Doreen Marfeo is Still Missing
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I'm Kristen Seavey. This is Murder, She Told. This episode includes topics of suicide. Please listen with care. If you or someone you know are struggling, help is available 24-7. Text or call 988 or visit your local crisis center today. Your life is important and you matter.

It was still dark in the early morning hours of Saturday, July 31st, 1999. It was the dead of night, around 3 or 4 a.m. A state trooper had noticed a sports car that was parked in an unusual spot in a remote area of the woods about 40 miles northwest of Hartford, Connecticut. It couldn't have been there long. Dew had not yet begun to form on the car's exterior.

They were going through a heat wave with highs in the 90s, and the hot, humid air of the day was ringed out overnight by the dropping temperatures, leaving everything bathed in a glistening shimmer. Everything but this car. He called in the car's plate and descriptions to dispatch, and they shot back over the radio that the registered owner of the vehicle was Stephen Allen Marfio, and that he was wanted for murder. He was considered to be armed and dangerous.

He had shot two people in Rhode Island just a matter of hours before, and he had fled the scene. They were about two hours away from the crime scene. The trooper called for backup, but didn't wait. He got out and approached the car. He saw some movement. He yelled some orders, but it was too late. A shot rang out. The trooper found Stephen slumped over, with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.

EMS arrived and the paramedics worked in vain to save his life. As the sun was rising around 6 a.m., Stephen died at Hartford Hospital. As more troopers began to arrive, the scene was cordoned off and the car was searched. Police found three guns in the Firebird along with ammunition and pepper spray, and it appeared that the decision to take his own life had been planned well in advance.

Stephen had left a will in the vehicle and written instructions for his funeral arrangements. He also wrote a note that explained his decision to take his own life and how sorry he was for the people he hurt. One of those people was Salvatore Polio III. Stephen had shot his father, Salvatore Polio II, in the head multiple times. I'll refer to his dad as Sal, the name that he commonly went by.

Sal was in critical condition in the hospital hanging on by a thread when his son, who we'll call Sal Jr., arrived at his father's home, the site of Stephen's violence. When 34-year-old Sal Jr. arrived, crime scene tape enclosed the entire yard of his father's home. The weekend they were supposed to celebrate his dad's 56th birthday. Instead, they were praying for his life.

He ripped down the tape, his emotions alternating between grief and anger. He exclaimed, Stephen was a coward, rotten to the bone. He died too quick. Stephen had been living with his mom in Johnston, Rhode Island, a suburb west of Providence. She had a split-level home on Salina Avenue, in a charming neighborhood, and he was living in an apartment on the lower level.

Stephen's mom recalled that her 50-year-old son was home more than usual because he wasn't dating anyone. On Friday night, the night of the violence, Stephen left around 9.30 p.m. with an overnight bag. Before he left, she saw him watching a 90s romantic comedy thriller called I Love Trouble, starring Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte.

Stephen took his Pontiac Firebird and drove 10 minutes to another nice suburban neighborhood in nearby North Providence. He parked his car near 103 Homewood Avenue, the address of Sal's house, and that was where he waited for Sal and Laura to return home.

Stephen and Laura had dated on and off for about four years, but Stephen had ended things with her for a final time in March of 1999. It was now Friday, July 30th, and she had been dating 55-year-old Sal Polio for several months.

Just after Sal pulled into the driveway, Stephen appeared with a Glock 9mm handgun and started firing. He emptied the magazine through the passenger side window into his ex-girlfriend and her new beau, a man who he knew. Stephen had bought his Firebird from Sal's dealership, and they ran in the same crowds.

Laura was struck several times in the head and the torso. Sal had been hit multiple times in the head. The quiet neighborhood rang out with sounds of gunshots, drawing the immediate attention of neighbors. Sal must have laid on the car horn because the initial 911 call at 10.16 p.m. was about the sound of the horn. Multiple calls followed that all referenced the sounds of gunshots.

When police arrived, they found Sal sitting on a retaining wall that bordered his driveway. Bright red bloodstains marred the light-colored stone wall. His will to live was strong, and somehow he had remained conscious. He was unable to speak and was bleeding from several gunshot wounds to the head, but he gestured to the still-running vehicle where Laura lay dying, encouraging the police to attend first to his mortally wounded girlfriend.

There would be no saving Laura. She was pronounced dead in the passenger seat of the Lincoln. Sal was rushed to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. Police found shell casings scattered all around the vehicle, but there was no immediate evidence or eyewitness at the scene to identify the shooter.

By midnight, after a canvass of the neighborhood, police were able to identify Stephen Marfeo as their lead suspect. Believing that he may still be in the area, they deployed canine scent dogs to track him. Meanwhile, they got a description of his vehicle and sent out a bolo to nearby police departments. And it was from this memo that they learned from the Connecticut State Police that Stephen had been located. By 6 a.m., Stephen was pronounced dead in Hartford.

