Prosecutor downplays find in case of missing woman
By: Vic Monaco
Blood was recently found in the Hightstown apartment of Amy Giordano, which prompted further investigation there this week.
But the Mercer County prosecutor’s office downplayed the finding as the wide-ranging probe continued into the disappearance of the single mother, whose abandoned baby remained in foster care and whose married boyfriend remained in Italy.
"Trace amounts of blood were found in the apartment during a search last week," prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio said Tuesday. "As a result, the State Police Crime Scene Unit was there last night and today for further forensics testing."
"Even with this finding, there is still no indication that a crime was committed in the apartment," she said while adding that normal human behavior can result in blood splatters.
Meanwhile, Delaware State Police said Thursday that a friend of Ms. Giordano has told them that she and Rosario "Roy" Digirolamo, the father of her 11-month-old boy, had an argument in the week before she disappeared.
"Through our interviews, leading up to the day of her disappearance and the child’s abandonment, we understand that she and Rosario had an argument and that in that argument they discussed she wanting to leave him," said Cpl. Jeffrey Whitmarsh.
Ms. DeBlasio’s comments came four days after her office released videotape of the last time Ms. Giordano, 27, was seen locally at the ShopRite on Route 130 in East Windsor with her son and Mr. Digirolamo.
"They appear to be an ordinary couple shopping," said Prosecutor Joe Bocchini, who explained that he hoped the video might jog the memory of someone who might be able to help with the investigation.
Anyone with information was urged again to call Hightstown police at (609) 448-1234 or New Jersey State Police at (609) 584-5000, extension 5286.
The videotape was recorded June 7. Two days later, the baby was found unharmed outside the Christiana Hospital in Newark, Del. Five days after that, Mr. Digirolamo, 32, was boarding a plane to Italy.
Fleeing from something
Mr. Digirolamo, a Millstone man labeled a person of interest in the disappearance of his mistress, flew to Milan from Newark Liberty International Airport on June 14, the same day he bought his round-trip ticket, according to law enforcement officials. He was scheduled to fly back to the United States on June 28 but he did not, they said.
"It gives the appearance that he’s fleeing from something," said Mr. Bocchini.
While they know he did not fly with Ms. Giordano, who does not have an active passport, law enforcement officials said Thursday that they are still trying to determine if Mr. Digirolamo flew to Italy alone.
"We’re working with Interpol to try to obtain video surveillance from the airport in Milan to try to confirm that," said Cpl. Whitmarsh.
Assistant county Prosecutor Angelo Onofri said Thursday that his office was seeking additional information from Continental Airlines regarding seat assignments for the plane on which Mr. Digirolamo flew to Italy.
Bill Evanina, the special agent in charge of the FBI office in Trenton, said Thursday afternoon that his agency continued to work on a "mammoth" effort of looking at video surveillance from Newark Liberty. He also said the FBI has "every reason to believe he’s still in Italy."
A law enforcement official close to the probe said Mr. Digirolamo does have relatives there.
While law enforcement was coming up empty-handed on the 28th, Delaware State Police were announcing that same day that they had issued a warrant charging Mr. Digirolamo with abandoning the baby outside the Delaware hospital. The warrant was based on the fact that Mr. Digirolamo made several cell phone calls that utilized a signal tower near the hospital on the day the baby was found, State Police said. Cpl. Whitmarsh said he could not elaborate on the calls.
He said, "the child has adjusted well" in foster care.
The filing of the charges of child abandonment and reckless endangering have no impact on efforts to apprehend Mr. Digirolamo, according to Mr. Evanina.
"Extradition is complicated matter. It depends on the nature of a crime and it takes place subsequent to an indictment," he said.
The prosecutor’s office confirmed last week that the investigation includes looking into possible ties between Mr. Digirolamo and the Mafia. Mr. Evanina said Thursday afternoon that that aspect of the probe had not yet unearthed any evidence.
Mr. Evanina previously confirmed that Mr. Digirolamo and his wife, Maria DiMaggio, have lived since 1999 in a large two-story Millstone house previously owned by Stefano Vitabile.
He is the imprisoned former consigliere of the DeCavalcante family, which some believe was the inspiration for "The Sopranos" TV show. Mr. Vitabile was sentenced to life in prison last year after being convicted on racketeering and murder charges.
