Name: Joseph Thomas Rodziewicz, Jr.
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: May 1, 1989
Location Last Seen: Methuen, Essex County, Massachusetts
Date of Birth: March 25, 1957
Age: 32 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'10"-6'2"
Weight: 240-270 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Hazel, but could appear greenish or light brown at times.
Nickname/Alias: Peter/Petey/Joe/Joey, also possibly known as Wayne Miller
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Navel closed as the result of surgery in infancy. Multiple homemade tattoos over his body. On his lower left arm are a cross, "JOE" below that, "F.T.W." below that, and "DFFL" in a descending pattern down toward the hand. His inner left arm has unknown tattoos. He has the letters F-U-C-K tattooed across the fingers of one hand and either L-O-V-E or H-A-T-E across the fingers of the other hand. Possibly "Kathy" and "Sally" somewhere on his torso. There are multiple, unknown homemade tattoos on his right arm.He possibly has a scar on his neck from having his throat slashed. His left ear was previously pierced but is torn or notched from having an earring pulled out. He needed eyeglasses to see and has worn a strong prescription since childhood. His voice is raspy at times, especially when drinking. He wore his hair around 5 inches long, and it was slightly wavy or curly. His hair could be thinning or gray by now. He wore a moustache and goatee. He was a smoker at the time of his disappearance.
Dentals: Available. He is missing his top two front teeth. He previously had a bridge for those teeth, but had lost it by 1989. It is unknown whether he ever replaced it.
Fingerprints: Available
DNA: Available
Clothing: Liked to wear jeans, T-shirts, and vests. If he wore a hat, it was one with a brim and of the type pictured in photo.
Jewelry: Last known to be wearing a gold chain necklace, as seen in picture.
Additional Personal Items: Wore workboots or cowboy-type boots approximately size 12. Strong prescription, aviator-style, gold wire-framed glasses. Used a chain to secure his wallet to pocket and could be carrying a rosary and/or pocketknife.
Rodziewicz was last seen by his sister, Heather, in Newburyport, Massachusetts in May 1989 when he left her to go to the Methuen/Lawrence, Massachusetts area to visit a girlfriend at that time. He had previously lived in Methuen. He worked for either a private or municipal sanitation company when he was in Newburyport. According to his brother, Rodziewicz packed his moving truck in Amesbury, Massachusetts in late April 1989. He associated with bikers, possibly from a gang out of Lowell, Massachusetts, and wore clothes similar to that style.
Rodziewicz called his sister sometime in late 1989 or possibly early 1990 from a pay phone in Connecticut. He may have called one of his half-sisters on or around every Christmas after his disappearance. He possibly called one of his sisters after 1989, saying he was hospitalized in a Massachusetts or Connecticut hospital with a slashed throat. In 1995, he made a collect call to his sister saying he was in Chicago and homeless. However, the phone bill showed the call had been made from Connecticut. Prior to his disappearance, he was known to be in Illinois in 1984, Colorado in 1987, and Connecticut and Massachusetts in 1989. He may have worked for a moving company at one time, possibly Mayflower, somewhere in or around Chicago. He was reported missing in 2011.
Agency Name: Methuen Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Detective Keith Frost
Agency Phone Number: 978-983-8675
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: #419050
NamUs Case Number: 10132
NCIC Case Number: M-269446177
Added: 4/11/2011; Last Updated: 11-13-2021 - By: Htmlcnvtr
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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