Sal Polio was a divorced father to six children. He had a used car dealership called Manville Motor Sales in North Providence that he owned and operated for 23 years. He was a biker who enjoyed riding Harleys. He was a drinker who enjoyed going to the local drinking hole called Parker's Pub. He turned up for breakfast every Sunday morning at Cal's Corner Restaurant. He was born in Providence. He was a dyed-in-the-wool Rhode Islander.

Angelo Rossi, owner of Rossi's Deli two doors down from Sal's dealership, said that Sal was, quote, just the sweetest guy. He always reached into his pocket to pay for other people. He was the best. Another friend of Sal's, Bill Spivey, said, If you walk into a bar and he's eating there, he's gonna pick up the tab and buy you a drink.

Sal was 55 years old when he was shot by Stephen Marfio. He turned 56 in the hospital, fighting for his life, surrounded by family. Incredibly, over the days and weeks that followed, Sal recovered. It's not clear what day in August, but by the 30th, Sal had been discharged from the hospital. But a family friend and the owner of Cal's Corner, Gina Califano, told the Providence Journal that he would require more surgeries.

Sal would go on to live to 71 years old and continue to run his car dealership, but he would never have the opportunity to face Stephen Marfio in court. Laura Vincent wasn't so lucky. Laura was 38 years old when she was shot and killed. She was a single mother of two teenage girls. She had a huge family. She was one of 11 kids. She had worked for five years as a manicurist at her sister's business, Ace and the Whole Hair Salon.

She was described by those who knew her as independent and hardworking. She'd lived in North Providence with her girls in an apartment near Prentiss Street, and they'd been there for many years. Her landlord told the Providence Journal that she was the ideal tenant. Heaven sent. She was the nicest person in the world. We all loved her. I always said how lucky we were to have her as a tenant.

Three North Providence businesses were all near one another. Manville Motorsports, Sal's Business, Cal's Corner, a diner owned by Gina Califano, and Laura's Sister's Hair Salon. And all of them loved to party together. They would all get decked out in leather motorcycle outfits and go riding on their Harleys.

Gina Califano said, We laughed. We joked. We acted like a bunch of crazy idiots. And it won't ever be the same again. On the Wednesday before her death, Sal and Laura went for a ride with a group to get some ice cream. Gina told Laura, Why is it when you take off your helmet, your hair looks perfect? Gina gave her a kiss and said to her, I'll see you on Sunday. That was the last time she ever spoke to her.

Laura and Sal were both in the honeymoon stage of their new relationship. They'd began dating in early 1999, and they were in love. Sal would often swing by the florist and buy roses for Laura. A worker there told the Providence Journal that he was the happiest I'd ever seen him, and it was because of her. Angelo Rossi said that they had told him that it was the best thing that ever happened to them both.

After Laura's death, the community pulled together and tried to help her two teenage daughters, who were devastated. The community raised about $1,100, which was all donated to the Laura Vincent Fund, set up by St. Lawrence Church. A month later, in late September, the community came together again with a candlelight vigil in her honor. It was organized by Silent Witness, a group devoted to bringing awareness to the toll taken by domestic violence.

Even though Stephen and Laura had split, Laura's death is still classified as domestic violence because of Stephen's likely motive, jealousy. When asked, Stephen's mother, Angelina Marfio, told reporters that she believed he may have taken his own life to, quote, spare her the agony of an investigation, a trial, and more publicity.

She said she knew he was troubled. She told the Providence Journal that he had talked about hurting himself in the past. But regarding the killing of Laura and the attempted murder of Sal, she said, I really don't know what got into him. For cops, the explanation was obvious. Providence Police Department Major Albert DeChristofano said, I think you can draw a conclusion that the motive was jealousy. What else could there be?

Stephen had dated Laura for the better part of four years. His mom said he was reluctant to take the next step with her because he wasn't ready to commit to help raising her two daughters. Ultimately, he broke up with her, but soon after, she started dating their mutual friend, Sal. And that may have been too much for Stephen. He withdrew from the group and grew angrier in his isolation.

In the suicide note that he left in the car, he dressed his mother, Angelina, writing, I knew I wouldn't live to be an old person all my life, but just recently I realized I will die by my own hand. And unfortunately, I will take a couple people with me.

I know it's an insane thing to say, but I feel that's the only way it can be. I've finally lost it. I don't want help. I must do what I have to do. Talking with a professional, you or my friends, is not in the plans.

I have committed myself to eliminate Sal, Lori, and me. In that order. It's the only way. The more I think about it, the stronger I feel that it's justified. I realize that this is a sick person talking, but I've finally crossed over, forever, to the dark side. I'm not afraid to die. I have nothing to live for.