Mr. Digirolamo has no criminal record. He had worked as a computer analyst at Conair in East Windsor, where he was last seen June 11. A copy of a pay stub obtained by the Herald indicates that he was paid just under $55,000 a year and he claimed five exemptions.
Monmouth County tax records show that the Stevenson Avenue home he lived in with his wife and at least one child was bought in 1999 from Lena Vitabile and that the house has had an annual assessment of $391,900 since at least 2004.
Search warrants executed
Law enforcement officials have executed several search warrants at the Stevenson Avenue house, Conair, Ms. Giordano’s Mercer Street apartment, and in a 1998 Lexus Mr. Digirolamo apparently abandoned in Staten Island, N.Y., before he left the country. They have confiscated several items including a computer and laptop.
The search of the car turned up no evidence, according to Ms. DeBlasio. It is too soon to say whether there was any useful evidence found at the Millstone house, as both computers are being analyzed, Mr. Onofri said Thursday.
The searches of the apartment came after about a dozen people, mostly media members, were allowed inside by landlord Mike Vanderbeck over about a week’s time before the apartment was sealed. Borough Detective Ben Miller who initially worked without the assistance of the prosecutor’s office, New Jersey State Police and the FBI had decided to leave the apartment unsealed, justifying that by saying there was no evidence of a crime. Mr. Bocchini will only say that it is not unusual for a such a place to be contaminated before it is found to be a crime scene.
Hightstown firefighters could be seen covering the windows of the third-floor apartment with black plastic Monday night. That was done to allow investigators to use special lights to illuminate any blood that might be present.
Mr. Vanderbeck, whose keys were returned to him late Tuesday afternoon, said the search included work by a plumber, who removed traps under the bathroom sink, bathroom shower and kitchen sink.
"They gathered water from traps and put it in vials," he said.
"The bed was flipped and there was a thin film of dust everywhere," he added.
The baby’s belongings, including toys and a playpen, remained in the apartment. Mr. Vanderbeck previously found a filled woman’s purse in an apartment closet. The purse’s contents included credit cards of Ms. Giordano and Mr. Digirolamo, New York identification cards of the mother and a Mercer County registration application signed by Ms. Giordano and dated June 5.
Mr. Onofri said Thursday afternoon that his office was still investigating evidence related to the credit cards.
Also left behind in the apartment after Ms. Giordano’s disappearance was a notebook with what Mr. Vanderbeck described as rambling written comments that included, "I don’t deserve you" and "I’m not good enough for you."
Adopted and worried about
Ms. Giordano was adopted and her maiden name is Bernstein, according to law enforcement officials.
"To the best of our knowledge, she did not have an active passport under either name," said Ms. DeBlasio.
Ms. Giordano’s cousin, Stephen Fishbaum, of Monmouth County, said this week that she has been estranged from her adoptive family.
"They’re concerned," he said, while adding, "She left the family years ago."
Mr. Fishbaum said he planned to visit the Hightstown Police Department after hearing a report on the blood found in the borough apartment.
Ms. Giordano has a private MySpace.com page on the Internet with the message, "Amy please come home we miss you" in the profile. It had been updated July 3 but access to the page is limited to those listed as friends.
Law enforcement officials were asked if the investigation now includes a search for Ms. Giordano’s body.
"It’s premature to jump to that conclusion," Mr. Bocchini said June 29. "We’re not looking for a body at this point."
Law enforcement officials said that was still the case Thursday afternoon.
Ms. Giordano has been described as 5 feet tall, weighing 130 pounds, with long, straight dark hair, usually worn in a ponytail. She wears black, wire framed glasses and is a chain smoker, usually smoking Parliament 100s.
In captures from the June 7 videotape, with times of 6:49 p.m. and 7:34 p.m., she can be seen walking several steps both behind and in front of a cart pushed by Mr. Digirolamo, with the child seated in the front and a big box of diapers in the back.
Before it was known that Ms. Giordano had no passport, Mr. Vanderbeck had said he didn’t think the couple, whom he had seen many times, had left the area together.
"I never even saw them hug," he said. "This was an obligation for him. They’re not the lovebirds who flew off together."
In one videotape capture, Mr. Digirolamo appears to be looking at his watch.
Staff writer Matt Chiappardi contributed to this story.

