Bucks DA: Disappearance of 4 men suggests foul play; case considered 'criminal'

Several family members of four young men missing since last week waited grimly Monday afternoon as investigators and search crews descended on farm acreage in Solebury Township, Bucks County, using metal detectors and a backhoe in what authorities called a criminal investigation.

District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said Monday afternoon that he suspected foul play in the men’s disappearance.

“I sure believe there is,” Weintraub said at an afternoon news conference on the status of those missing, identified by county investigators as 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.

As search crews, including FBI agents and officers from several local jurisdictions, combed the property in the 6000 block of Lower York Road, Weintraub said investigators were treating the case “as a criminal investigation at this time until we know differently.” County authorities called in the FBI to assist with the search, Weintraub said.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/missing-bucks-county-men-search-families-baffled-struggling-20170710.html