For the police, it was an open-and-shut case. Everyone knew that Stephen Marfeo was the perpetrator and would never stand trial for his crimes. But what cops really wanted to know was what happened to Stephen Marfeo's wife, Doreen, who had vanished nine years prior without a trace. And to understand that, we need to back up 23 years to 1976, when Stephen met Doreen.

Doreen Dobson was 21 years old when she met Stephen Marfio, who was 27. It was a storybook romance. Doreen later said that she was attracted to his daredevil smile. Stephen was a gym rat with an athletic physique and loved working on muscle cars. He was drawn to her beauty, intelligence, and class. She was neat, punctual, and cared about her appearance.

Doreen had beautiful brown medium-length curly hair and green eyes, pale skin with a freckled complexion, and photos of her reveal a great big smile. She spoke with a thick New England accent.

Doreen and Stephen enjoyed a life of romantic dinners, weekend shopping sprees, and sun-filled vacations. Stephen had been previously married. He got hitched when he was 19 to his first wife, and they had two children together. They were divorced, and the kids were living with their mom. On Friday, July 7, 1978, after two years of dating, Stephen and Doreen got married, and she became Doreen Marfio.

They got a three-bedroom house together in Johnston, Rhode Island on Hartford Avenue, just west of Providence. It was a great home for a young couple on the go. As written in the Providence Journal, Stephen constantly called Doreen at the office and at her mother's on Saturdays to say hi and I love you. On special days, like her birthday, which is also their anniversary, he would hire a tuxedoed man with a musical keyboard to serenade her at work.

Doreen was working full-time in the personnel department at the Rhode Island School of Design, or RISD. According to a co-worker, she was always at work and always early. She always looked the same, dressed in a beautiful suit with matching shoes and perfect hair. Stephen worked in the jewelry manufacturing business as a plater.

In other words, he worked with electrochemical solutions to deposit gold and silver platings on jewelry. Stephen hadn't finished high school, and he worked in a labor-intensive field. Doreen loved animals. She had a dog named Joey, three cats, and even a cow. She once adopted a cow in Hopkinton, a rural town in southwest Rhode Island, and she paid for his food and his upkeep. She would drive out and visit him on the weekends.

But a couple years into their marriage, around 1980, the pair had a big problem. Doreen had an affair. Her older sister Lorna recalled Doreen coming to her, asking for advice. Lorna was two years her senior, and also married.

Doreen confessed that she was considering divorcing Stephen and moving away from the area with a new man. But Lorna and her husband encouraged her to end the affair and return to Stephen, which is what she decided to do. In 1989, Stephen and Doreen celebrated their 11th anniversary, but things were not going well.

In May of 1989, Stephen hired two private detectives to follow Doreen because he believed that she was having another affair. The first PI told Stephen after six weeks that he was wasting his money. His wife was always where she said she was going to be. The second PI tracked Doreen for eight months, working a few hours a month, but he too came up with nothing.

In October of 89, amidst the secret investigation Stephen was conducting, Doreen suddenly quit her job. Her co-workers later said that Doreen had told them she was having issues with Stephen and needed to focus on her marriage. Stephen later said that Doreen had mentioned a job-related problem but kept it a secret from him. He said that it changed her entire personality.

Doreen made no effort to get a new job. After she quit, she hardly left the house. They had a nest egg of approximately $50,000 in their joint account, so financially, things were still secure. But Doreen started falling apart. According to Stephen, who would later talk about this on Unsolved Mysteries, it seemed like Doreen was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Late at night, he remembered her, quote, becoming hysterical. She would get the shakes. Then she'd get the dry heaves and she'd go into the bathroom and everything. Many times I was holding her in my arms and she'd just start crying. She'd go right to her knees with me holding her. An electrician who had done some work at their home later recalled that while he worked, Doreen sat on the couch, perfectly still and staring into space.

He remembered that the room was quite dark, but when he asked Doreen if he could turn the lights on, she rushed out of the room. He could only speak to Stephen. In December of 89, neighbors only saw Doreen once, when she was stringing up Christmas lights on the bushes in the yard. Her mom, in nearby Central Falls, hosted the family every year on Christmas Eve. But this year, Doreen called and said she couldn't make it because she was sick with the flu.

Her mom later said, evidently, she and Stephen had it out that time, but she didn't want to tell me because she didn't want me to worry. The only regular contact Doreen had was with her mother, Laura Dobson, a petite, white-haired woman who was quite a bit older than her daughter. In 1989, Laura was 74 years old, and Doreen was 33. Doreen would visit her mom every Saturday like clockwork. They were very close.

Is your vehicle stopping like it should? Does it squeal or grind when you brake? Don't miss out on summer brake deals at O'Reilly Auto Parts. On Saturday, March 24, 1990, Doreen visited her mom like usual. Laura recalled that during this visit, Doreen was very quiet. She later said that she knew something was wrong.

