FORT MYERS, Fla. — Imagine going 28 years without knowing who killed your son. That reality is a part of Patsy and Sam Comparetto's life.
They mourn the loss of their son and pray someone will be held accountable even after 28 years.
On that October night, David Comparetto left his part-time job at Publix. He got into his light blue Ford Tempo but was never heard from again.
David's mom remembers the last time he walked out of the door.
"I told him I loved him and that was the last time I saw him," Patsy Comparetto said.
She was up late watching football, so she decided to go to sleep. She knew David would come in around 2 a.m. She would often wake up and see the headlights pulling in the driveway.
On October 16, 1993, headlights pulled into their driveway at around 4 a.m. Someone was knocking on the door, Patsy said, but it wasn't David. Instead, detectives were at their doorstep.
"They wanted to know if David was home. I said no. I glanced down the hall. His door was opened," she said.
She instantly knew that something terrible had happened. The deputies told her the devastating news. Someone had ignited David's Ford Tempo on fire. He was found dead in the trunk.
She said that's something that haunts her to this day.
"I know his last night he was scared to death," she said.
His death brought painful memories for Patsy. She remembers when he would call her from work.
David was a vulnerable adult.
One night he came home and told Patsy that some guys at work wanted to take him to the strip club. She remembers telling him that it wasn't a good idea.
"I know I will not be able to stop you from going, but try to think about it. Well, he went and he went from then on," she said.
She said he became addicted. He was finally getting the attention he craved from girls in his earlier years.
"He wanted a girlfriend so bad. I think he found what he thought he was looking for in all the strip clubs that were here," Patsy said.
His limitations meant he wasn't well equipped to distinguish between fantasy and the fact in the shadowy world of those clubs.
David was born with a clubbed foot, uneven legs and was socially challenged. Patsy said he had developmental delays that made him act younger than his age.
"He was very naïve and shy, but then he was teased a lot in high school," she said.
David suffered so much in high school but would ultimately suffer the worst fate of all. Patsy is still in disbelief that anyone would hurt him. Let alone kill him. She said he was so kind and willing to help others.
"He was a kind human being with a heart. He trusted a lot of people that he should of never trusted and you used him and changed him," Patsy said.
In 2008, there was a new lead announced. Patsy said a lady in the bakery recalled seeing David crying and shaking after getting a phone call that night. She offered to walk him outside, but he turned her down.
She watched a black 4-door shiny car follow David. A vehicle that was often seen around the strip clubs.
She was hopeful the lead would bring answers, but after 28 years, she is left without those answers.
If you have any information, please call Crime Stoppers or Detective Marcia Sutphin.
You don't have to give your name when you call Crime Stoppers at 800-780-TIPS.
You can also reach Detective Sutphin at 239-477-1146.
David's mother hopes someone will come forward and do the right thing.
For more information about the case, click here.
