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Economou, Andrew August 16, 1981; Hartford, CT
Topic Started: Jan 9 2013, 09:49 AM (409 Views)
mimi
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http://www.angelfire.com/ct3/unsolvedct/missingpersons.html
Rumors Still Swirl Around About Former Hartford Cop's Disappearance

August 16th, 1981 was the last time on record that anyone saw 47 year old Andrew Economou. The married former Hartford Police Officer was a millionaire businessman who owned a succesful restaurant in Rocky Hill. His mistress was supposedly the last one to see him alive in a Hartford Parking Lot. From there, rumors and stories have swirled that he may have started a new life overseas or was a victim of murder. Decades later, there are stories of gambling debts and associations with mob figures that point to something sinister having happened to the father of three. But before he disappeared, Economou left several notes to his family that if he disappeared that they should look at one of his associates. When he was last seen by his mistress, he had a bag of cash that was estimated to be between fifty to a hundred thousand and that he was going to New York City for a business deal. Almost ten years after his disappearance, his family petitioned a Connecticut Court to have Andrew Economou declared deceased. To date, he is still missing. His fate unknown.
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mimi
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http://articles.courant.com/2000-08-27/new...al-garage-mafia

A Farewell Kiss, And A Drive Into Thin Air
August 27, 2000|By DAVE ALTIMARI And KEVIN CANFIELD; Courant Staff Writers
As the patrolman drove past Andrew Economou's Rocky Hill restaurant in 1981, the establishment's owner walked out wearing bandages on both thumbs.

``I stopped just to ask him what had happened, and Andy said something like he'd broken both his thumbs in the car door,'' said Henry Dodenhoff, now a town detective. ``I just laughed and moved on. Andy always had stories.''

A few months later, Economou kissed his mistress goodbye in a Hartford parking lot and drove off carrying $50,000 to $100,000 in a paper bag. He supposedly was heading to New York City to complete a ``secret deal.''

The 47-year-old Hartford cop- turned-millionaire restaurant owner hasn't been seen since. His pickup truck vanished, too.

Some of his friends believe Economou was too savvy to fall prey, that he must be alive, soaking up the sun in Brazil or Greece. Others say the broken thumbs, the bag full of cash and other signs point to a grimmer fate.

`You Know I'm Dead'

Economou left some clues in two handwritten notes found in the basement of his family's Rocky Hill home.

The first said he was taking $100,000 to New York to loan to Charlie Germano, an Army buddy and long-time friend. That note concluded: ``If I don't come back, you know I'm dead.''

The second note, which the family turned over to police days later instructed them to take $10,000 and hire someone from Providence, R.I., to kill Germano.

Investigators and friends of Economou have several theories on his fate. Among them, that Germano, who police allege was dealing guns in New York, set him up. Or that the Mafia, either because of a gambling debt or because Economou was having an affair with the wife of an organized crime associate -- or both -- killed him.

A private investigator hired by the family surmised that Economou got on a ship to Brazil on Aug. 17, the day after he disappeared. Dodenhoff and many of Economou's former Hartford cop friends theorize that he started a new life across the Atlantic.

``Some guys think he went to Greece and is living happily ever after on some island there, but I think he was killed,'' said Sgt. Ardo Rossi, the original detective on the case for Rocky Hill.

Economou's name last surfaced in April 1991, when authorities dug up the garage of a Hamden man named Richard Beedle. An informant had told police that the garage was a secret Mafia burial ground, and that at least three bodies may be there.

But someone beat investigators to the garage and removed the remains. Only bone fragments were left; just one body was identified, and it wasn't Economou's.

``His name came up when they dug up Beedle's garage, but I don't remember why,'' Rossi said.

Now, after a long hiatus, the Economou case is active again. State police Det. Nicholas DeJohn recently was assigned to reopen the investigation, soon after The Courant requested the state police files.

``Nobody has ever written the conclusion to this case,'' DeJohn said.

Legally Dead

Economou's family hired private investigator Joseph Lisella within weeks of the disappearance, but later fired him after he claimed to have found cocaine on Economou's cigarette boat, which was docked at an Old Saybrook marina. The white powder turned out to be baking soda.

Lisella's final report concluded that on Aug. 17, 1981, Economou got on a ship in New York headed to Brazil after taking his truck to a junkyard next door. Lisella, contacted recently, would not comment on his findings.

The family also hired a psychic, who told them Economou's body would be found near the water.

``The psychic said he'd be found in some brackish backwater, so the family searched swamps from New Haven to Cape Cod,'' Rossi said.

But the family apparently has not turned to Rocky Hill police since the early days of the investigation, which Dodenhoff said makes him think they know something about what happened to him but are keeping quiet.

``I've been a detective here since 1982 and have never gotten one phone call from the family asking if there was anything happening with the case,'' Dodenhoff said.

A probate judge declared Economou legally dead in March 1991. The family had filed a petition to declare him dead just months before the statute of limitations to recover his assets would have run out. Ten years from the day of his disappearance the state would have been entitled to all of his assets.

Over the next few years, the family sold off the numerous properties Economou had accumulated. The total value of his estate was $1,080,000.

His entire family -- his wife, Josephine, his two sons, Angelo and Peter, and his daughter, Andrea, and her husband, Bruce Mills -- moved to Virginia and still lives there.

``After all these years, we've tried to go on with our lives,'' Peter Economou said recently. ``It's a family matter, and it has been very difficult for us.''

Peter Economou said police didn't share much information with the family. He denied that the family has a better idea than police what happened to his dad.

``There is just nothing we can add,'' he said. ``We never got any phone calls about what happened to him. There were just lots of rumors and innuendo.''

The official investigation into Economou's disappearance was fragmented, at best, with federal authorities not sharing information with state and local police, police sources said.
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Ell
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Rumors Still Swirl Around About Former Hartford Cop's Disappearance
August 16th, 1981 was the last time on record that anyone saw 47 year old Andrew Economou. The married former Hartford Police Officer was a millionaire businessman who owned a succesful restaurant in Rocky Hill. His mistress was supposedly the last one to see him alive in a Hartford Parking Lot. From there, rumors and stories have swirled that he may have started a new life overseas or was a victim of murder. Decades later, there are stories of gambling debts and associations with mob figures that point to something sinister having happened to the father of three. But before he disappeared, Economou left several notes to his family that if he disappeared that they should look at one of his associates. When he was last seen by his mistress, he had a bag of cash that was estimated to be between fifty to a hundred thousand and that he was going to New York City for a business deal. Almost ten years after his disappearance, his family petitioned a Connecticut Court to have Andrew Economou declared deceased. To date, he is still missing. His fate unknown.
http://www.ctcoldcases.com/missingpersons.html
Ell

Only after the last tree has been
cut down;
Only after the last fish has been
caught;
Only after the last river has been
poisoned;
Only then will you realize
that money cannot be eaten.
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Ell
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Missing
Last seen alive: August 15, 1981

Circumstances: Unknown.
First Name: Andrew
Last Name: Economou

Details
Age When Last Known Alive: 47
Race: White
Sex: Male
Height: 71.0
Weight: 180.0

Location
City: Rocky Hill
State: Connecticut
Zip: 06067
County: Hartford

Appearance
Hair: Black
Eye: Brown
Ell

Only after the last tree has been
cut down;
Only after the last fish has been
caught;
Only after the last river has been
poisoned;
Only then will you realize
that money cannot be eaten.
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Begood
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https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/3286/38
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