She told her mom that she'd see her next week. But the following Saturday, Doreen didn't show up. This wasn't like her. She would always call if she couldn't make it. That same day, Stephen called Laura in the morning. This is Laura from a 1993 interview with Unsolved Mysteries recalling that day. When Steve called me in the morning, he sounded strange. I said, there's something wrong. Then he called in the afternoon. Right away, I knew. I told him, call the police now. Don't wait.

Stephen called again in the afternoon and admitted to Laura that her daughter was missing. He hadn't seen her since Thursday at noon, 48 hours prior. She told him to call the police immediately, which he did. So Stephen Marfio reported his wife missing on the afternoon of Saturday, March 31, 1990, and they issued a nationwide alert to be on the lookout. This is what he told police.

Stephen said that he came home from work around noon on Thursday, March 29th for his usual 20-30 minute lunch break and that Doreen was on the couch watching TV. She was wearing jeans and a blue shirt. They made small talk and had lunch, and then Stephen left to go back to work. He said that there was nothing unusual about Doreen during that lunch break.

She was a little bit down, but otherwise seemed fine. Based on how she'd been acting since she quit her job, seeing her in a slightly blue mood wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Stephen said that he returned home around 4 or 4.30. Doreen's car, a 1984 Ford Tempo, was in the driveway, and the house was locked. But Doreen wasn't home.

After looking through the house and the backyard, he thought that maybe she'd gone for a walk, met up with a friend, or went shopping to get her mind off things. Everything seemed tidy and normal inside. Around 5 p.m., he realized that some things were missing. A suitcase, clothing, Doreen's Visa credit card, and about $600 from their safe.

When she didn't return home later that evening, Stephen just assumed she needed space and time alone. Stephen went to bed that night without hearing from his wife. Friday passed without a peep. By Saturday morning, Stephen started to get restless. For two days, her makeup, hair curlers, and toothbrush had sat on the bathroom counter where she left them.

Apparently not wanting to alarm her friends and family, Stephen hadn't called them looking for Doreen over the two-day period. He later said he was confident she'd return home after she cleared her head. Although Stephen said that he last saw Doreen on Thursday, March 29th, nobody else in her life had seen or spoken with her since the Sunday prior, March 25th.

Stephen said that Doreen was home all that week, from Sunday to Thursday. Doreen's next scheduled engagement would be seeing her mother on Saturday the 31st. And that is the day that Stephen finally reported her missing. Here's Detective Nardolillo in an interview with Unsolved Mysteries. Basically, what you have is you have a man who has a personality, who has his wife followed around for 11 months for no reason at all. And this same man is

Later on down the road, his wife disappears. She's missing for two days. And he has no concern to follow her or call her or to report it to the police. I mean, that's totally inconsistent with his personality when he has her following around for no reason. Here you have your wife missing now for two days and you don't think anything unusual? You don't make any phone calls or call the police? It's not consistent. In his early conversations with police, Stephen told them that Doreen had been under a lot of stress since quitting her job in October.

He wasn't going to pretend that their marriage was perfect, but he said that there were never any real arguments. He told police that Doreen had alluded to something she needed to tell her husband, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Stephen believed it was an affair. A week after Doreen's disappearance, Johnston PD showed up at the Marfio residence for a search. This search caught Stephen off guard. Police later recalled that he was sweating and nervous.

They didn't collect much from the home other than some mail and writing samples. Nothing was collected from the search in Doreen's car. The night before police showed up at the Marfeo doorstep, there'd been a severe rainstorm, the kind you don't want to be out driving in. The car in the garage was wet, so police asked Stephen where he'd gone. Stephen denied leaving home at all.

and police found a pair of jeans that were wet from the knees down. He changed his story, explaining that he had actually gone out for a walk in the rain and somehow only managed to get the bottom half of his pants wet. Things weren't exactly adding up.

Investigation at his work revealed that on the day of her disappearance, Stephen took an unusual 70-minute lunch break, about three times longer than his typical 20 to 30 minutes. He blamed his tardiness on car trouble. The following week, Stephen made an appeal to the public. Appearing on the 11 o'clock news, he pleaded, "'We just want to know she's safe.' When Doreen walked out that door, half of me went with her."

Laura spent her days sitting by the front window, waiting and watching for her daughter. Her heart raced with hope at every passing car. The cops who led the investigation were Leo O'Donnell and John Nardolillo. Jody Erickson, a reporter with the Providence Journal, described them.

Captain Leo O'Donnell is the kind of detective you might see in a movie. Slicked back hair, heavy jewelry, all bravado, and a gravelly voice that could persuade even the most hardened criminals to confess. He's the kind of guy who's slightly obsessed. He keeps a jar of formaldehyde on his desk with a piece of a murder victim's finger suspended within it to remind him of how the smallest detail can crack a case.

