Man believes discovery of woman's remains solves decades-long family mystery

PITTSBURGH — Charles Sberna grew up in Pittsburgh, but now he now lives in Beaver County. When he heard last week about a woman's skeletal remains unearthed in the backyard of a home on Black Street in the Garfield neighborhood, his mind flashed back more than half a century, CBS Pittsburgh reports. That's when he and his family lived in that same house with Mary Arcuri and her husband, Albert.

Mary disappeared in October of 1964.

Her husband told police she had run off with a man, and her family never heard from again.

Sberna told CBS Pittsburgh on Monday afternoon, "My aunt would have contacted the family. There was no reason for her to disappear, I don't believe."

Albert Arcuri, who was 40, died eight months after his wife vanished. His car smashed into a brick wall of an auto dealership on Baum Boulevard.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the car was speeding, and left skid marks for 250 feet.

Sberna said his late mother, and grandmother – Mary's sister – often talked about her strange disappearance.

"Mary kind of looked like my mother, you know, they were all beautiful women in my family," Sberna said. "I'm not just saying that."

Now that it appears his aunt's body has been found, Sberna says he has mixed emotions.

"Yes, I have peace," he said. "I'm just sad that my grandmother and mother didn't find out about it."

Sberna says he now wonders if the whole story about his aunt's disappearance will ever be fully be known.

"Something happened," Sberna said. "She was buried there, maybe it was an accident, maybe they were having a fight, I can't tell you. I don't know if the detectives will know. It's just nice that they found her."

Officially, neither Pittsburgh Police, nor the Allegheny County Medical Examiner have positively identified the human remains found by construction workers last week. They were installing a patio in the backyard of the home where the Arcuris used to live.