The family of a Connecticut man wanted in connection with two killings is pleading for him to peacefully surrender as the FBI joins the intensified search for their son.
Peter Manfredonia, 23, was last seen on foot Sunday in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, in the Poconos region.
Connecticut State Police say that he was seen leaving the scene of one killing in Willington, Connecticut, on Friday, that he later held another person against his will in a home invasion in the same town and stole that person's guns and a truck. On Sunday, police say he went to the home of an acquaintance in Derby, Connecticut, where he killed another person.
FBI Philadelphia announced Monday they were assisting in the search for Manfredonia, saying he is considered "armed and dangerous."
Attorney Michael Dolan, speaking on behalf of Manfredonia's parents, said Monday that Manfredonia has struggled with mental health issues over the past several years and sought the help of therapists.
"Peter, if you're listening, you are loved. Your parents, your sisters, your entire family loves you. Nobody wants any harm to come to you. It is time to let the healing process begin," Dolan said at a news conference.
"It's time to surrender. You have your parents and your sisters and your family's entire support," Dolan said. "So Peter, from your parents: We love you. Please turn yourself in."
The parents also expressed their condolences to the families of those harmed, Dolan said. The parents have not had any contact with their son, he said.
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The man who died in the Willington attack was identified as Theodore Demers, 62, NBC Connecticut reported. The person in the home invasion was not reported harmed.
State police said Monday that in the Derby killing, officers found Nicholas J. Eisele, 23, dead and that another person was abducted from the home.
That person was found in Patterson, New Jersey, and "did positively identify the captor as Peter Manfredonia," Connecticut State Police said in a statement. The person who was abducted was not harmed. Their identity was not released.
Derby police in a statement called the death of Eisele a homicide and identified the person taken against their will as Eisele's girlfriend. She was not physically harmed, and New Jersey State Police found her and her 2016 black Volkswagen Jetta at a rest stop, Derby police said.
"Manfredonia and Eisele were acquaintances with one another," Derby police said, adding that Manfredonia is the suspect in his killing and the abduction.
Dolan, the family attorney, said Monday that Manfredonia graduated from Newtown High School, went on to study at the University of Connecticut and was working on a degree in finance and engineering.
Manfredonia was a senior at the University of Connecticut but was not living on campus at the time of the attack in Willington, a UConn spokeswoman said.
State police said that in the home invasion, pistols and long guns were stolen. The stolen car was found abandoned near a state park in Derby.
Willington is a town of around 6,000 east of Hartford, and Derby is a town around 60 miles away west of New Haven.
