When a tattoo artist went missing, police were led to a motorcycle gang\u2014and a childhood friend with a dark past.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Watch new episodes of Philly Homicide\u00a0Saturdays at 8\/7c.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe disappearance of Keith Palumbo was a whole different animal,\u201d retired Detective Chris McMullin said on a May 2 episode of Philly Homicide<\/a>. \u201cPhilly police had no idea just how dark and disturbing it would become.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Four days after borrowing his mom Dottie Palumbo\u2019s car, she reported the 36-year-old missing. During their last interaction, she recalled him being agitated and noted he was wearing the gold guitar pick necklace she had gifted him.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe felt that there was something wrong,\u201d said Upper Darby Township Police Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt. \u201cAlmost like that mother\u2019s intuition, that instinct.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n What Happened to Keith Palumbo?<\/p>\n A few days after Keith vanished, Dottie\u2019s car was found in a section of town known for drug trafficking. Friends worried the rising musician, who had struggled with addiction, had relapsed.<\/p>\n They urged police to speak to Keith\u2019s childhood friend Mike DeLuca, a member of the outlaw Warlocks biker gang and a familiar face to law enforcement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you were to meet him for the first time, I would say, somewhat of an intimidating person,\u201d said retired Philadelphia Police Detective Joe Bamberski. \u201cMichael DeLuca had been in prison for several years for an incident where he was convicted of aggravated assault.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n There was just one problem: Mike was missing, too. <\/p>\n As investigators worked on the case, Keith\u2019s friends shared an essential detail with detectives. Ten days before Keith went missing, he had been shot in the leg, but he refused to identify the gunman.\u00a0<\/p>\n RELATED: A Brutal Home Invasion Left a Beloved Businessman Dead, Then a Phone Call Changed Everything<\/a><\/p>\n Detectives Uncover Shocking Lead in Keith Palumbo Disappearance\u00a0<\/p>\n When detectives looked closer into Keith\u2019s circle, they found Buck Evans, a Warlocks member with a criminal past\u2014and a grudge against Keith. After all, Buck believed that Keith had gotten his son arrested on drug charges.\u00a0<\/p>\n During questioning, Buck admitted to shooting Keith, but denied involvement in his disappearance. Still, he hinted that something might have happened to Keith at the Warlocks clubhouse.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s where detectives found a shocking scene.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a lot of blood on the walls,\u201d noted Philadelphia Police Detective John Taggart. \u201cIt was high-velocity blood spatter, very small droplets, and there was a large puddling of blood that ran along the baseboard. But was it Keith\u2019s blood or is it Mike\u2019s blood?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Where Did Police Find Keith Palumbo\u2019s Body?<\/p>\n Keith\u2019s cell phone records later showed that his device had shut down close to Mount Moriah Cemetery & Arboretum, a 200-acre burial ground. <\/p>\n While searching the cemetery, police noticed a pre-Civil War crypt with a large capstone that appeared to have been moved. The surrounding marble bore fresh scratches.\u00a0<\/p>\n Police pried the top open and lowered an inspection camera inside, spotting a piece of blue material.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I peeked into the grave, you could see a body on a tarp that was on its back, face up,\u201d said Taggart. \u201cAlmost like he\u2019s staring back at you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The victim had a fresh leg wound and around his neck hung a guitar pick necklace. Meanwhile, a second body, much more decomposed than the first, lay nearby.\u00a0<\/p>\n RELATED: How a Beloved Radio Star\u2019s Murder Exposed a Motorcycle Gang\u2019s Underground Drug Ring<\/a><\/p>\n What Happened to Keith Palumbo and Mike DeLuca?<\/p>\n