If you know ANYTHING about my wife, Pat's disappearance, or where she is, we beg you to call Detective James Sepp of the Bogota Police Departmentat (201) 487- 2400 or Detective Richard Fonde of the Bergen County Sherrif's Department of Missing Persons Bureau at (201) 646-2222. Please call us if you know anything about Patrica.
On Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2001, my Patricia vanished from our lives . But where did she go and who did she speak to? Did she met up with trouble or have a seizure as a result of her epilepsy? Did she end up a hospital or similar facility around that time? Did she get into a car in front of our home in Bogota, NJ? Was she picked up by a taxi or board a bus? Remember, Pat did not have access to a car that day. We have lot of questions, but still no answers.
We know it was a long time ago and everyone's memory may be fading. Let me give you some time sensitive reminders. It was Feb. 13, 2001, the day before Valentines Day. About three weeks earlier the New York Football Giants were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV. President George W. Bush was recently inaugurated as our new President. The news was reporting about the first analysis of the human genome and a United States Nuclear submarine collided with a Japanese fishing vesssel off the coast of Hawaii. Please try to reconstruct where you were and what you were doing that day. From what we know, it looks as if Pat left our Bogota residence between 1 PM and 2:30 PM on the afternoon of 2/13/01. You may have seen Pat. If so, PLEASE call the Bogota Police at 201-487-2400. They (and we) are waiting to hear from you. You may hold the answer to this mysterious tragedy. The case is open but very cold. Thank you so much.
If you are in the medical field, you also may have seen or even taken care of Pat where you work. Pat has a seizure disorder called epilepsy and takes Dilantin 400mg and Phenobarbitol 150mg daily to control those seizures. She does NOT have her medication or any identification with her. Pat may have had a seizure on the afternoon of 2/13/01 or the days following and required medical attention. Amnesia is a side affect of having a seizure so she may not have known who she was.
Also, if you were a patron or worker in any of the New Jersey RiteAid stores on 2/13/01, you may be able to help us. Pat was in the market for a Valentine's Day Gift, a "singing monkey in a cage", carried by RiteAid. She may have asked you about it that day. You may have referred her to another RiteAid store. You may have a clue to what was on Pat's mind that day or where she was headed. If so, please call Detective James Sepp of the Bogota Police at (201) 487-2400 and tell them what you know.
If you know ANYTHING about Pat or even think you may have seen her that day on Tuesday, 2/13/01, PLEASE come forward. The police tell me YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GIVE YOUR NAME. A $10,000 REWARD is available for information leaded to Pat's safe return. We still need your help! PLEASE...................
We will protect your identity, we promise. Your information may save my wife Pat's life.
Missing
Patricia Marie Viola
REWARD! $10,000.00
(Reward For Information Leading to Pat's Safe Return)
The waiting continues for Jim Viola, his two children, Christine and Michael, and family members for some word or clue concerning the mysterious February 13, 2001 disappearance of Patricia (Pat) Marie Viola (maiden name: Patricia Marri), then 42,..a doting, caring, vibrant, beautiful young wife and mom. The family received a major shot in the arm when they were informed in mid June 2006 that their beloved Patricia was added to the nationally syndicated show, America's Most Wanted's web site in the My Story section. Patricia's story can be found by following the link: http://www.amw.com/MyStory/index.cfm?whichMonth=6&whichYear=2006
The story will remain there indefinitely. The story was covered by News 12 New Jersey. In early 2008 (date TBD), Patricia's story will appear on America's Most Wanted 's nationally broadcasted TV program. Details to follow.
On the morning of Tuesday, February 13, 2001, Pat set the house alarm at about 8:35 AM and went to volunteer at our son, Michael's Bixby Elementary School Library. Although she seemed quieter that usual that day, Pat's co-volunteers at the library did not suspect anything might be wrong. After an uneventful 3 hour stint at the library, Pat left wth her friends at about 11:30AM to come home. We know she arrived home safe because she returned a call from her mom at about 12:30 PM. Her mom had left Pat a message on the answering machine asking if a everything was OK. Apparently, in Pat's haste to leave that morning, the door must have been partially open, causing the alarm to trip when she left. According to Pat's mom, when she asked Pat about the alarm, Pat acted as if she was aware of the alarm and said that everything was fine. Otherwise, per her mom, the rest of the conversation was normal. Pat's mom was the last person to speak to Pat.
The police had responded to the alarm and reported that the house was secure. This has happen before so we were not overly concerned about it.