He would play the bad cop in an interrogation. Detective John Nardolillo calls almost everyone he knows Buddy or Kiddo, except his partner Leo, who he calls Cap, a nickname he speaks with the highest respect.

He's a large, square man with a serious brow and hands as broad as paddles. He is a one-time politician who favors dark suits that seem barely able to contain his bodybuilder's frame. When he pulls up next to Stephen at stoplights, they stare at one another until the light turns green. He works nights and weekends, often without pay, trying to solve the case.

The two detectives interviewed friends, family, neighbors, and anyone who might know something about Doreen. They checked with taxi companies, bus drivers, and airport officials to see if there was any record of travel. They spoke with friends in Arizona and former colleagues out of state, none of whom had so much as received a phone call from Doreen. She hadn't touched any of the $50,000 in their joint bank account.

She hadn't used any of her checks or her credit card. She left her two beloved cats behind. Her car, most of her clothes, her makeup and hair accessories. She just vanished. Detective O'Donnell said, I'm concerned for her safety. Her disappearance is unusual. She hasn't contacted anyone, not even her mother. It's been over seven weeks, and we have absolutely nothing.

In mid-May, Stephen offered a $5,000 reward to anyone who could provide police with information on his wife's whereabouts. He also shelled out thousands to put up a billboard, and he had flyers advertising the reward printed to circulate the state. I just want to make sure she's all right, he said. In June of 1990, an anonymous, undated letter arrived at the Johnston Police Department.

One week later, another arrived. They were mailed from the Boston area, addressed to the detectives on Doreen's case, and they were both written on a typewriter. The first letter, which was briefly shown on Unsolved Mysteries, was blurry. But in the parts we could make out, it slammed Doreen's character and claimed to have information on her alleged affairs with co-workers, listing them all by name.

It began, considering myself a good Christian and citizen, I feel a moral obligation to impart my knowledge of Mrs. Marfio. Although on the outside she personifies class, beauty, and professionalism, in reality she is nothing more than a cheap harlot.

The unknown author then wrote about a Christmas party at RISD in 1988 that Stephen Marfeo had apparently attended uninvited.

While her husband was leaving in his Santa suit on one side of the building, Doreen was on the other side with another man, his lips pressed against hers passionately. It also stated seeing Doreen and an elderly man leaving a restaurant in a yellow convertible, kissing and touching one another. It ended with the admonishment, God help her.

But police found no evidence of any affairs. And furthermore, they believed that all the allegations in the letter slamming her character were false. Additionally, RISD stated that they weren't aware of any issues that had been going on with Doreen during her time there, and all the co-workers named in the letter denied ever having a romantic relationship with her. Nobody believed Doreen was having an affair. Here's Detective Nardolillo again on Unsolved Mysteries.

The first letter that we received mentioned names of people that she was involved with that we spoke to who were totally surprised to even have the police question that their name was even mentioned in this investigation. The second letter was chilling and described Doreen's alleged fate the day she went missing. Most of it is legible, but some pieces are missing. It read, Regarding Doreen Marfio, Missing Person

Stephen Marfeo left his workplace and drove home to have lunch with his wife. There was no lunch. Doreen was sleeping on the couch in the living room. Stephen got hot under the collar. He made for the couch and strangled Doreen. Stephen acted fast. He stuffed Doreen's shoes and handbag in a shopping bag and tied it around her waist. He wrapped the body in a blanket and secured it with a clothesline rope. Stephen Marfeo was in a hurry to get to work.

Marfeo got in his car and crossed the Providence line. He went two miles on a narrow dirt road. He stopped and deposited his wife's body in reeds in a pond. Marfeo returned to work. A flat tire excuse was offered for the extended lunch hour. Marfeo got home at 4 p.m. He called police and reported his wife missing. Marfeo is highly skilled in the fine art of deception. He can make a lie hear a ring of truth.

The letters contained a surprising amount of detail, but not everything was completely accurate. For example, the letter implies that Stephen reported her missing at 4 p.m. on Thursday, but in reality, he didn't report her missing until Saturday, two days later. Johnston PD sent the letters to Syracuse University to their professor of psycholinguistics, Dr. Murray Myron.

Police thought they knew who wrote the letters, and they wanted Dr. Myron's expert opinion. In his response, he wrote, Stephen Marfio is the person most likely to have authored these communications and to be the logical suspect in the murder of his wife. When we first received these letters, the captain and I felt as though that Stephen Marfio may have been the author of these letters. Based on some of the information that was contained, the contents, he would have only been the one to know these contents.

Eventually, police would receive four more letters, two of which were typed and two handwritten. Police confiscated a number of typewriters that Stephen may have had access to to see if any of them could have produced the typed letters. They sent them to the U.S. Postal Service Investigation Division to make the comparisons, and in July of 1991, police announced that they got a match. The

The first letter received by the Johnston PD, the one maligning Doreen, was produced by a typewriter that was found in Stephen's mother's home. Here's Captain O'Donnell on Unsolved Mysteries. It establishes for the first time a linkage between the document, the instrument, and a suspect. So it was a major importance to us. And I mean, it's like a fingerprint as far as identification.

