Police have charged a man with murder over the suspicious disappearance of Melbourne man Adrian Romeo.
Romeo told his family he was going to visit people in Greenvale, in Melbourne’s north, before driving off in a distinctive 2004 gold Toyota Camry sedan on February 10.
Police are appealing for information over the disappearance of Adrian Romeo.
He has not been seen since and police revealed on Sunday they suspect he has met with foul play.
Detectives from the Homicide Squad charged 58-year-old Robert Mantini with murder on Thursday night.
He was arrested at a house in Wallan, 45 kilometres north of Melbourne with assistance from Victoria Police’s Special Operations Group.
Mantini briefly appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday where prosecutors asked for extra time to prepare a brief of evidence against him.
Defence lawyer Dermot Dann, KC, noted his client needed access to medication for anxiety. Mantini was remanded in custody to reappear in December.
His arrest followed a search of a property in Brendan Road in Greenvale, which involved a range of specialist resources including the dog squad, major crime scene police, emergency services and the Australian Federal Police.
Court documents allege Mantini murdered Romeo in Greenvale on the day he was last seen.
Earlier this week, police arrested another man in relation to Romeo’s disappearance. That man, aged 34, was believed to be living in a bus on a rural property after police allegedly discovered four stolen cars, drugs, a gun and ammunition.
Romeo, 43, has been missing since February.
He was charged with a number of offences and remanded in custody.
The arrest came after homicide squad detectives and emergency services searched a property in Wildwood, 31 kilometres north-west of Melbourne’s CBD, looking for Romeo’s body.
His body is yet to be located and the search for him is ongoing.
More than five months after he left the house he shared with his father in Dempster Drive, Craigieburn, the former concreter and security officer’s phone and bank cards have remained untouched and a sweep of CCTV has not turned up any sightings of the Camry.
Romeo was reported missing to police on February 12.
An image of the car Adrian Romeo drove off in before he disappeared.
On Sunday, Detective Inspector Dean Thomas of the homicide squad said police were appealing for information about 43-year-old Romeo’s mysterious disappearance.
“We are very confident that Adrian’s disappearance is suspicious, and I’m of the belief he is deceased,” Thomas said.
He also urged people to check neighbourhoods for the gold Camry, saying police suspected the car had been dumped or sold.
Thomas said there was nothing in Romeo’s background to suggest he needed to leave or that anyone would want him harmed, and he had a large circle of friends and tight-knit family.
He said Romeo had “very, very little involvement with police” and he had no links to organised crime groups, describing his disappearance as “extremely out of character”.
“There is nothing in Adrian’s history that helps to explain why he has gone missing,” Thomas said. “We’re hoping today there’ll be people out there who know what has happened to Adrian.”
Romeo’s brothers and father were too distraught to speak to media but his cousin, Charlie, said on Sunday that the family was devastated and wanted answers.
“I just don’t understand how anybody could harm him,” he said. “Just a real nice, calm person. Would not harm anybody in any sense.”
He said his cousin was a caring person and close to his family.
“He was loved by a lot of people. How this happened, we don’t know,” he said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld. Subscribers can sign up to receive his Naked City newsletter every Thursday.