Angelo Puglisi Abduction 8/21/76 MA

Clothing Description: A bathing suit, a towel, and sneakers. Medical Conditions: Puglisi is mildly epileptic. He would need hospital treatment if he had a seizure. Details of Disappearance Puglisi was last seen at the Higgins Memorial Swimming Pool, a public pool approximately 100 yards from his family's home near their home at the Stadium Housing Projects on East Dalton Street in Lawrence, Massachusetts on August 21, 1976. His mother told investigators that he called home at about 3:30 p.m. that day and spoke to one of his brothers; Puglisi gave no indication that anything was wrong at the time. A lifeguard at the pool reported that he saw Puglisi walking around the area at approximately 5:45 p.m.; that was the last time anyone has seen him. Investigators initially believed Puglisi was a runaway. He was the product of a broken home and they speculated that he might have felt torn between his divorced parents. His father took a lie detector test and was ruled out as a suspect in his case. Foul play is now suspected in Puglisi's disappearance. One prime suspect in Puglisi's disappearance is the late pedophile Charles Pierce, who was a resident of Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1976. A photo of Pierce is posted below this case summary. Pierce confessed to two abductions that occurred in the 1970's: one was the case of Janice Pockett, a girl missing from Connecticut in 1973; and another case involving an unidentified boy from Lawrence, Massachusetts. It's believed that Pierce was referring to Puglisi's case by that description. He claimed that he sexually assaulted and buried the unidentified boy in a grave near that of Pockett's; neither body has been discovered. Pierce was familiar with the Lawrence area and was a suspect in more than a dozen children's disappearances from the 1950's through the 1970's in New England. Pierce was convicted of a Massachusetts murder and was serving a 20-year prison term when he died in 1999. Another prime suspect in Puglisi's case is Wayne W. Chapman, a Providence, Rhode Island native who may have been a pedophile associate of Pierce. Chapman was arrested in Waterloo, New York in September 1976, while driving a was charged with driving converted van that had once been a blue delivery truck. Chapman's vehicle closely resembled the description of a van one of Puglisi's friends observed near the pool area where Puglisi was last seen. Photos of Chapman and his vehicle are posted below this case summary. A witness told authorities that he and another boy found a large pit in the woods near the pool; the friend stated that the hole could have been large enough to hold a child's body. When he returned to the area a few days later, the pit had been filled. This spot has never been proven to be a gravesite. Investigators also found child pornographic materials, a starter pistol and a sock which appeared to be bloodstained in Chapman's van. The sock was eventually lost and it was never proven whether the substance on it was blood. Chapman was later convicted of the 1975 rapes of two boys; he lured both boys from the same swimming pool Puglisi would later vanish from. Rhode Island police have a letter stating that Chapman was working in Rhode Island at the time of Puglisi's disappearance. Chapman has never been charged in connection with Puglisi's case. He spent time in a treatment center before being sent to prison. He was released in November 2004. A psychic whose services were utilized by police claimed that Puglisi was assaulted in a similar manner to previous victims of Chapman. The psychic also knew that Puglisi was epileptic, a detail that authorities had not disclosed publicly at the time the psychic was consulted. Puglisi's mother claims the psychic disappeared shortly after being consulted and that he still has some items of Puglisi's that she lent to him. Puglisi's parents were having relationship difficulties at the time he vanished and have since parted ways. They were both considered suspects in his case and have not officially been removed from the list of possible offenders, but investigators doubt either one was involved in his disappearance. Puglisi's childhood friend, Melanie Perkins, produced a documentary entitled Have You Seen Andy? about Puglisi's case. Two excavations near Lawrence in 1999 were unsuccessful in attempting to locate Puglisi's remains. His case remains open and unsolved. Last updated February 5, 2005. Charley Project

