Darlene Polizzi

Polizzi, circa 1967; Raymond Alves, circa 2000

  • Missing Since 04/24/1967
  • Missing From Lodi, New Jersey
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 11/07/1947 (76)
  • Age 19 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'3, 100 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A brown blouse, a polka-dotted skirt and a brown suede coat with a fur collar.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown/red hair, brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Polizzi was last seen at her apartment in the 400 block of Westminster Place in Lodi, New Jersey on April 24, 1967. She and her husband planned to move and were looking at other apartments. They viewed three apartments that day before coming back home.

Afterwards, her husband left the residence, leaving her there alone. When he returned, she was gone. She has never been heard from again. Her husband reported her missing the following day. Polizzi apparently took several clothing items with her, but she left behind the rest of her personal belongings, including her jewelry.

Raymond Alves lived in Polizzi's neighborhood in 1967. He worked with her husband at a sheet metal plant, and she was friends with his wife. The Alves family moved away the day after Polizzi disappeared.

A photograph of Alves is posted with this case summary. In 1974, he was convicted of raping a teenager and tossing her off an overpass. He was released from prison in 2000, after serving 23 years of a 47-year sentence.

Authorities believe he may be a serial killer responsible for the murders of as many as seven teenage females whose bodies were found in Bergen County, New Jersey. He has not been charged in any of the deaths, however, and he has not been connected to Polizzi's disappearance.

Polizzi was a waitress at the Hangar Restaurant in Paramus, New Jersey at the time of her disappearance, and was a regular customer at Tommy's Diner on Paterson Avenue in Wallington, New Jersey. Her case remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency

  • Bergen County Prosecutor's Office 201-226-5653

Updated 4 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated July 27, 2010; details of disappearance updated.