car can be one of the most deadly places during a heat wave. Before you buckle up, check the metal on the seatbelt to avoid burns. Never leave a child or animal unattended in a vehicle even if you have the window rolled down. To ensure your children don’t accidentally trap themselves inside, keep the doors and trunk locked at all times.

Know The Signs
It can be easy to confuse heat stroke and heat exhaustion, so knowing what to look for is crucial. Heat stroke is more serious and common symptoms include a throbbing headache, no sweating, red, hot, or dry skin, nausea and vomiting. If you or someone around you exhibits any combination of these signs, call 911 immediately.

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Check out more hot weather resources here. 

A missing 11-year-old New Jersey girl has been found dead, and prosecutors are asking for the public's help investigating her killing. 

Police had been searching for Abbiegail Smith since she was reported missing Wednesday evening. She was with her mother in their Keansburg apartment, and the girl vanished at about 7:45 p.m., prosecutors said. Her mother reported her missing about an hour later.

The child abduction response team from the Monmouth County prosecutor's office, along with Keansburg police and other agencies, arrived on scene in the early morning hours Thursday to investigate, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni. 

The young girl's body was found on the grounds of the Hancock apartment complex where she lived around 10:45 a.m., shortly after the prosecutor launched a social media campaign asking for the public's help finding the missing girl. 

"We were really hopeful that we would find her," Gramiccioni said. "It's a punch in the gut for all of us here in the community, especially in law enforcement."

Chopper 4 over the scene showed an extensive law enforcement presence around the Hancock Street Apartments. Gloved investigators were seen carrying black tarps and other potential evidence while others set up a makeshift tent around the apparent crime scene. The immediate entrance to the apartment complex appeared to be blocked off to traffic as investigators flooded the area.

The medical examiner will determine a cause and manner of death but prosecutors are investigating the case as a homicide. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Monmouth County prosecutor's investigators at 800-533-7443. 

"Nobody should sit still until we figure out who did this to this 11-year-old girl," said Gramiccioni. 

Gramiccioni said he didn't find it unusual that the girl's mother called police just an hour after the girl went missing.

"Everybody reacts differently, but if you were looking around for an hour and didn't find your child, I think many parents would probably right away report their child missing to the police, out of an abundance of caution," he said.

Matt Weintraub was an intern in the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office in the early 1990s, before moving up through the ranks in other offices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 

Now, as federal law enforcement officials and national media chase a possible quadruple homicide in the bucolic suburbs of Philadelphia, Weintraub is back in Bucks, and he’s a long way from his internship. He has risen all the way to district attorney, and those who know him say he is the right person to handle the high-profile case.

“Matt will not leave any stone unturned. He’s very, very thorough,” said Brian Hessenthaler, the chief operating officer of Bucks County. “He doesn’t back down from a challenge. And he’s got one right now.” 

Bucks County prosecutors are leading the investigation into the disappearance of four young men. The FBI and other local police departments are assisting in the investigation.

Police uncovered the remains of one of the young men, 19-year-old Dean Finocchiaro, in a “common grave” on a farm Wednesday, authorities said. The other three have yet to be found, Weintraub said, but other remains were found in the same unmarked grave. 

“This is a homicide, make no mistake about it. We just don’t know how many homicides,” Weintraub announced at a midnight news conference on Thursday.

"We're going to remain strong. We're going to see this investigation to the end and we're going to bring each and every one of these lost boys home to their families, one way or another," he added. "And we will not rest until we do that."

Police arrested 20-year-old Cosmo DiNardo for attempting to sell a car owned by one of the missing men. DiNardo also lives on the property where the remains were found, but he has not been charged in the homicide.

Questions remain: Will Bucks County prosecutors bring homicide charges soon? Will they get a conviction? 

Weintraub did not immediately respond for a request for comment. But colleagues who have worked with Weintraub throughout his career are confident he is up to the task. He’s a humble man of conviction with a thorough work ethic, former and current colleagues told NBC. He’s also a seasoned and aggressive prosecutor who was appointed as Bucks County district attorney because of his experience.