Investigators search anew for boy missing 30 years By Jim Patten Staff Writer LAWRENCE — As the 30-year anniversary of his disappearance approaches, state police were digging in the woods behind the new high school yesterday, hoping to find the remains of Angelo "Andy" Puglisi. Andy was 10 when he disappeared Aug. 24, 1976. He was last seen walking away from the Higgins Pool in South Lawrence. He lived with his family at 31 Dalton St. in the stadium projects and disappeared 10 days before his 11th birthday, which he had planned to celebrate at Fenway Park, his mother said at the time. His disappearance launched a nationwide search which has led in the recent past back to the area around the pool in South Lawrence. Investigators have conducted digs in 1998 and 2004 in the woods on the edge of the grounds of the South Lawrence East School. Yesterday, led by state forensic pathologist Dr. Ann Marie Miers, state troopers from the district attorney's office and the state police crime scene services bureau used a cadaver-sniffing dog and roamed about 300 yards south of the 1998 and 2004 digs behind the pool and between a new ballfield and the new high school. Once in the woods, the group used rakes to pull leaves away from several areas and dig into the ground. As in the other digs, no sign of Andy was found. "They did finish up today," said Steve O'Connell, spokesman for the district attorney's office. "It is doubtful they will go out tomorrow." He said yesterday's dig did not come as the result of any new information turned up by investigators. "It is just a continuing investigation," he said. Meanwhile, Wayne W. Chapman, a Providence, R.I. resident and once a prime suspect in the disappearance, remains incarcerated after completing a 30-year prison sentence in October 2004 for the rapes of two Lawrence boys and a third boy in Bristol County. In the Lawrence case, he lured the two boys, ages 10 and 11, into the woods near an Interstate 495 ramp on Aug. 16, 1975, on the pretext of helping him search for his dog and then sexually attacked them. He used a similar ruse on three boys in Bristol County in July 1974, but only one accompanied him into a secluded area where the attack took place. Prosecutors have been fighting to have him held in a treatment center for the sexually dangerous. In 1991, he was transferred from the treatment center to the general population after a Superior Court judge found he was no longer sexually dangerous. He has refused treatment for pedophilia since that time. http://www.ecnnews.com/cgi-bin/15/etstory.pl?-sec-News+fn-fn-fn-fn-fn-huntcontinues.jp-20060601-fn+page_0

Mystery surrounds missing child case Tuesday, June 12, 2007 Mekeisha Madden Toby / Detroit News Television Critic Six days. That is the amount of time police in a small Massachusetts town looked for missing child Andy Puglisi. The 10-year-old went missing after swimming in a neighborhood pool in the summer of 1976, and he was never seen again. Some 58,000 children are abducted in America every year and 115 vanish, never to be seen again. Andy was one of those kids. Nine years. That's the time filmmaker and Andy's childhood friend Melanie Perkins has been trying to solve his abduction and probable murder case. Her heartbreaking path and the ineffectiveness of egomaniacal law officials are spotlighted in the moving and troubling Cinemax documentary "Have You Seen Andy?" that airs tonight on the cable network. From the beginning, Andy was doomed. He was born poor and grew up in the projects in Lawrence, Mass., one of the most impoverished towns in America. When police learned that his divorced, white mother was dating a black man, they focused their attention on her and her beau instead of the handful of known pedophiles who had been in or around Andy's neighborhood the day he disappeared. Filmmaker Perkins focuses on two of those registered and later convicted child predators -- Charles Pierce and Wayne W. Chapman. Pierce is now deceased, and Chapman is being detained in a sexual predator rehabilitation facility, where he's been incarcerated for more than three decades. Despite being questioned numerous times, Chapman, who witnesses place at the pool the day Andy vanished, maintains that he had nothing to do with the crime. While there are some anticlimactic scenes throughout "Have You Seen Andy?", it is filled with an intimate sadness that makes it worthy of a watch. You can reach Mekeisha Madden Toby at (313) 222-2501 or mmadden@detnews.com http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070612/ENT02/706120405

Ohhh, now this explains why I couldn't find him in the search. His full name is Angelo and I was looking for Andy! Thanks!

