Joseph Bertone

• Missing Since 06/17/1985
• Missing From McKeesport, Pennsylvania
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Age 49 years old
• Height and Weight 5'10 - 6'2, 180 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A ten- and twenty-four-inch gold rope necklace and a wedding ring with the name "JOEY" inscribed in fifteen diamonds on the band.
• Associated Vehicle(s) 1985 Cadillac Seville (accounted for)
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Black hair, brown eyes. Bertone has scars on his abdomen, chest, eye and upper lip. He has a tattoo on his right forearm.

Details of Disappearance

Bertone was last seen in McKeesport, Pennsylvania on June 17, 1985. He lived in the 400 block of Diehl Drive. His wife stated he left home at 9:30 p.m. and she asked him to bring Pepsi and milk when he came home. He called her at 10:00 p.m. from his car phone, and said he was at the Jordan's truck garage in Duquesne, Pennsylvania. He has never been heard from again.

Bertone had been the owner of Joey's Restaurant and Lounge. The restaurant had been controversial and was initially refused a liquor license, as Bertone had a criminal history and alleged ties to organized crime. In 1978, it was damaged by a bomb. In 1982 it was bombed again, and this time it was destroyed.

According to court testimony at the 1990 racketeering trial of Charles J. "Chucky" Porter, Bertone was involved in the cocaine trade and on the day of his disappearance, he was supposed to fly to Florida for a drug deal. He told his business partner, Joseph F. "Joey" Rosa, to meet him at the truck garage with $1,000, and to come quickly.

When Rosa arrived between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m., he saw Bertone's 1985 Cadillac Seville leaving the garage, but Bertone wasn't driving. A man with glasses was. Rosa followed the car in his own vehicle, but the Cadillac was running stop signs and red lights and he was unable to catch up to it. This is the last time anyone saw Bertone. The Cadillac was found in a Holiday Inn parking lot near Harmar, Pennsylvania ten days later.

Authorities believe Bertone was killed because of his criminal connections, but his body has never been found and no one has ever been charged in his case.