August 05, 2026
Provided Image/Philadelphia Police
Vito Maglio, 69, of Bustleton, was reported missing in December 2014. His car was found torched days after his disappearance, and several months later police recovered his body from the Schuylkill River. Nearly 12 years later, authorities have made an arrest in the cold case.
More than a decade after a Bustleton man's body was found floating in the Schuylkill River, a woman allegedly involved in his death has been arrested, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office said Wednesday.
Melanie Morat, 30, was taken into custody this week at her Frankford home after police developed new information in the unsolved killing of 69-year-old Vito Maglio. Morat is charged with murder, robbery, arson, criminal conspiracy and firearms violations, authorities said.
MORE: Human remains found in wooded area of Northeast Philly, police say
The investigation began when Maglio's SUV was found torched and abandoned in East Germantown on Dec. 16, 2014. The mechanic and social club manager was reported missing two days earlier after he had last been seen leaving a restaurant near his Bustleton home. Police found blood under the driver's seat and recovered a shell casing from the vehicle, which was about nine miles from where Maglio was last seen alive.
Detectives spent months searching for Maglio before his body was spotted in the water near the East Falls Bridge on March 27, 2015. An autopsy determined he had died from multiple gunshot wounds.
Authorities suspected Maglio had been robbed by several people prior to being shot, but investigators were unable to determine where he was killed. Police searched a home in Frankford in 2016 to gather evidence, believing Maglio may have been at the abandoned property before he was killed and dumped in the river.
The DA's office and Philadelphia police did not provide information about any other suspects Wednesday.
Police told the Inquirer the cold case was reassigned this summer and investigators used cell phone location data, witness statements and other records to assemble evidence against Morat. CBS3 reported Morat had been interviewed by authorities at an earlier point in the investigation, and the Maglio family told the station her arrest marks an important step in their healing.
"After almost 12 long years, we are finally going to see justice for a husband, father, grandfather, uncle and friend that was abruptly taken from our lives," the family said in a statement. "While it's a bittersweet moment for our family, we are so grateful that his case wasn't forgotten and the detectives took the initiative, did their due diligence, and are finally bringing us some closure."
Morat has a preliminary hearing set for Aug. 24.