A Missing Friend, Never Forgotten By Tim Page Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, June 12, 2007; Page C07 In August 1976, a 10-year-old boy named Andy Puglisi disappeared after an afternoon of play at a public pool in Lawrence, Mass., and was never seen again. Melanie Perkins, a slightly younger neighbor who had also been out swimming that day, grew up to become a documentary filmmaker and, in 1998, she set out to determine what might have happened to her friend. The story of her search, as recounted in Perkins's first full-length film, "Have You Seen Andy?," will be presented tonight on Cinemax. As might have been surmised, her conclusion, after more than eight years of investigation, is both grim and simple: Andy was probably murdered before anybody knew he was missing. And yet the film holds one's rapt attention throughout its 79 minutes -- as a distinguished contribution to the true-crime genre, as an evolving portrait of a tightly knit working-class community over the span of 30 years, and as the loving testament of a woman who never allowed herself to forget her ill-fated playmate. There were no Amber Alerts in the 1970s, no pictures of missing children on milk cartons, and there was precious little communication between police departments from town to town, let alone state to state. I remember joining the futile search for a young girl who disappeared from her Tolland, Conn., neighborhood, five miles from where I grew up, in the summer of 1973. The concern for her fate, while intense, was distinctly local, and there was nothing at all along the lines of the national attention that would now be drawn immediately to such a case. As Ernie Allen, the president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, observes in the film: "This was a nation of 50 states that acted like 50 separate countries and 17,000 different police departments." Perkins also interviewed Andy's mother, father and one of his brothers; several past and present police officers in the Lawrence area; and a man who says he has clear memories of the abduction, but whose testimony was treated as insignificant because he was 4 years old at the time. She makes deft use of documentary footage (a so-called psychic joined the search in the 1980s, garnered a few headlines and some television coverage for himself, and then absconded with some irreplaceable evidentiary material). One of the most moving scenes is set at a reunion party for those who grew up in the neighborhood, where nostalgia and long-standing affection between old friends is shadowed by memories of the loss they shared. Although Andy Puglisi's body has never been found, a viewer concludes "Have You Seen Andy?" with the sense that Perkins has pretty much figured out what happened to him. There are some ghastly confiscated tape recordings of her principal suspect -- Wayne W. Chapman, a convicted pedophile with a history of rapes in Lawrence -- fantasizing aloud to himself as he follows a school bus. Some silent home movies are equally haunting, as long-ago children squint and grin into the lens of Chapman's camera with guileless curiosity and confidence, and we worry for their safety. "Have You Seen Andy?" has nothing in common with the sleazy prurience that characterizes such programs as "To Catch a Predator," which entices creeps for the sake of television ratings. Rather, this is a dignified and straightforward exploration of distant tragedy, and all the more excruciating for its plain-spokenness. Have You Seen Andy? (79 minutes) airs tonight at 7 and June 24 at 6:30 a.m. on Cinemax. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/11/AR2007061102235.html?hpid=sec-artsliving

Have You Seen Andy? Filmmaker Melanie Perkins discusses her personal documentary by Dave Avdoian andy.jpg (17856 bytes) "Everybody, all of us, filter the world through our own experiences," says filmmaker Melanie Perkins. It's only fitting, then, that after ten years of working on documentaries for outlets ranging from "Nova" to "The American Experience," she has now focused the camera inward to examine one of the most traumatic events in her life. On Saturday, August 21, 1976, her childhood friend Andy Puglisi disappeared from a public swimming pool in South Lawrence. A police investigation turned up nothing, and he was never seen again. The case remains unsolved, but Melanie has never forgotten. Now, 23 years later, she is documenting her own search for answers regarding his disappearance. "Have You Seen Andy?" is, by nature, a mystery, but such categorization proves inadequate. It's a journey back to a summer day when a little boy disappeared and a little girl lost her childhood. That August, near a public swimming