After 15 years missing, Julia Madsen’s family not giving up hope

There are about 11,000 missing persons cases in New Jersey each year. Like all of them, this one hits home.

Anyone who listens to this show knows Big Guy Madsen. His Jersey Pizza Joints, Sandwich joints, and Hot Dog joints, among others, have over 300,000 fans and are growing.

The Pizza Bowl he helped create gets bigger every year, and he has done so much for small businesses in New Jersey. He also carries a personal tragedy that has yet to be solved.

On June 25th, 2009, Guy and his sister Eileen Tummino's Mom, Julia, who was living in South Seaside Park, kissed her husband Ed, who was watching the Yankees game, and went out for a walk, from which she never returned.

June 25 marked the 15th anniversary of her disappearance.

A press conference was held at the Madsen home attended by Guy, his wife Rita, his sister Eileen, Berkeley Township Police Detective Joseph Santoro, who worked on the case from its inception when Ed Madsen called police to report Julia missing,

New Jersey State Police Capt. Justin Blackwell is the head of the state police criminal investigations unit. who has also been involved with the investigation since the beginning. Lt. Joseph Itri, who leads the New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit and its Cold Case Unit, among several others.

Afterwards, Guy, his wife Rita, and his sister Eileen Tummino joined me in the studio on New Jersey 101.5, and Detective Santoro and Lt Itri called in.

"Our goal here is to keep a cold case alive." says Guy Madsen, "Hopefully, someone knows someone or someone who had heard from someone in the past about what happened to my mom. We just hope and pray that with all this media attention today, we find out what happened to Julie"

Madsen recalls finding out about his missing Mom. "I was taking my 12-year-old son for ice cream after a meal, and we had just learned it. Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson passed, and I made a comment. You know, death comes in threes."

"I get a call from a South Seaside Park. Berkeley Township police officer asked me if my dad was okay, he said "well, your mom is missing". And I'm like, my mom's missing. She's down the shore with my dad. And he said we'd like you to come down."

I raced down the Parkway and they get over the bay bridge going from Toms River to Seaside I see all the lights on the bay knowing that they're looking for her."

"So I roll up my street. There are four cop cars there. There's a helicopter in the distance. And it just became kind of a movie of the week. It was my dad was there. He didn't know what was going on. And I hugged him I met with the cops and they couldn't have been nicer and we really got out there quick. And that just proceeded to be an all-night search for her, and then family members arrived and got about an hour's sleep and got up, and I find bloodhounds in my house, and they're sniffing her pillow and trying to find a scent of her."

Berkeley Township Police Detective Joseph Santoro worked on the case from its inception, when Ed Madsen called police to report Julia missing. "I remember getting the call and driving over there. I just didn;t have a good feeling about it. I don't know what it was. I just was concerned because the ocean was right there" She also had the beginning of dementia. I knew this was going to be serious. Santoro did not suspect foul play.

State Police Lt Joseph Itri leads the States Missing Persons Unit and its Cold Case Unit. "John Walsh, from America's Most Wanted, always said, "the hardest thing is not knowing," and my time in the missing person unit, I would have to agree"

"Not knowing what happened, your loved one is incredibly difficult to deal with, and our heart goes out to them," Itri says. "We make those efforts to get to know these people because there's always real people on the other end of this, and they want to know that we're there for them. And we are sure"

Itri also talked about how the search for missing people has advanced. "So now, we take a scientific approach; our search and rescue teams are involved early" says Itri. Joe Santoro did an outstanding job with this case. it's just unfortunate that they were not successful early. But he activated our resources very quickly"

"In many ways, that's the purpose of the missing person unit; we're a conduit to all the state police resources, such as the aviation, Marine, and canine units. And our search and rescue team is outstanding."

"So it's all trained searchers. And we use all the most current technology to map things as we search in real-time. So there's been quite a bit in terms of the actual searching; in some instances, we'll have horses come out mounted troopers. We have a mounted unit now. So there are certain circumstances, especially in wooded areas, where that can be very beneficial to have someone sitting up above to be able to look down and look for something or someone. So we have advanced significantly."

Julia's daughter Eileen would like closure. "One reporter asked me today. Do you want closure? Because if you know, is it going to make it easier? Or worse? I had a different answer from Rita. [Guy's wife]"

"We've had so many terrible scenarios going through our minds all these years. And if you knew and it was that really, really bad scenario. Is it going to make a difference? I mean, will you feel it will make you feel better? Probably not. But you're still thinking it now?"

Julie's last words to Eileen were, "I'll see you when I see you."

Here's hoping that, by some miracle, that will happen soon.

Anyone with information about Julia Madsen's disappearance or whereabouts can call the New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit at 609-882-2000, ext. 2554, or send an email to missingpinformation@njsp.gov, or contact the Berkeley Township Police Department's tip line at 732-341-1132, ext. 611.