Overview

Date last seen: October 3, 1977
Location last seen: Johnston, Rhode Island

Main Points

Although Parillo was convicted in 1982, the Rhode Island Supreme Court overturned the convictions in 1984 due to trial errors. He was never retried for the murders, leaving the case officially unresolved despite longstanding investigative conclusions.

Ronald Raymond Leone, 28, disappeared after leaving his family home with 17-year-old Rudy Baronet.

The pair reportedly left to meet someone after Leone received a telephone call.

Neither man has ever been seen again, and their bodies have never been recovered.

Prosecutors later alleged that organized crime figure Anthony Parillo murdered both men.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Rudy Baronet Disappearance and Presumed Homicide (October 3, 1977)

Brief Summary

Date last seen: October 3, 1977
Last seen location: Johnston, Rhode Island

Main Circumstances

1. Rudy Baronet disappeared alongside his friend, Ronald Leone, after leaving the Leone family home.
2. The pair reportedly left to meet someone after Ronald received a telephone call that morning.
3. Neither man has ever been seen again, and neither body has been recovered.
4. A suspect was later indicted and initially convicted of both murders, but the convictions were overturned on appeal. No subsequent conviction has resolved the case.
5. Rudy Baronet remains missing, and the case is still considered unsolved.

Rudy Baronet Disappearance Case

On the morning of October 3, 1977, 17-year-old Rudy Baronet disappeared alongside 28-year-old Ronald Leone after leaving the Leone family residence in Johnston, Rhode Island. According to investigators, Ronald received a telephone call around 9:30 a.m. from someone requesting a meeting. Ronald asked Rudy to accompany him, and the two left together. They were never seen again.

Their disappearance was reported to the Johnston Police later that same day after family members became concerned when neither returned home. Despite extensive investigation, no confirmed sightings were ever reported, and neither victim has been located.

For more than four years, investigators had few public leads. The case changed dramatically in late 1981 when Janice Manfredi came forward with information after the death of another individual connected to the investigation. She told Providence police she had witnessed the aftermath of the murders inside an apartment on the day Rudy and Ronald disappeared. According to her account, she observed the victims lying dead before their bodies were allegedly removed from the residence.

Based largely on that testimony, a Rhode Island grand jury secretly indicted Anthony Parillo in March 1982 on two counts of murder. Although prosecutors had never recovered either victim’s body, Parillo was convicted of both murders and received consecutive life sentences.

However, the case took another dramatic turn in 1984 when the Rhode Island Supreme Court overturned the convictions. The court ruled that Parillo’s constitutional rights had been violated because the defense had been improperly restricted from fully cross-examining the prosecution’s key witness regarding medical records that could have affected her credibility. The convictions were vacated, and a new trial was ordered.

Despite the order for a retrial, no subsequent conviction has brought legal closure to the disappearance of Rudy Baronet and Ronald Leone. Their bodies have never been recovered, leaving investigators without critical physical evidence and their families without definitive answers.

Latest Investigation Information

Nearly five decades after Rudy Baronet vanished, the case remains officially unresolved. Rudy continues to be listed as a missing person, and investigators have never recovered his remains. The disappearance is widely regarded as a presumed homicide based on witness testimony and prior court proceedings, but without recovered remains or a final murder conviction, the case has remained open. Public case listings continue to encourage anyone with information to contact law enforcement.

It’s also worth noting that Ruby’s Page on NamUs is supposed to be listed under the number: MP 42892 however – the page states the it doesn’t exist, but there continues to be an active investigation. No photo of Ruby currently exists online sadly.

Facebook Post:
Vanished Without a Trace: The Mystery of Ronald Leone & Rudy Baronet

On the morning of October 3, 1977, 28-year-old Ronald Raymond Leone and 17-year-old Rudy Baronet left Ronald’s family home in Johnston, Rhode Island, reportedly planning to visit a friend. It was an ordinary day that would turn into a lifelong nightmare for their loved ones. Ronald’s mother, Josephine Pezzulli, became concerned when they failed to return and reported Ronald missing to the Johnston Police Department that very evening. Tragically, neither Ronald nor Rudy has ever been seen or heard from again.

Ronald was described as a white male, 5’8″ tall and weighing approximately 140 pounds, with brown hair, brown eyes, and a distinctive lion’s head tattoo on his right arm. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt. While Ronald’s case has remained documented over the years, very little information about Rudy Baronet exists publicly today, making his disappearance all the more heartbreaking and mysterious.

For more than four years, the disappearance of Ronald and Rudy remained an agonizing mystery. Their families were left with unanswered questions, forced to endure the pain of not knowing what happened to their sons, brothers, and friends. Then, in 1982, a Rhode Island grand jury secretly indicted a man for the murders of both Ronald Leone and Rudy Baronet. The prosecution’s case relied heavily on the testimony of Janice Manfredi, who claimed she witnessed the aftermath of the killings on the very day the two young men vanished.

According to her testimony, she returned to an apartment in Providence and found Ronald and an unidentified teenage boy lying dead on a blood-covered kitchen floor. She stated that the defendant and another man were placing the bodies into sleeping bags and later removed them from the apartment. Despite the graphic and chilling account, the bodies of Ronald and Rudy were never recovered, leaving their families without the closure that comes from bringing loved ones home.

Although the defendant was convicted in 1982 and sentenced to consecutive life terms, the Rhode Island Supreme Court later overturned those convictions, ruling that the defense had been improperly restricted from fully cross-examining the prosecution’s key witness. The court determined that these constitutional violations warranted a new trial. As a result, the legal outcome remains complicated, and the ultimate truth about what happened to Ronald Leone and Rudy Baronet remains shrouded in uncertainty.

Nearly five decades later, the disappearance of Ronald and Rudy continues to haunt Rhode Island. Two young men walked out the door that October morning and seemingly vanished from the face of the earth. No bodies have ever been found. No definitive answers have ever been given. What remains are grieving families, fading memories, and a mystery that refuses to be forgotten.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Ronald Leone or Rudy Baronet, please contact the Johnston Police Department at 401-231-8100 or email tips@johnstonpd.com.

Even the smallest piece of information could help bring long-awaited answers to a case that has remained unsolved for nearly half a century.