PHILADELPHIA — Stephen Amabile stood by a dock along Darby Creek on Saturday morning, keeping optimism in check as he waited for an independent dive team to surface from the murky water.
Amabile, 63, had heard lots of theories since his brother James disappeared Dec. 4, 2003, but discounted most of them for one reason: James was a family man, he said, devoted to his two daughters. On the day he disappeared, James, 38 at the time, called the babysitter to tell her he was running late. He never arrived and was never seen again.
So when Amabile saw the diver’s hand emerge from the water holding the blue-and-white Pennsylvania license plate — FLA 4785 — they’d pried off the Ford Explorer, he believed the closure he wasn’t expecting was placed gently in his hands.