pool, innocence was lost. "This is a personal story of a childhood friend who survives this child's abduction," she says. "And not just myself--other children who survive a child's abduction and grow into adulthood, and how does that affect them? Do they remember their friend? I bet they do." Andy's disappearance, and the disturbing, unanswered questions it raised, meant he stayed with her forever. There was no sense of closure to their relationship. He didn't fade from memory like a childhood friend who moves to a far away city and is slowly forgotten. He never had that chance. In memory, Andy remains a child. Ask Melanie why, after all these years, she's reopening these old wounds, and she says, "It got to the point where I wasn't able to sleep at night anymore without knowing. It got to the point that I wasn't comfortable anymore not doing it." Melanie arrived at her current role of independent documentarian after a decade of working the gamut of film positions, from PA to producer. This experience proved invaluable in its lessons regarding the more mundane, businesslike aspects of production. "I had worked for a lot of independent producers and, in a lot of ways, had been doing major parts of their business, whether it was renting office space and negotiating and purchasing equipment, or negotiating contracts." melanie.jpg (11285 bytes) Melanie Perkins at the age when Andy disappeared. She also gained confidence and courage from the experience, which provided her a willingness to risk the difficulties of independent film production. "I realized that what I was doing for other people, I could certainly do for myself," she says. "I think a big part of that was realizing what it takes to do fund-raising, to raise your own money. Once I started to explore that, I felt more liberated in feeling that I was able to do this to a project that was personally important to me." The benefits of working in the local film industry continue to play an important role in her work. Her crew consists of friends she's worked with over the past ten years. She can also call on a network of mentors and colleagues willing to work on spec, volunteer advice, or simply offer encouragement. There is an obvious special significance to the project that causes people to take immediate notice of the story. The concept of a filmmaker on a personal quest to find answers to the strange disappearance of a childhood friend is an immediate draw. "When I tell people the theme of the project, the concept, they're typically very interested and want to help out," she says. "It makes people feel better to know, I think, that they're doing something worthwhile, that has some social humanitarian significance." When Melanie Perkins speaks of the film, she talks about the ultimate good it will produce. She talks about using it as a vehicle to promote awareness of missing children, to help teach parents how to protect children and to teach children to protect themselves. "I want it to be a film that can help people," she says. These are strangely optimistic conceits from someone whose childhood friend's disappearance was accompanied by rumors of abduction, rape, and murder. One expects a harsher world view from someone who suffered through such a disturbing experience so early in life. Yet instead, Melanie focuses on what can be learned from the experience, and its inherent humanitarian value to others. One more thing: When will it be finished? "When I have no more questions," she says. If anyone has any information regarding the disappearance of Andy Puglisi, please send it to PO Box 156, Andover, MA 01810. http://www.newenglandfilm.com/news/archives/99september/andy.htm

Nov 3, 2006 11:31 pm US/Eastern I-Team: Anguished Mom Warns Of Pedophile's Release By Maggie Mulvihill & Joe Bergantino (CBS4) BOSTON The mother of an epileptic Lawrence boy who vanished from a local pool more than 30 years ago warns that other children are in danger if a Massachusetts judge or jury approves the upcoming release of the serial pedophile suspected in her son's case. "It would be a tragic mistake to release someone like that from prison," said Faith Puglisi, whose 10-year-old son Andy vanished in 1976. The main suspect in his disappearance, Wayne W. Chapman, has completed a 15 to 30 year prison term for the rape of two Lawrence boys in 1975 and has admitted molesting some 100 other boys in the years before his 1978 incarceration. Chapman plans to live in Massachusetts if he is released, court records show. Chapman, 58, spent 13 years at the Massachusetts Treatment Center for sex offenders. Judge John A. Tierney ruled in 1991 prosecutors failed to prove he remained a danger to children and he was transferred