Philadelphia 76ers General Manager Sam Hinkie addressed the media Friday a day after the team had a mostly quiet trade deadline.
Hinkie explained why the team didn't pull off any major deals outside of grabbing veteran Joel Anthony and a second-round pick.
It was eleven years ago when Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone, Jr. were last seen enjoying a night out on Philadelphia's South Street.
The investigation that followed involved officials from two states and the FBI, but after more than a decade no one has been able to answer the question of what happened to the New Jersey couple.
Now on this somber anniversary, investigators are once again asking the public for their help in solving the cold case.
Imbo, 34, and Petrone, 35, were old friends who once dated who went to Abiline -- a now defunct bar and restaurant along South Street -- on February 19, 2005. It would be the last time anyone saw them.
Their cellphones and credit cards weren't used after the disappearance, said investigators.
Family and investigators describe the couple as stable. Both have children from previous relationships and held good jobs.
Family members believe the duo were killed. Officials have said the two may have been the victims of a murder-for-hire plot, but will not say why. The couple has been pronounced dead but it's not clear how they died.
Authorities have pursued hundreds of leads and listened to thousands of tip calls. Searches were conducted on the ground and by air, and waterways were combed. The nature of the crime has led investigators to conclude it was a planned attack acted out by more than one person.
Petrone’s black 2001 Dodge Dakota pickup truck was also never found.
On Friday, the FBI said the case "remains open and active, and there is a $50,000 reward for information about the couple’s whereabouts or for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for their disappearance."
Anyone with information is asked to call the Citizens Crime Commission tipline at 215-546-TIPS (8477). Tipsters can remain anonymous.
A Philadelphia agricultural high school is asking for the public’s help in raising awareness and locating resources to rebuild structures that could protect their property from vandals, who struck multiple times during a two-day period.
Police were notified Thursday after someone drove a truck through the fields owned by the Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet School on Spring Lane in Roxborough. According to the Philadelphia School District, the vandalism took place on both Tuesday and Wednesday at unknown times. A student posted a video of the aftermath on Facebook, pleading with the public to help find those responsible.
"The act of vandalism has affected our student body as a whole here at Lankenau High School and it continues to bring frustration upon our school," said Rakai Lynn Richardson in her post on behalf of the student body.
The land damaged by the vandal(s) was home to several gardens, which took volunteers and Botany Club members more than 500 hours to complete. In addition to the gardens, classes are held in the open field areas in the warmer months. The school says that, in their current condition, the fields can't be used for any outdoor activity. Estimated costs to replace the gardens alone could reach upwards of $12,000.
Anyone with information on the vandalism is encouraged to contact Philadelphia’s 5th Police District at their non-emergency number, (215) 686-3050.
A longtime Delaware County high school physics teacher and track and field coach has been charged with sexual assault for allegedly carrying on a relationship with one of his students, county prosecutors said.
Gregory Stanczuk, 52, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, is charged with institutional sexual assault in the case which dates back to 2014. He taught at Ridley High School for 30 years.
Prosecutors allege Stanczuk took advantage of an 18-year-old girl, who he taught at the high school and coached on the women's track team, after she confided in him following a breakup with a boyfriend.
The married father would drive the victim around the county, including by his West Chester home, and hold her hand and kiss her, according to prosecutors. On one occasion he invited the girl to a hotel room where he performed oral sex on her, officials said.
The girl was then expected to have sex with Stanczuk, prosecutors said, but that never happened after she got upset and reminded him about his marriage.
The victim told detectives Stanczuk got her "tipsy" on a few beers during a team trip and made advances on her there as well. He apologized after she got very upset, officials said.
Detectives said he later bought her a gift.
“As a teacher and coach, Gregory Stanczuk flagrantly used his position of trust and authority to exploit the victim, manipulating her emotionally for his own sexual gratification,” District Attorney Jack Whelan said in a statement Friday.
Stanczuk has been fired from his job at Ridley High School.
Attorney information was not immediately listed on online court records. No one answered the door at Stanczuk's West Chester home Friday evening.
Officials are asking other parents to contact detectives at 610.891.4118 if they believe their child was assaulted.
Humane officers in Delaware County are searching for the person who zipped a dog into a suitcase and left the animal to die.
A passer-by made the horrible discovery Friday near W. 2nd and Pusey Streets in Chester, Pennsylvania, the Delaware County SPCA said. They noticed a dog's partially-decomposed leg sticking out of a navy blue suitcase with the words Cayman Islands printed inside.
When animal control officers arrived, they opened the case to find the canine's decomposed body.
SPCA officials said there were claw marks across the inside of the suitcase and the dog's teeth were clenched on a mesh pouch inside leading them to believe the animal was alive when it was put in the case.
"Not only is it illegal, it's immoral, it's unethical, it's inhumane, it's unhuman," Ron Riggle, a humane officer, said in a statement.
The agency's medical director believes the canine was a young adult based on a tooth analysis. The dog could've been inside the suitcase for a few weeks or few months.
Anyone with information about the death is asked to call Officer Ron Riggle at 610.566.1370 x214 or email RRiggle@delcospca.org.
Passengers on SEPTA's Cynwyd Regional Rail line were forced to climb down a fire truck ladder after their train became stuck on a bridge.
The single car train lost power around 7:15 p.m. Friday as it traveled west across a trestle near 52nd Street and Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia, SEPTA officials said.
Firefighters positioned a ladder up to a train door and helped nine passengers and the crew off the train.
SEPTA says trouble with the overhead wires led to the power loss.
The passengers were put onto a bus to be taken to their final destinations.
No one was hurt.
Philadelphia Police are looking to find two men who robbed Barsky’s Diamonds in Center City, getting away with hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry.
The men burglarized the jeweler Saturday around 3:32 a.m., according to police. Officers responded to a burglary alarm and noticed the front security gate was up and the front door was open.
Security video showed two men quickly making their way through the Jeweler's Row store, pulling sheets off display cases.
Detectives said the men made off with $400,000 in jewelry.
If you have any information about the burglary, please call 215-686-8477 or submit the tip online.
Warminster Police are searching for two men caught on surveillance video shooting and firebombing a bar.
The incident happened at 2:50 a.m. Thursday at Big Heads bar at 489 E. County Line Road in the Bucks County township.
Surveillance cameras showed one man throw a device at the entrance. It exploded on contact sending a fireball spreading across the doors and to a nearby trash can.
Firefighters arrived quickly and were able to put out the flames before they spread inside, police said.
Once the fire was out, officers found several bullet holes in the front door.
The bar was closed at the time. No one was hurt.
There is a $1,000 reward for information in the case. Warminster Police are asking people to call 215.343.0100 with tips.
A brush fire spread through a grassy area on the banks of the Delaware River in Gloucester County Friday night, moving close to a crude oil storage facility.
The fire consumed at least 25 acres near Crown Point Road and 9th Street in Westville, New Jersey, county dispatchers said. It started around 9 p.m. Friday.
The flames backed up to Sunoco Logistics' Eagle Point oil terminal. The facility, which used to operate as a refinery, can store up to 6 million barrels of refined and crude oil. Heating oil, jet fuel and other oils can be stockpiled there.
Tanks closest to the flames contain water, fire officials said.
Fire crews at the scene requested additional brush fire units, but the fire remained at one alarm.
Residents have called 911 about the flames, but officials said there are no plans to issue evacuations.
