INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Patrick Tomassi said he believes the person seen on video getting in the passenger side of a truck is his wife, Assunta ‘Susy’ Tomassi, who vanished more than a year ago.
The grainy video shows a person getting inside a truck at South Vero Square, near Oslo Road and U.S. 1.
“I can tell the person in the video is my wife. The (truck driver) spoke with her, she walked around the vehicle and got in,” Patrick Tomassi, 58, said during a news conference Wednesday at South Vero Square. “The most important thing is to try to find Susy or what happened to her.”
Video provided by Indian River County Sheriff’s Office
Susy Tomassi, who suffered from Dementia and was 73 when she vanished, wandered away from the Quilted Giraffe about 5 p.m. March 16, 2018. The eatery was located at 500 U.S. 1, south of Vero Beach and north of St. Lucie County.
Tuesday, Indian River County deputies originally released a grainy still from the video showing a white truck picking up a person about the same time frame Susy Tomassi disappeared. Deputies released the enlarged video footage Wednesday, hoping the public might help to locate the vehicle and identify the driver.
“We believe it was Mrs. Tomassi who got into the vehicle. It appears she was wearing the same clothing in the video (that she had on earlier),” Indian River County Sheriff Deryl Loar said of the nationwide case. “Somebody knows who was driving the white truck at that time. This enhances our speculation of foul play.”
.@IRCSheriff Deryl Loar gives update on the case of missing woman #AssuntaSusyTomassi. #VeroNews pic.twitter.com/tlQCF1TPeD
— Nicholas Samuel (@JournalistNickS) October 30, 2019
It was a busy evening when Susy Tomassi left the Quilted Giraffe, an upscale cuisine restaurant she owned with her husband. Susy Tomassi was a very trustworthy person who would often walk from the eatery to the Oslo Conservation Area behind South Vero Square to smoke cigarettes, deputies said.
“Things happened so quickly,” said Patrick Tomassi, who has been married to Susy for 37 years. “The first six months of my life (after Susy vanished) were the worst six months of my life. When you go home and are alone, you start to get depressed.”
Susy Tomassi’s disappearance launched a multi-agency search throughout Florida and other states on the east coast. Sheriff’s deputies used patrol and K-9 units, a helicopter, SWAT team, agricultural and marine units and all-terrain vehicles to try to find the woman.
Loar said deputies reviewed dozens of surveillance videos from businesses in the South Vero Square area. When deputies originally looked at the poor-quality footage from the rear of Publix Supermarket on March 16, 2018, they only saw a generator and what appeared to be a vehicle in the video.
Deputies reached out to an outside agency to enhance the video, Loar said. The agency received the better quality video several months ago, which showed what appeared to be a person getting inside a white truck that was driving out of the shopping center.
Deputies then showed the video to Patrick Tomassi, Loar said.
“The (truck driver’s) intention was to turn right. When she got in, (the driver) turned left on Oslo Road.” Loar said. “We’re trying to track down who was driving the truck when Tomassi went missing.”
Loar said the driver eventually turned around and accelerated toward U.S. 1. The quality of the surveillance camera, about 150 yards from the plaza exit, is too grainy to depict the make, model and license plate of the truck, Loar said.
The 19 months, 14 days and counting for Susy Tomassi’s disappearance has left the Tomassi family in stress, pain and suffering, Patrick Tomassi said. Patrick Tomassi thanked deputies for not giving up on the case, while Loar thanked Patrick for his patience.
“Somebody knows something,” Patrick Tomassi said.
Patrick Tomassi closed the Quilted Giraffe in August 2018. The Tomassi’s, who lived in Fort Pierce, owned the eatery for more than seven years.
The Tomassi family is now offering $20,000 for Susy Tomassi’s safe return. The family is also offering $10,000 for any credible information leading to an arrest.
Anyone with information should contact sheriff’s Detective Greg Farless at 772-978-6101.