Police then sent the two handwritten letters to the FBI for analysis, and they concluded that both letters were written by the same person, but that person had not been identified.

The Johnston PD said that five of the six letters made some kind of reference to where Doreen's body was buried, and they conducted searches at the locations, though nothing was ever discovered. Stephen was questioned about the letters, but he denied writing any of them. He eventually hired an attorney and stopped cooperating with the police.

Early on in the investigation, police were convinced that there was foul play. They believed it was only a matter of time before Doreen's body was discovered. In the summer of 1990, two women were fishing at Randall Pond, a small pond just two miles south of the Marfeo home in Cranston, Rhode Island.

It was about six months after Doreen disappeared. They pulled up a lure from the pond and noticed that there was hair on it, what appeared to be human hair. That night, they brought the lure to the police. The URI crime lab confirmed that the hair was human. In the next day, on Monday, September 10th, seven divers spent five hours at Randall Pond, searching for the source of the hair.

They came back again three days later, on Thursday, September 13th, to continue their search. Conditions were difficult. The black slit that rested in La Paz's basin was stirred up and reduced the divers' visibility to just six inches. They used their hands to search the 12-foot-deep waters for another six hours. The hair was sent to the FBI for analysis, but nothing further was ever reported.

Not long after that, the TV show Missing Reward decided to cover her case. The episode aired November 24, 1990. Following the airing, police received many phone calls and letters. A religious fanatic in Pennsylvania claimed that he saw Doreen on a bus. An inmate convicted of murdering his wife promised to reveal Doreen's location if they would send a female officer to his cell.

A psychic from Providence told them that Stephen was responsible. Little new information was obtained.

The year after Doreen's disappearance, Stephen started dating someone new. She later told the police that Stephen had been frighteningly possessive of her. He even gave her a written list of rules to follow, some of which included no gifts from other men, no going out to lunch or drinks with other men. And to make sure that she was following the rules, he again hired PIs to watch her.

In April of 1992, Johnston PD spoke extensively to the Providence Journal and explained that despite their extraordinary effort, 1,500 to 2,000 man-hours, the case remained in limbo. Captain O'Donnell said, If we could find her body or conclusive evidence that she was dead, we could lodge a murder charge against our suspect.

But not everyone was convinced that Doreen was killed. Her own sister, in fact, begged to differ. In February of 1993, the Providence Journal published a very detailed article with updates on the case, and in March, they published a letter that they received from Lorna, Doreen's sister who was two years her senior. She wrote that the police were engaging in a, quote, "...unimaginable display of inappropriate behavior."

She continued, If I were a resident of the town of Johnston, I would be rather ticked off that this was the kind of thing that police deemed important, as opposed to the guy down the street who just had his car stolen. It's amazing the character stories that could be told by me and my friends about Mrs. Marfio, but the police are simply uninterested in them. I love my sister, and I would love to know where she is. But

But these myths about her character are creating a legend. If the Johnston police really care about Doreen, they have to hear the bad parts too. The reporter wrote a very accurate article about what's happening in the case. The investigation is focusing on damning a man who just happens to have the surname Marfio. Let's knock it off, guys. I'll bet my sister is in Paris.

It had been over three years since Doreen disappeared when the popular TV show Unsolved Mysteries picked up her case. Clips in this episode come from that segment, and you can find it linked on MurderSheTold.com. Stephen was still living in the house he shared with his missing wife on Hartford Avenue, and he agreed to be interviewed on camera. On November 17, 1993, the episode aired.

Stephen was prominently featured in the 16-minute segment. Speaking clearly and confidently, even a little cocky, Detective Nardolillo took a strong stance, saying, There's no doubt in my mind that Stephen is responsible for his wife's disappearance.

He emphasized the inconsistency between hiring private investigators to track the movement of his wife and the two-day period of time after Doreen's disappearance when Stephen neglected to call police. Doreen's sister and mother participated. Here's her sister, Lorna.

Everybody calls me an optimist and everybody says, "Oh, Steve Keller." But I don't believe that at all. None of his friends do as well. The ones that I know, that I've talked to, I myself don't. The police do, but there is no evidence.

Her mother, Laura, ended the segment and said, When I see the way he acts when the mail arrives or when the phone rings, he still thinks she's alive. But she stopped short of ruling him out as the perpetrator, saying that there was a possibility he was responsible. Stephen, addressing the continued suspicions of the police, said, I'm really getting tired of the accusations and the allegations. Anyone knows. If you have something, bring it forward.

