``We think Stevey Alexander was in the car,'' said Frank Friel, a retired Philadelphia police commander who has also served as director of public safety in Bensalem and is now president of a private security firm.
In 1981, Friel was a Homicide Division lieutenant in charge of the investigation into the Stillitano murder.
Alexander, an assistant manager at a Center City check-cashing agency, was last seen about 9 p.m. Saturday, when he left his home in the 1200 block of Byberry Road. His wife told police that she thought he was going to Atlantic City to gamble and that she did not report him missing because he often made gambling trips that lasted several days.
Alexander's car, cellular phone and other belongings were later found in the parking lot of John's Boardwalk Bar & Grill, at Bustleton and Philmont Avenues, about a half-mile from his home.
Trenton police said Alexander's left arm had been cut off after death, apparently with a dull-bladed saw. The arm was found by a homeless man rooting around in a dumpster.
Police say they believe Alexander is dead. Finding the rest of his body may take another stroke of luck, said authorities, who say they believe his assailant or assailants intercepted him on the bar parking lot. Investigators yesterday reported no leads in the case.
Alexander's family described him as a kind man. His son said he ``didn't have an enemy in the world.''
Investigators say they believe he crossed someone and met a violent death as a result. It was unclear whether his alleged role in the Stillitano killing has anything to do with his disappearance.
Stillitano's body was discovered Feb. 26, 1981, in the trunk of a car parked in an airport garage. He had been shot twice, once behind the left ear and once in the left leg .
At the time, he was being sought by police for questioning in the gangland slaying of Michael Russo, 42, outside the El Dorado nightclub in Trenton in March 1979.
Russo's father, Nicholas ``Nicky'' Russo, a Trenton vending-machine czar, was critically wounded in the same 1979 incident.
Friel said a Philadelphia grand jury investigated the Stillitano murder, but did not bring charges.
From 1962 until 1968, Alexander was a Philadelphia police officer, serving most of those years in the Sixth District in Center City.
An officer who worked in the same squad as Alexander yesterday recalled an eager, hardworking rookie in the beginning who later seemed to sour on the job.
