Person Of Interest In Missing Roslindale Marine Recruit Case

ROSLINDALE, MA — A Marine recruiter was named a "person of interest" Monday in the case of a recruit who disappeared in November in Roslindale.

Gunnery Sgt. Frank Lipka is being investigated as a person of interest in the case of 21-year-old Joseph Brancato, with ties to Winthrop and Roslindale. Lipka also appeared in court Monday on unrelated charges that include assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and unlawful possession of ammunition.

"They’ve just recently started calling him that [a person of interest], but we’ve known all along," said his cousin ‎Nicole DeLisi DaSilva in a message to Patch. She also praised the Boston Police Homicide unit for their work on the case.

Lipka was the recruiter that Brancato was staying with for the past three months right before his disappearance in November against military rules. Brancato's family sounded the alarm after he went missing.

"Joey contacted friends days before he went missing stating the recruiter had threatened him. This recruiter trained Joey for months and instead of helping us find him he asked for a lawyer," his cousin posted to Facebook.

Brancato was last seen on Mendelsohn Street in Roslindale by that same Marine recruiter on November 18, according to family.

"He vanished without a trace, leaving his personal items at the Marine Recruiter’s house," said DaSilva.

The Boston Police and NCIS searched the woods surrounding Turtle Pond in January, but told the family they had to wait until warmer weather to search the actual pond.

Brancato's family, who have been pushing to find Joey, said they are hoping the recruiter stays behind bars as he faces unrelated court charges about assaulting Domino's Pizza staff member. He also has drunk driving charges coming up, they said.

"We hope they hold him until we know more about Joey's disappearance," said DaSilva.

The family is also raising money to hire a private investigator to continue to look into what happened, they've raised $2,000 as of Tuesday. They are also hoping to increase a reward for information that leads to finding him.

The Roslindale recruiting office on Centre Street was shut down.

Brancato is described as a white man, about 5’08” and 200 lbs.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Joseph Brancato is advised to contact 911 or District E-5 detectives directly at (617) 343-4566.

"Someone, somewhere knows something!" said DaSilva.

-Photos courtesy Boston Police