ABSTRACT
It all began on a crisp February evening in 1997, two days after Valentine’s Day, when 19-year-old Patrick McNeil went out drinking with some of his friends from Fordham University. They made their way down to an Upper East Side pub in Manhattan called The Dapper Dog. Patrick was a tall, good-looking and strapping young man. His parents, Pat and Jackie, had done right by him, raising him to be of sound morals, good work ethic, and a real gentleman. Patrick went outside for some fresh air – and that was the last time any of his family or friends ever saw him alive again. Four days later on February 20th, the task of finding Patrick was assigned to Detective Sergeant Kevin Gannon on the Missing Persons Squad in the Special Investigation Division of the Detective Bureau (Figure 1.1). Family and friends could not have asked for a more qualified law enforcement officer to work this case. From the average person who knew him during his days of walking a beat on the streets of New York City, to his peers in uniform, and to his bosses, Gannon was held in high regard. He was exceptionally trained and experienced, as well as highly decorated (to include 2 Medals of Valor for saving lives at the risk of his own), New York Police Department (NYPD) officer, who came from a long family tradition of NYPD policemen. That day, Gannon’s life changed.