to state prison for the remainder of his sentence. Chapman 's sentence ended in 2004 but he remains behinds bars while the Essex County District Attorney's office fights to keep him behind bars while they have him legally recast as a sexual predator. Chapman argues he has been rehabilitated and is no longer sexually attracted to young boys. Prosecutors want Chapman committed to Bridgewater for the rest of his life. Paula Erickson, a therapist who treated Chapman, said he cannot be cured, describing him as a "fixated regressed pedophile." "He had a long history, he had little or no understanding of his offenses or remorse. He was very suspicious, paranoid, resistant," said Erickson. Erickson also points to other former Bridgewater inmates released in the past 15 years who went on to commit new - and sometimes more violent - crimes. Among them: - Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, who spent 11 years at Bridgewater, but went on to kidnap, murder and cannibalize a 10-year-old Montana boy. - Ronald Leftwich, a convicted rapist, who fatally beat and stabbed a Brimfield monk following his 1991 release. - Paul Nolin, who served 18 years for raping a 10-year-old Lowell boy. Upon his 2000 release Nolin murdered a Cape Cod man who rejected his sexual advances. Speaking of Chapman, Erickson said: "He will most certainly re-offend as soon as he is out if somebody doesn't have him under lock and key, because most of them do." A hearing on the prosecution's petition is set for next month. Massachusetts law allows Chapman to choose whether a judge or a jury decide if he should be released. He has denied a request for an interview thought his lawyer, John S. Day, who also declined comment. Steve O'Connell, spokesman for Essex County District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett, said it was office policy to decline comment on pending cases. The views of both Andy Puglisi's mother and Erickson are supported by two lengthy reports prepared by independent court-appointed psychologists who interviewed Chapman and reviewed his record last year. Both Christine Schnyder Pierce and Barbara Quinones submitted reports to a Lawrence Superior Court judge last December warning Chapman remains a serious danger to children. "His sexual misconduct has been repetitive and compulsive and, overall, it is my opinion that he is likely to engage in future sexual offenses if not confined to a secure facility," Schnyder-Pierce wrote. The Quinones report states: ". . . . it is my opinion that he continues his sexual interest in young boys and this places him at significantly increased risk to continue offending children in the community should he be released." Chapman was never charged in the Puglisi disappearance and the child's body was never found. But a retired police investigator who spent lengthy periods of time in the 1970's interviewing Chapman said he is convinced Chapman abducted and murdered Andy Puglisi. Al Mintz, a retired Providence R.I. detective who questioned Chapman about missing boys in that state, said a pair of socks Andy Puglisi's mother identified as her son's were among items found in Chapman's van during a police search. The socks were later lost, Mintz said. Mintz said there was enough circumstantial evidence, including the fact witnesses placed Chapman at the pool the same day Andy Puglisi vanished, to prosecute Chapman. Chapman himself made some "darn" admissions during his interviews with Mintz, including acknowledging luring a little boy away from a pool into the woods and leaving a little boy - not breathing - in the woods after raping him. "I'm convinced that he's the one. I'm convinced that he's the one that took Andy Puglisi from that swimming pool that day," Mintz said. Mintz said Chapman's leisure time was spent hunting little boys to rape. Chapman frequently tricked the boys into coming with him by saying he needed help finding his lost poodle. "He preyed on innocent children back then. I have no doubt he'd do it again," Mintz said. "His whole off time was stalking children." P.J. Timmons, who was at the Lawrence pool on August 21, 1976, is one of the witnesses who saw Chapman with Andy Puglisi that day. "I remember Andy specifically telling the guy he would help him look for the dog," P.J. Timmons told the I-Team in 2000. Faith Puglisi said she still agonizes over what happened to her child. Releasing Chapman will only subject another mother to the same "living hell." "These people do not get better. These people do not turn over a new leaf," she said. "They only escalate their crime and it needs to stop." http://wbztv.com/iteam/local_story_307173800.html

View Full Version: Angelo Puglisi Abduction 8/21/76 MA