Cadaver dogs used, dirt sifted in search for 4 missing men
PHILADELPHIA — Police used cadaver dogs, a backhoe and other construction equipment Tuesday to help search a sprawling farm for four missing men believed to be victims of foul play. A prosecutor, meanwhile, described a man who was held on an unrelated gun charge, but has since been released on bail, as a person of interest in the investigation.
District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said bail was set at $1 million Monday for Cosmo DiNardo, whose family owns the farmland and another property that was searched, because he was considered a flight risk. But Weintraub did not call him a suspect and cautioned there is often a “chasm” between being called a “person of interest” in an investigation and being charged with a crime.
DiNardo, 20, is accused of illegally possessing a shotgun and ammunition in February. A court affidavit said he had suffered from mental illness and had been involuntarily committed to an institution for inpatient care. It did not say when the commitment had occurred. The charge had been dismissed by a judge but was refiled.
Late Tuesday, DiNardo was released after he posted 10 per cent of his bail amount in cash, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Twitter account.