EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — Pennsylvania State Police’s new Facebook page, PSP Tips is asking for help with five unsolved missing person investigations across NEPA.
Walter Lawton:
According to state police, Troop N – Bloomsburg Station continues their investigation of a missing person identified as 64-year-old Walter Lawton.
Lawton was last seen in White Haven on June 7, 1971. He and his wife were visiting the area of Nescopeck Creek as they were planning to buy a cabin, police say. Lawton went for a walk at 3:00 p.m. that day and has never been heard from again.
Investigators said dogs later tracked Lawton’s scent to the railroad bridge overpass area on the road to Mountain Top, but despite an extensive search, he was never located. Lawton was declared legally dead on June 7, 1978, the seventh anniversary of his disappearance. His case remains unsolved.
Joanne Williams:
Pennsylvania State Police Troop R – Dunmore Station continues its investigation of 22-year-old Joanne Williams who was reported missing on December 7, 1978.
On December 7, Williams left her residence in the 500 block of East Gibson Street in Scranton, driving her red 1977 Datsun, to go to an exercise class at her dance school. Williams left the dance school on Route 6 in Chinchilla at 10:00 p.m., she never arrived home and has never been heard from again.
On December 16, 1978, nine days after Williams went missing, her car was found parked at Lafayette Street and North Everett Avenue. It was unlocked and inside was her paycheck, her purse with its contents undisturbed. There was no sign of her at the scene.
Williams’s case remains unsolved. She was declared legally dead in 1991.
Donald Shafer:
Pennsylvania State Police Troop R – Blooming Grove Station is continuing the investigation into 15-year-old Donald Shafer missing since 1981.
Shafer was last seen in his hometown of Dickson City on March 9, 1981.
Police say he was a chronic runaway and had spent time at the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch, a residential treatment center for troubled children. PSP believes it is possible that Shafer ran away when he disappeared in 1981.
State police report Shafer’s family attempted to have him reported missing shortly after his 1981 disappearance, but law enforcement refused to accept a report until 2013.
He has never been heard from again. He has ties to New Jersey as well as Montana and Wyoming.
Susan Cerritelli:
Pennsylvania State Police Troop N – Hazleton Station continues the investigation into missing person 26-year-old Susan Cerritelli.
Susan was last seen at her home in Long Pond, Monroe County at noon on May 11, 1983. Her husband, Andrew Cerritelli, said he left their home at noon to go to Philadelphia, and when he returned at 6:00 p.m. she was gone.
PSP stated all of Susan’s family lived out of state at the time of her disappearance, but it was uncharacteristic of her not to contact them, and they all believed foul play was involved in her case.
Andrew was known as a controlling, jealous husband with a substantial criminal record, mostly for violent offenses, and he had bragged about being an enforcer for the Mafia, police said. He was the prime suspect in Susan’s case, but charges were never brought against him.
According to investigators, in 1998, a jail inmate told police Andrew had told him he’d strangled Susan, dismembered her body, and dumped it in the ocean off the coast of Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
Andrew died of a drug overdose in February 2007. Susan has never been located and is considered to be the victim of a homicide, state police reported.
David Cunillera:
Pennsylvania State Police Troop P – Wilkes-Barre Station continues to investigate the missing person case of 22-year-old David Cunillera.
He was last seen at a friend’s house in Lake Winola, Wyoming County on April 28, 1999.
Cunillera called his mother from the Lake Winola home and told her he was on his way back home to New York City.
Cunillera allegedly took a taxicab from Lake Winola to Scranton where he was to take a bus back to New York, but he never arrived home and has had no contact with friends or family since his disappearance.
All callers to PSP Tips remain anonymous and could be eligible for a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest, or the solving of a crime/cold case.