After working as an intern in the Bucks office, he went on to work in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, and Cape May, New Jersey, until he was essentially summoned back to Bucks County for the district attorney job in 2016 by his predecessor, David Heckler.

When he announced his mid-term retirement, Heckler told NBC he handpicked Weintraub to succeed him “to the extent that I could.” The district attorney appointment had to be approved by county judges, who ultimately saw in Weintraub what Heckler did.

“To me, nature or something picked him,” Heckler told NBC. “I saw most of the senior people in the DA’s office when I was a trial judge. He was just clearly the pick of the litter.”

“He was aggressive,” Heckler said. “He knew what he was in the courtroom for and he got the job done.”

When he took the job, his former colleague Michelle Henry agreed.

“He is a top-notch prosecutor in every sense of the word," Henry told Philly.com at the time.

Weintraub is up for election this fall for the first time in Bucks County. Even with an unpopular president of the same party, Heckler seemed confident Weintraub’s personal and professional credentials will carry him to victory.

But first there’s the possible quadruple homicide to put to bed. Weintraub’s press conferences about the case are now beamed through TV and computer screens nationwide.

“We’re going to start looking seriously at those homicide charges,” Weintraub said at one of those press conferences Wednesday night. “In fact, we already have.”

NBC10 talked to a co-worker of Dean Finocchiaro, Bill Tosti, whose remains were just recover at an estate in Bucks County.

The four young men missing in a mystery that has consumed the Philadelphia region and Delaware Valley going on a week all seemed to run in a broad circle of friends dating back to their high school years.

For one of them, Dean Finocchiaro, those days walking the hallways of Neshaminy High School weren't long ago. The Middletown man graduated in 2016. He was the first of the four identified by law enforcement as among human remains found at a sprawling estate in Solebury Township.

Here's a look at who the men are through interviews and reporting.

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Dean Finocchiaro, 19

The recent high school grad lived in Middletown Township, Bucks County, near Core Creek Park. He worked in neighboring Langhorne at an ice cream shop.

A co-worker, Bill Tosti, tearfully recounted Thursday what a funny guy Finocchiaro was.

"He had a smile that would just hug you," Tosti said. "He was real warm, very friendly, would do anything for anybody, a great teammate to work with."

Finocchiaro was last seen 6:30 p.m. Friday. A father of one of the other missing men says he was a friend of Mark Sturgis and Thomas Meo.

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Mark Sturgis, 22

The oldest of the four men missing lived the farthest from the Solebury estate where police are searching. He left his house in Pennsburg, Montgomery County, about 6 p.m. Friday, telling his father as he departed that he was going to meet up with Meo in Doylestown.

His car was found shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday at Peddler's Village, an eclectic shopping center near New Hope.

Sturgis's father, Mark Potash, says his son and Meo were good friends going back to childhood.  Both worked for Potash's construction company, the father said.

Thomas Meo, 21

He lived in Plumstead, Bucks County, and worked for the construction company owned by the father of his good friend, Sturgis. His car was found by police inside a crumbling garage on the Aquetong Road border of the Solebury property owned by the DiNardo family.

Cosmo DiNardo, 20, who is at the center of the investigation and a person of interest, allegedly tried selling Meo's car to a friend Saturday afternoon. For that, DiNardo was arrested for the second time in three days and held on $5 million cash bail.

Meo is diabetic and police said they found his insulin pump and glucose meter in the car. He had previously worked at an auto shop in Doylestown.

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Jimi Taro Patrick, 19

Patrick graduated from Holy Ghost Prepatory High School in Bensalem, a year after DiNardo. He lived in Newtown and his family attended Saint Andrew Catholic Church in the township.

Monsignor Michael Pickard said Patrick dutifully attended Mass and was "a well-behaved man," adding that he was raised by his grandparents.

"I baptized Jimi as a baby, so I've known him as well, a really great kid," Pickard said. "Jimi was very, very shy and very polite and just a well-behaved young man."