But just as he finished his sentence, a smile started to form and then vanished, giving the impression that he either had something to hide or enjoyed this game of cat and mouse with detectives. It's easy for them to suspect the spouse. And they've been proved wrong before, and they'll be proven wrong again. After the airing, calls came in to the Johnston Police Department from around the country, as far away as California and Oklahoma.

Most people claimed to have seen Doreen. Others provided information or claimed to be clairvoyant. Johnston PD sent out photos and dental charts of Doreen, hoping that one of those sightings would turn out to be true. A detective with Johnston PD said, You do get tips that may sound ridiculous, but you never get anywhere if you discount anything, because sometimes what seems off the wall ends up being a major lead.

In the summer of 1994, Stephen took a new job working for A.J. Oster in Warwick, Rhode Island. It was a manufacturing plant that worked with copper alloys. The plant manager would later describe Stephen as a good employee. He showed up to work every day, he minded his own business, and he got along with his fellow workers. In 1995, Stephen found love again with a 34-year-old woman named Laura Vincent.

That same year, Unsolved Mysteries aired their episode again, spurring a new round of tips in the case. Nardolillo continued to keep tabs on Stephen.

He later recalled, The last time we had a conversation, he told me I was in the wrong business. He suggested that I start a nice Italian restaurant. I shot back that maybe he could work for me as a cook. By the time I was ready to open my restaurant, he'd have plenty of experience in the kitchen, referring to time he hoped Stephen would spend in prison.

John Nardolillo was driving past Hartford Avenue one day and stopped, seeing Stephen in the driveway. He asked, Don't you think it's time to tell the truth about your wife? Stephen just replied, You're a nice guy, but you're in the wrong business. Nardolillo would later say that this was the most frustrating case he had ever been involved with. The following year, Stephen moved in with his mother and rented the house on Hartford Avenue.

Doreen loved stuffed animals, and she devoted an entire room in the house to hundreds of bears and other critters that she'd collected over the years. It's unclear what became of Doreen's things. After eight years, Stephen went to the court and had Doreen declared legally dead. In 1999, after four years of on-and-off romance, Stephen broke up for the last time with Laura Vincent, and this is when she began dating Sal Polio.

Stephen's mother, Angelina, recalled him talking about wanting to punch Sal. In later reflection, she wished he had, rather than the violence that he carried out.

Throughout their relationship, and for years prior, Stephen maintained a close relationship with Doreen's mom. She later told the Providence Journal that he had been visiting her at her home every two weeks for some time. He helped her mow the lawn, trim the hedges, little things around the house. He would get her a gift every Valentine's Day and Christmas. He put deadbolts on the door so that she would be safer.

On his last visit, she told him, If Doreen were still alive, you two could have had such a good life together, he said. I know. Laura had already begun making arrangements that, in her death, her assets would go to Stephen.

Doreen's sister, Lorna, was still alive, and she still is today. Laura Dobson told him, I went to the bank and put my trust fund in your name. I want you to bury me. Whatever money is left over, you keep, because I have no one else.

Stephen saw her on the day he shot Laura Vincent and Sal. Around 11 a.m., he picked her up from Miriam Hospital in Providence after she got some medical testing done. He signed her out and gave her a ride home. The last thing he said to her was, I have a lot of work to do. I have to clean my car. I'll call later to see how you're doing.

Later that night, on Friday, July 30th, 1999, Stephen carried out his brutal plan, killing Laura Vincent, attempting to kill Sal, and taking his own life. Detective Nardolillo was one of the first people notified about the shooting that grim Friday night. He had no idea who the perpetrator was as he sat at Contempo Coffee having a cup of joe when his pager went off three times in a row.

Once they learned from the neighborhood canvas that Stephen was responsible, his first call was to Doreen's mother to ask her if she had any information about Stephen's car. When he got the call at 5 a.m. the next morning from the Connecticut State Police that Stephen and his vehicle had been found, he held out hope that it would finally lead to answers in Doreen's case.

But at 6 a.m., when Stephen died at Hartford Hospital, Nardolillo said, My heart sank like an anchor. I thought to myself, he finally had the last word. I was angrier at him than ever. I thought the least he could have done was brought peace of mind to Doreen's mother, but he was too much of an animal to even do that. I feel regret, but no surprise at all.

As the news of atrocity spread through the community, many people came to the conclusion that Stephen had killed Doreen, too. Lynn Dion, a mutual friend, said, He threw everybody off. He put signs on billboards. He offered rewards. It's scary. Your hair stands up on your arms. He never goofed. He never, never goofed on his story that she took off that day.

Gina Califano said,

Even Doreen's mother came to believe that Stephen was responsible. She said, He's not a bad man, even though he killed my daughter. I hate him for that, but it's been nine and a half years, so I guess he figured it was his duty to look after me. He has a Jekyll and Hyde personality.