Patricia is described as a white caucasian, dob 8/18/58, fair complexion, approximately 5' 2", 125 lbs, brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a long sleeve sport shirt, sneakers and a black cloth winter jacket. She has three birthmarks on the front right portion of her neck. Any information should be called into the Bogota Police Department at
(201) 487-2400.
Patricia has a seizure disorder called Epilepsy which is controlled with two different medication, Dilantin, 200 mg, taken twice daily for a total of 400 mg/daily and Phenobarbitol, 30 mg, taken 5x daily (60 mg in the morning and 90 mg in the evening) for a total of 150 mg/daily. The prescription was being handled through the RiteAid chain of drug stores. Pat DOES NOT have her medication with her and it has not been refilled at any of the National RiteAID stores using the current prescription.
In fact, to the best of our knowledge, Pat does not have her identification (ID), her credit cards, her keys or any of her personal effects with her. She may have had some cash on her.
If Pat had taken a seizure, she could have become disoriented and/or exhibited memory loss. She could be in a hospital, shelter or other refuge center being unknowingly cared for.
Numerous hospitals, shelters, and crisis centers were visited and had flyers sent to. A letter was writen to Pat and inserted into an envelope with her name, photo and description on it. These were brought to shelters in the area with instructions to deliver it to Pat or a person matching her description. No calls ever came in.
Pat would have been on foot that day since she was not driving at the time. There was not even a car available to her that day.
Based on the residence security system log, there was a RESET done on the control panel from inside the house at 1:11PM on the afternoon of 2/13/01. The RESET would be required prior to re-arming the alarm following a previous alarm trigger. The house alarm was set when I arrived home, so Pat did do the RESET at 1:11 PM from inside the house. We could then assume, she went out shortly after that or about 1:30 PM on the afternoon of 2/13/01 or possibly later.
Upon leaving our home, Pat either went up the hill, down the hill or into a waiting car or taxi. The neighbors had been queried and nobody claimed to have seen anything unusual. Going up the hill would lead to bus stops and access to Route 80 west. In the days following Pat's disappearance, all the buses on Palisade Ave. were stopped for hours. The different drivers and passengers were questioned and shown photos of Pat. Cars on Palisade Ave were stopped as well.
Taxi companies were called to no avail.
We are continuing to search for clues and explore any possibility. Nothing seems to make sense yet. If you would like to assist in the search, download a REWARD flyer.
The word definitely is out there about Pat, as least locally. Color flyers have been sent to every police station in 16 out of New Jersey's 21 counties, about 600-700 mailings. This web site has had almost 50,000 hits since its inception from as far away as Australia. Hundreds of mailings have been sent to shelters, crisis centers and hospitals. Over 5,000 Video CDs & DVDs which I created of Patricia have been circulated locally, to law enforcement, to relatives, to the media and to our growing network of friends and support groups across the country. As Bogota Detective James Sepp puts it, "we are not getting anything". We are continuing to push on and document our efforts like this web site is doing. We need people like yourselves to help us brainstorm for new ideas and to keep your eyes open for Pat. We still feel the right person has not seen Pat yet. To this end we are pushing for as much TV, radio, newspaper and internet coverage as we can get. Refer to the Updates page for details on the ongoing coverage.
New Jersey District 9 Congressman Steve Rothman is even involved. The March 12, 2002 Press Conference he helped to organize attracted a lot of media coverage. Congressman Rothman has added Pat's photo and description to his quarterly news letter, to his mailing envelopes and to his web site, http://rothman.house.gov/viola.htm.
The family is still trying to get on others shows like Unsolved Mysteries. Hundreds of letters were written to these shows on our behalf by our family, friends, fellow parishioners and neighbors. Pat's tragic story did get to the advanced approval stage on Unsolved Mysteries before being knocked down. Unsolved Mysteries did not give a reason for the denial but the person who presented the story to management plans on trying again. More letters to Unsolved Mysteries probably could not hurt.
Letters have also been sent to Dateline, 48 Hours, the Today Show, Oprah, Good Morning America, Nancy Grace, CNN, Larry King Live and numerous other shows trying to spread the word and get them to air the story. These shows have not responded to us yet.
Patricia's story is also documented on several national and worldwide internet sites and organizations. See Additional Web Links for these sites.
If you have any information that might help us find Patricia, please click the icon below and contact us at the telephone numbers. Right click on the above banner to download for your website or print it out and display it it where it makes sense. Thank you.
June 1, 2005 - Thanks to the organization, Child Seek Network, the June 2005 Child Seek Network Newsletter featured an interview with Patricia's husband, Jim. Our friend, Audrey Herron is also featured.
