On Aug. 31, 1990, Adam and Elena Emery were on their way to meet friends for dinner in Warwick, R.I., when their 1985 Ford Thunderbird was sideswiped by a passing vehicle. Adam became furious when the car did not stop, so he pursued the vehicle he thought hit him. Adam eventually forced the car, driven by 20-year-old Jason Bass, to stop, and Adam killed Bass with a military-style knife.
Emery was arrested for the murder and spent eight months in jail before being set free on bail. Tests on the paint on Emery’s car showed Bass was not the one to hit him. He was offered a plea deal for voluntary manslaughter but refused and stood trial for the murder in 1993. He was convicted Nov. 10 of second-degree murder but remained free on bail as he awaited sentencing. That evening the Emerys mailed suicide notes, went to eat at a local Burger King, and were seen buying weights at a Kelly’s Sporting Goods in Cranston, R.I. Their car was found on the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge but they had vanished.
Emery was reportedly sighted in Connecticut days after he disappeared. He was still technically out on bail, so police had no reason to investigate whether it was him. More people reported seeing him in Connecticut in the month that followed. He was later seen in Florida, then France and finally Italy. In 1994, Elena’s skull was found in Narragansett Bay below the bridge. Emery’s remains have not been recovered. He was declared legally dead in 2004, but in 2010 the FBI put him on their most wanted list. He remains missing.