Stephen's mom, Angelica, though, was unconvinced, saying, Stephen helped Doreen's mom not because of a guilty conscience, but that's all right. Let Nardolillo think that. He just hates to say that he was wrong. But Angelina may have been looking at Stephen through rose-colored glasses. She also said, I don't know why he did what he did to Laura and Sal. That's something I'll never know. I just wipe it out of my mind. He was not that type of person.

Stephen, himself, wrote in his suicide note to his mother,

I know that you've known for a long time, ever since Doreen disappeared, that I'm not right, not the same person I used to be, and I know now that I will never be. When she left, half of my heart, my reason for living, and my future plans went with her. I'm just a shell of a man, faking I'm okay for the sake of my friends and you. Because of my love for you, I've been around nine years longer than I should have.

Laura said that Stephen always told her that her daughter Doreen was, quote, the sun, the moon, and the stars. His one true love. But that love transformed into obsession. She continued, After Doreen disappeared, I cried so much and so long that I couldn't cry anymore. Until this happened to Steve. He always loved her too much. There's such a thing as too much love.

He had a lot of good in him, but he doesn't realize the broken hearts he left behind. All I say every night is, God have mercy on your soul. To John Nardolillo, Stephen had always been guilty. He was devastated that Stephen had not confessed in his suicide note, but he believed that Stephen may have given them an important clue to the location of Doreen's remains.

Stephen had no ties to rural Barkhamstead, Connecticut, as far as the police could tell, and the state police told Nardolillo that the location where Stephen was found wasn't a place that people stumble on. They believed that Stephen had to have had some experience with the area. Experience, perhaps, of dumping a body. Detective Nardolillo said, I'm very interested in the spot where he took his own life.

On Tuesday, August 3rd, 1999, just four days after the shooting, police performed a three-hour search in Connecticut. The search party included Connecticut and Rhode Island state troopers and five cadaver dogs. One of the handlers described the search strategy as an off-leash open-area search, where the dogs are left to their own devices, and handlers are tasked with interpreting their behavior.

Though nothing was located during the search, they weren't finished. A spokesman for the Connecticut State Police said that the area would be searched again in the upcoming weeks. Two days later, on Thursday, August 5th, police searched the Hartford Avenue home in Johnston. They used heavy machinery to pick up a shed on the property and kept it suspended with cinder blocks. A Johnston detective dug underneath the shed about two feet and cleared a 12-by-12-foot space.

Cadaver dogs were deployed on the property and on nearby land behind 1010 Hartford Avenue next door. At one point, the dogs alerted, but it just turned out to be an old grave marker. The next day, on Friday, August 6th, Detective Nardolillo searched Stephen's toolbox at his employer and spoke with his boss. Nothing was found.

The same week, the police appealed to the public for information. They released Stephen's suicide note to the public. They held a press conference and showed all of the items recovered from Stephen's car. They found three guns in his Firebird and some others that were stored at a friend's home in West Warwick. None of the guns were registered. With Stephen gone, police hoped that if anyone were holding back information, that they would feel liberated to come forward.

Johnston PD was inundated with calls, but none of those calls led to the discovery of Doreen's remains. Though families were destroyed, life went on in Johnston and North Providence. Gina Califano, in spite of her grief, was working at her diner the days after the tragedy because she said her customers rely on her. Gina had been close friends with Laura Vincent and her sister Karen for 11 years.

Of Sal, she said, he has a heart as big as North Providence. Sal passed away in 2015 at the age of 71. The comment section on his obituary at Legacy.com is filled with 51 different condolences and memories. He was loved by many.

Laura Dobson lived a long life, passing away at the age of 96 in October of 2010. She died not knowing what happened to her youngest daughter. She lived in her home in Central Falls with her four cats. One of them, an old white cat named Frosty, belonged to Doreen.

In 1993, she told the Providence Journal, "...sometimes I wake up in the morning and ask myself, why am I alive? And then I remember, well, it's either to see Doreen again or to bury her, one way or another."

She said of her daughter, "Everybody loved her. She was so smart. I know if she were alive, she would have gotten in touch with me." Laura recalled one day that she was driving and saw a statuette of St. Anthony, the patron saint for helping to find "things that one's lost." It was lying amidst a pile of rubbish. Laura told herself, "If he's still here when I return, I'll take him home." Sure enough, when she later returned, he was still waiting for her.

She kept the figurine in her study, resting on a small table. By his feet was a rosary and a picture of Doreen. She prayed every night for answers. She said, St. Anthony has always helped me find things in the past. Doreen's just gonna take a little longer because she was so important. ♪

If you have any information about the disappearance of Doreen Marfio, please contact the Johnston Police Department at 401-231-4210 or send a tip via email to tips at johnstonpd.com. Thank you so much for listening. I always say it, but I couldn't do this without you, and I'm incredibly grateful you're here.

I'm Kristen Sevey, and this is Murder, She Told.

Thank you for listening.

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