PHILADELPHIA _ Important pieces of evidence have been recovered in the search for four missing young men, but the investigation remains wide open, the Bucks County District Attorney said Wednesday morning as police, state and federal agents combed the sprawling property owned by the parents of a 20-year-old man who has been named as a person of interest in the case.
No human remains have been found, and District Attorney Matthew D. Weintraub would not give details about the discovered evidence, which was found on the farm property and elsewhere.
"We are encouraged by it," he said at a news conference at 11 a.m. Wednesday. "We're going to keep digging and searching that property until we're satisfied that they are not there."
Asked about reports from residents that they heard gunshots on that property over the weekend or that there was a bonfire at the DiNardo house, Weintraub said, "I can't comment on that. I wish I could."
Weintraub also said he could not confirm whether a grand jury investigation has been opened into the case.
"I am prohibited by law from even telling you there is a grand jury impaneled here in Bucks County. But I want to assure you we are utilizing every resource at our disposal to try to find these four missing young men and to solve this case," he said.
Cosmo DiNardo, 20, of Bensalem, posted $100,000 bail using a cashier's check Tuesday evening and was released, after his arrest Monday on weapons charges unrelated to the disappearance of the four young men. But Weintraub on Tuesday said DiNardo is a person of interest and cited "obvious links," such as the extensive search of a Solebury property owned by DiNardo's parents, Antonio and Sandra DiNardo.
However, Weintraub said Wednesday that the investigation is still wide open. "We're going to go where it leads us. We don't pick a person and then try to build a case around that person. That's not fair to anyone. As of this moment, (DiNardo) remains a person of interest, but if others arise and we can name them, we will."
The district attorney confirmed that search warrants had been filed for properties across the county, but his office said they remain under seal.
Investigators have offered few details about what led them to the 90-acre property. But Weintraub has said he feels confident the search _ which includes heavy machinery and detailed work of sifting through dirt _ will yield answers. It has become the largest investigation in recent Bucks County history, with FBI investigators and U.S. Marshals joining local and state police forces.
Mark R. Sturgis, 22, of Pennsburg; Thomas C. Meo, 21, of Plumstead; Dean A. Finocchiaro, 18, of Middletown; and Jimi Tar Patrick, 19, of Newtown have been missing since last week. Their families have kept vigil at the field where investigators are searching, awaiting updates from officials.
Weintraub has said police received tips that the four men knew each other, but he has continued to urge the public to offer more information about their links to each other and their possible links to DiNardo.
"We continue to receive tips hourly and some of them are bearing fruit, so please keep them coming," he said Wednesday.
On June 21, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office sent a letter to Bensalem police reauthorizing the February charge against DiNardo, which had been dismissed in May by a magisterial district judge. But DiNardo was not rearrested until Monday, after the men had gone missing.
"Quite candidly," Weintraub said Tuesday when asked about the delay in rearresting DiNardo, "sometimes that's out of our control." He stressed that the charges were unrelated to the investigation. DiNardo had previously been involuntarily committed to inpatient mental health treatment, according to court documents, and was arrested in February because that admittance prohibited him from carrying firearms under state law.
Weintraub declined to comment on whether firearms have been recovered as part of the investigation, or on whether cell phone pings had been used or if they had led investigators to the DiNardo property in Solebury.
Antonio and Sandra DiNardo, Cosmo's parents, have not been named as people of interest in the case. They own multiple businesses in the area, including a trucking and a concrete business, along with large swaths of property in Solebury and Bensalem. They have previously owed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the state and federal governments in unpaid taxes, court records show, but have settled most of the debts.
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