September 7, 2005 - My good friend, Kelly Jolkowski, Mother of Missing Jason Jolkowski, President and Founder, Project Jason, www.projectjason.org, put together an excellent article (blog) to help increase to awareness to
Patricia's disappearance and for many other missing persons. Thank you Kelly.
Patricia was featured for about a minute with several other missing adults and children on the Jan. 7, 2006 "Missing" show, telecast on WCBS2 in the NYC Metro area. Pat's clip continues to be cycled every few months.
Be sure to check their web site, www.usamissing.com for upcoming shows. Please contact your local stations and ask them to add Missing to their programming if it is not carried. Also in many areas, the shows airs in the middle of the night. Please request better air times.
With the help of the Saint Joseph's RCC Youth/Adult Mininistry, Patricia's daughter, Christine, took the lead in organizing a Prayer Vigil for her mom, Patricia, on Feb. 13, 2006.
This service marked 5 years that Patricia has been missing from our lives.
Jim, Christine and Michael all attended this weekend Conference attended by over 100 members of organizations and familes of missing loved ones from 19 states. The focus was on Training, a Round Table Discussion and the Candlelight Vigil in Riverfront Park on Saturday Night.
The training was excellent and useful but I loved meeting so many families whom I had spoken to over the phone or e-mailed over the years. So many bonds were made as we shared this common tragedy. I now feel I have an extended family with many of these families. Monica Caison, President and Founder of CUE and her team of volunteers were all so warm and caring toward all of us.
April 1, 2006 - Safety and Information Day at the NYS Museum in Albany, NY
Jim and Michael attended this event and had a display table set up for Patricia Viola all day. Pat's DVD was played all day on the 27" TV provided. Many of Pat's DVDs, flyers, buttons, summary cards were distributed throughout the day as it was open to the public.
Many other missing loved ones were also featured on these displays and flyers distributed..
April 2, 2006 - 5th Annual New York State Missing Persons Day at the NYS Museum in Albany, NY - Organized and Hosted by Doug and Mary Lyall, Founders of The Center For Hope and Missing their daughter Suzanne Lyall.
Jim and Michael attended this event held just down the hall from the Saturday event. and again had the display of Patricia up throughout the day.
Jim served on a panel discussion team to comment on and discuss a typical missing person case with the group. The excercise was very helpful in highlighting important steps that should be taken in all missing person cases.
Many of our Missing Loved Ones including Patricia were remembered in a very moving
June 10, 2006 - CUE's 2006 On The Road To Remember Tour - NorthEast Rally in CT
Jim and his son, Michael attended the Northeast Rally in CT, 1 of 30 Rally stops planned by Monica Caison of CUE Center for Missing Persons. This years 3rd annual "On the Road to Remember" tour, designed to promote missing persons cases through the country. Patricia was one of approximately 78 cases featured this year, most of which are graphically shown on a DVD designed and produced by Patricia's husband, Jim. The CT rally promoted Patricia's story as well as a Billy Smolinski, who is missing from Waterbury, CT and several others from the area.
Aug. 26, 2006 - Attended the Riding for Audrey (Herron) 2006 event this year to benefit The Center For Hope. All of Pat's information was on display to over 50 attendees. Channel 13 and and The Daily Mail paper covered the story.
Read The Daily Mail Story - Aug 27, 2006 (Click on links within the PDF for more information including Videos)
Oct. 16, 2006 - Introduction (first reading) of NJ Senate Bill S2255, also known as
"Patricia's Law" Senator Weinberg (District 37) has sponsored new Missing Persons Legislature Jim Viola brought to them as part of Campaign for the Missing 2006-2007. See Press Conference on Oct. 19, 2006 audio and video clips and photos below for more information.
Oct. 19, 2006 - A Press Conference was held at 11 AM in front of Jim Viola's home to announce the Introduction of NJ Senate Bill S2255("Patricia's Law") on 10/16/06.
On hand for the Press Conference were Jim Viola, Sen. Loretta Weinberg (District 37 - Sponsor), Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri-Huttle, Mr. William Galda (First Assistant Prosecuter), Mr Rocco Mazza from Sen. Weinberg's office, Bermari Roig-Eichler (Sen. Weinberg's Legislative Director), Captain Michael Brophy (Bogota PD), Detective James Sepp (Bogota PD), Chief Frank Gurnaci (Bogota PD), Micheal Feeney (Bergen Record) with photographer.
Everyone had an opportunity to speak and there is a tremendous amount of excitment about "Patricia's Law".
Sen. Weinberg commented that she "was proud that NJ was the first to retain sponsorship. She went on to say that they hope to pass Patricia's Law by the end of the year and maybe we can have the Governor return to this front lawn to sign it"