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Cosmo DiNardo admitted in a "full confession" Thursday afternoon to participation in the murders of four men who disappeared in early July, according to one of his attorneys.

The confession is part of a deal to avoid the death penalty, attorney Paul Lang told NBC10.

It comes after cadaver dogs helped lead investigators to a patch of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, farmland where the remains of one of the missing young men were buried deep underground. The district attorney said early Thursday that there were other human remains buried in the 12-1/2 foot deep "common grave" on the vast 90-acre Solebury Township farm, but that investigators are still working to distinguish identities.

"He admitted to the participation in the commission of four murders," Lang said. "In favor of that, the Commonwealth will not be seeking the death penalty. So Cosmo was spared life for in terms of giving all of his relevant information he could."

Lang deferred all other questions about the murders to District Attorney Matt Weintraub, who was not immediately available for comment.

DiNardo has been held since Wednesday on $5 million bail for allegedly trying to sell a car belonging to one of the missing men.

The discovery at the farmstead estate in the rolling, lush hills above New Hope marked a grim turn in the intense search for four men who disappeared late last week.

Weintraub said in a midnight press conference Thursday that the remains of 19-year-old Dean Finocchiaro, of Middletown Township, were positively identified.

"A hole that's getting deeper by the minute," Weintraub said of the digging.

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Finocchiaro's death was immediately ruled a homicide, though Weintraub did not reveal an exact cause.

"This is a homicide, make no mistake about it," Weintraub said. "We just don't know how many homicides. We are yet to know the answer to that question."

Finocchiaro, along with 22-year-old Mark Sturgis of Pennsburg, Montgomery County; 21-year-old Tom Meo of Plumstead Township; and 19-year-old Jimi Taro Patrick of Newtown Township, vanished last week.

Meo's grandfather, Chuck Meo, told an NBC News producer that crews found the remains under a blue tarp after lifting a propane tank out.

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The sprawling property, which is bordered by three roads, is about three miles west of the trendy borough on the Delaware River, in a secluded part of the county where hidden mansions are marked by names like Idlewild and Mountaintop.

The property consists of three separate parcels that Cosmo DiNardo's parents, Antonio and Sandra DiNardo, of Bensalem, purchased between 2005 and 2008 for a combined nearly $6.5 million.

Cosmo DiNardo was named a person of interest in the case on Tuesday. 

DiNardo was arrested Wednesday after investigators determined he tried to sell Meo's 1996 Nissan Maxima to a friend after his disappearance. He has not been charged, however, in Finocchiaro's death. DiNardo is being held in the Bucks County jail on $5 million cash bail.

DiNardo was also arrested Monday on an unrelated weapons charge but left the Bucks County jail Tuesday night after his father, Antonio DiNardo, posted 10 percent of $1 million bail.

According to an affidavit obtained by NBC10, DiNardo was accused of possessing a 20-gauge shotgun and ammunition in February despite being barred from owning a firearm due to a history of mental illness that included an involuntary commitment. A district judge dismissed the charge in May, but the district attorney authorized for it to be refiled on Monday.

A family lawyer released a statement Wednesday, before the human remains were discovered, on behalf of DiNardo's parents.

"As parents, Mr. and Mrs. DiNardo sympathize with the parents and families of the missing young men and they are cooperating in every way possible with the investigation being conducted by law enforcement," the family attorney wrote.

High-powered attorney Fortunato Perri Jr., who has represented several local celebrities including Philadelphia hip-hop artist Beanie Sigel, was hired to represent DiNardo in court. Perri had no comment to reporters as he arrived at court Thursday morning with DiNardo's parents. Perri doesn't represent the parents, only Cosmo DiNardo.

DiNardo and the missing men all appeared to know one another, prosecutors said.

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According to Sturgis' father, Mark Potash, Sturgis and Meo are longtime friends who work in construction for him. Finocchiaro was a mutual friend of theirs, Potash said. Investigators began looking at DiNardo after they received tips indicating he was seen with the men shortly before they went missing.

