FBI, 3 States in Massive Manhunt for UConn Student Wanted for Murder

The FBI has joined three states — Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania — in a massive manhunt for a University of Connecticut student who police say is responsible for two homicides, a home invasion, and a kidnapping.

Police say Peter Manfredonia, 23, who was last seen in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, is believed to be armed and dangerous. He is described as a white, 6’3″ tall man.

New Jersey State Troopers located his second stolen getaway car, a 2016 black Volkswagen Jetta, at a rest stop close to the Pennsylvania border on Sunday.

Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania state troopers, the FBI, as well as local police departments in Derby and Ansonia, Connecticut, are continuing their “active and ongoing investigations.”

His kidnapping victim was also found with the vehicle. Police say the victim was the girlfriend of Nicholas Eisele, 23, whom Manfredonia allegedly shot to death at his Derby, Connecticut, home.

The woman, who was not identified by authorities, did not appear to be harmed when she was found.

Manfredonia, a college senior majoring in mechanical engineering and finance, is suspected of killing 62-year-old Ted DeMers and assaulting another man in Connecticut.

DeMers’ wife, Cynthia, told the Hartford Courant that both men had been attacked after they offered Manfredonia a ride back to his motorcycle.

“It could have been anybody who offered him a ride,” she said. “It could have been any of my neighbors’ husbands. It just happened to be mine.”

Doctors pronounced DeMers dead at a local hospital. The other man suffered from severe machete wounds, police said.

On Sunday morning, Connecticut Trooper Christine Jeltema said that police responded to a home invasion where a man said he was held against his will by Manfredonia before Manfredonia allegedly left with food, several long guns, a handgun, and the man’s truck.

“The truck found near Osbourndale State Park was believed to be operated by Manfredonia and taken in connection with the Willington crimes.  Evidence suggests that the truck became lodged on an elevated embankment at which time he abandoned it,” the Derby Police Department said in a Facebook update on Monday.

Investigators went to the home of Eisele to find the man dead. Manfredonia graduated from Newtown High School in 2015.

He is a senior at the University of Connecticut, but has not lived on campus during recent semesters or at the times when the crimes were allegedly committed, UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz told WVIT.