Police say there are new developments in the investigation of the unsolved murder of a Philadelphia father who was found floating in the Schuylkill River.
On Wednesday homicide detectives searched through an abandoned drug house on the 1900 block of Church Street in the Frankford section of the city in connection to the murder of 69-year-old Vito Maglio. Investigators told NBC10 police believe the people involved in Maglio’s death may have either lived or stayed at the house at one point. They also say Maglio may have been killed or tortured inside the home.
Police searched through the abandoned home Wednesday morning and collected evidence before leaving.
Maglio went missing on December 14, 2014. He was last seen leaving Macaroni’s Restaurant Lounge on Old Bustleton Avenue. Two days later his 2008 GMC Yukon was found on the 5800 block of North Beechwood Street. Investigators said the vehicle had been on fire but the flames were extinguished. They also found a pool of blood under the driver’s seat and a shell casing inside.
On March 27, 2015, officials recovered Maglio’s nude body in the Schuylkill River near the East Falls Bridge on the 3900 block of Kelly Drive. Investigators determined he had suffered several gunshot wounds to the head and his death was ruled a homicide.
The evidence detectives collected Wednesday will be sent to a crime lab for testing. At this point police say the motive behind Maglio’s murder appears to be robbery. They are asking anyone with information to come forward.