Patrick went missing on Wednesday, July 5 and has not contacted family or friends since, police said. Finocchiaro was last seen alive Friday around 6:30 p.m. getting into a vehicle.

According to a newly obtained criminal complaint, Meo's mother reported him missing Saturday. Meo's girlfriend said she last texted him Friday at 6:53 p.m. and didn't hear from him after. Meo is an insulin-dependent diabetic.

Sturgis, who was last seen leaving his home on Walt Road in Pennsburg around 6 p.m. Friday, told his father he was going to meet with Meo in Doylestown.

On Sunday at 2:10 a.m., Sturgis' vehicle was found in the area of Peddler's Village in Buckingham Township about two miles away from a DiNardo estate.

Unlike neighboring estates, the DiNardo property has no name markers at the main entrance on Lower York Road. Only a broken mailbox, with fading numbers, marks the driveway. On the other side of the property, along Aquetong Road, a small and crumbling white house stands near the road.

A marked police cruiser held guard over that location Thursday, idling in front of a decrepit garage several yards from the house. The car of Thomas Meo was found inside the still open structure less than two hours after Sturgis' car.

Detectives say they found Meo's car keys hanging up on the wall of the garage. They also found Meo's diabetic supplies inside the vehicle.

On Sunday at 4:30 p.m., Bucks County detectives interviewed DiNardo's friend, whose identity police are withholding. The friend told police DiNardo had called him Saturday at 5 p.m. The two then met on Bristol and Galloway roads in Bensalem where DiNardo allegedly offered to sell Meo's Nissan Maxima to him for $500, the criminal complaint reads.

Police also interviewed DiNardo Sunday. DiNardo allegedly told detectives he was driving a silver Ford pickup truck Friday night.

A Solebury Township police mobile license plate reader data found DiNardo's Ford pickup truck was on 2541 Street Road in Solebury Township Friday at 7:49 p.m. Within a few seconds, the license plate reader also captured Meo's vehicle at the same location.

The location where both vehicles were captured is within two miles away of the DiNardo home and less than one mile away from where Sturgis' vehicle was found.

Based on the information, investigators say they had probable cause that DiNardo did "unlawfully take and retain control" of Meo's vehicle.

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Law enforcement members scoured the DiNardo family's Solebury Township farm for several days. Investigators also used heavy equipment to dig on the property and deployed canines to search for clues.

Susan Coleman, a woman who lives near the farm, told NBC10's Deanna Durante that she heard gunshots from around the property on Saturday — hours after Meo and others were last seen.

"We heard a series of blasts, they were loud," Coleman said.

Coleman said she was sitting outside with her husband when she heard the gunfire but at first didn't think much of it since people go hunting in the area. But, she decided to talk to investigators after hearing what sounded like more gunshots then yelling and commotion.

Family members kept vigil Wednesday though some relatives of one of the victims were seen fighting amongst each other in the early evening. 

Weintraub said he notified Finocchiaro's family about the discovery of their son's remains shortly before he made the public announcement.

About 50 students, faculty and staff also gathered at a chapel at Loyola University in Maryland where Patrick was a rising sophomore to pray for him and the three other men. Director of Campus Ministry Sean Bray told the Baltimore Sun the group wanted to honor the request of Patrick's grandmother to "storm heaven with our prayers for Jimi's safe return."

Patrick, who graduated from Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem, was on the Dean's List at Loyola, his grandparent Sharon and Rich Patrick said in a prepared statement supplied to reporters.

Officials continue to work to identify the other human remains that were found Wednesday night. The investigation is ongoing.

"We're going to remain strong," Weintraub said after announcing Finocchiaro's death. "We're going to see this investigation to the end and we're going to bring each and every one of these lost boys home to their families, one way or another. And we will not rest until we do that."

The FBI set up a new tip line for information, 1-800-225-5324 (1-800-CALLFBI), then hit option 7, or submit a tip online.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.

NBC10 journalists Deanna Durante, Denise Nakano, Drew Smith, Dan Stamm and Brandon Hudson contributed to this report.