CENTREVILLE, Md. — It was strange; not just for a quiet Eastern Shore county, but bizarre anywhere.
A self-employed stonemason disappeared from Queen Anne's County in 2013, and has never been seen or heard from again, leaving investigators with a puzzling missing persons case.
James Colicchio was living out of a commercial rental unit on 4-H Park Road near Queenstown before he vanished. He may have been gone for two months before anyone reported him missing to the Queen Anne's County Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff Gary Hofmann leads the county's law enforcement agency, and led it 12 years ago when the search first started. Colicchio's disappearance remains one of just three unsolved cases in the entire county.
WATCH: Eastern Shore stonemason vanished in 2013, was never seen again
No family, no contacts found
With a lack of much evidence, investigators have struggled to piece together Colicchio's disappearance. He was described as someone who kept to himself, making the investigation more challenging.
"We were not able to find any family members at all, for him, to notify or contact. And we've been checking, most recently as of a couple weeks ago, we were still checking again in the database to see if Mr. Colicchio had been anywhere else in the United States or had any other indications he had had contact with law enforcement. Nothing at all," Hofmann said.
He had previous addresses in Clinton, Rockville and Fort Washington.
When deputies arrived at Colicchio's residence, they found several cats, which he loved dearly. The animals needed medical attention, suggesting they had been without care for some time.
Deputies scoured the area and combed through overhead photos during their investigation, but found little evidence to work with.
While no proof exists that Colicchio was murdered, investigators haven't ruled out that possibility.
Foul play suspected
In many missing person cases, Hofmann explained, individuals attempt to use banks or contact relatives. Colicchio, however, has had no documented activity since his disappearance.
Sheriff Hofmann suspects foul play. He believes Colicchio would not have voluntarily abandoned his pets.
"This is somebody who either, something very bad has happened to, or this is somebody that was successful at going completely off the grid. I have to tell you, I think it's probably not likely that he went off the grid, because everyone knows how much he loved those cats," Hofmann said.
Investigation continues
The Queen Anne's County Sheriff's Office continues to work the case and is seeking any information from the public that might help solve Colicchio's disappearance.
Anyone with tips about James Colicchio's disappearance is asked to contact Queen Anne's County Sheriff's deputies at 410-758-0770.
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