Overview of Anna Marie Scivetti
Before Anna’s name was ever printed with an “Endangered Missing” headline, Anna was a person — a person who lived a full life with a vibrant heart.
Anna Marie Scivetti was born on September 20th, 1963. She has been described as a “free-spirit” and a beloved sister, daughter, and aunt. Anna was known to all as a creative individual who often spoke of becoming a singer. She recorded music with friends, and belonged to a Brooklyn women’s poetry club as a prize-winning writer.
A friend who knew Anna in her teenage years remembers Anna fondly as someone who was relentless in her pursuit of helping others.
The friend detailed to reporters how as teens, they had found a lost dog in Midland Beach. Instead of simply calling a local animal shelter, Anna insisted that they make posters for the dog. Guided by Anna, the pair spent hours plastering the posters across the neighborhood. Anna’s friend remembers telling Anna that they should stop, saying “Nobody is going to want this dog.” Anna replied: “Let’s keep going.”
Anna’s determination paid off. Two days later, she reunited the dog with its owner.
No one would imagine that years later, friends and family would be spending hours plastering posters around the same neighborhood pleading for help in Anna’s disappearance.
Anna was also described as being a “survivor” by her sister and advocate, Angel DeRuvo. Anna managed to escape a coercive and physically abusive relationship with her then-boyfriend, Charles D. Chorman; a relationship that resulted in an order of protection.
Charles was a married man whom Anna believed was separated from his wife, Linda Chorman. Anna reportedly never knew that he was actually living a double life the whole time — going back and forth between his two residences on Staten Island while simultaneously maintaining the relationships and a relationship with his son.
Charles and Anna dated on and off for four years, from 1994 until her disappearance in 1998; but their relationship wasn’t without severe turbulence.
In September of 1997, Anna was granted an order of protection against Charles, following an aggressive altercation where Charles grabbed her by the shoulders, threw her on the floor, punched her head, and pulled her across the apartment by her hair. Charles plead guilty to the brutal assault.
Charles was already no stranger to the criminal justice system, considering in the 1980s, he served four years in federal prison for being the mastermind behind a car theft ring that was responsible for the stealing and selling of over 500 vehicles.
At the time, it was the largest car theft operation in New York history, linking Charles to organized criminals across state lines.
By 1998 — four years into her relationship with Charles, Anna was taking active steps to split from him. She was living in her own apartment and working a new job.
In the two weeks leading up to Anna’s disappearance, in the summer of 1998, Anna was suddenly forced out of her Midland Beach apartment following a fire of unknown origins. She packed up what she could, took her older dog, Oddie, and briefly began staying with a friend in West Brighton, Staten Island.
Despite the sudden change, Anna remained positive. She was looking for a new apartment, and she had plans to meet with her future roommate and landlord soon to place a deposit on a new Tottenville apartment.
The day Anna went missing
Then, on Wednesday, August 19, 1998, Anna reportedly had a tense telephone conversation that afternoon at work, and records indicate that the conversation was with Charles.
Anna was seen leaving Ferrar Foods in South Plainfield, N.J., where she worked as a receptionist. According to traffic records, Anna headed to West Brighton, traveling over the Outerbridge Crossing into Staten Island.
Later that evening, Anna was seen wearing a black knit top, a blue-and-black checked skirt, black pumps and a gold Madonna necklace while out with Charles at a local South Shore neighborhood bar they regularly patronized. Witnesses said Anna looked like she was in a good mood, but Charles appeared to be brooding. The pair were reportedly at the bar late into the night and into the early morning.
The night at the bar was the last reported time anyone has said to have seen Anna. And, while it’s unclear whether or not Anna drove herself to the bar, one thing is true; her car, a 1988 four-door blue/grey Mazda with a red ball at the end of the antenna, has been unaccounted for since the night she disappeared.
Also on that following Thursday, Anna missed appointments and social plans which alarmed friends and family since it was uncharacteristic of her to vanish. What’s more, Anna never made arraignments for Oddie, something Anna never failed to do when she’s traveled in the past.
That following week, Angel reported Anna as missing while Charles took his family on vacation. It was that same time that Angel and the family discovered more about Charles’s checkered past — including the fact that one of his previous girlfriends and sister-in-law, Elizabeth Bump, also vanished in 1993.
Seven months after Anna disappeared, in 1999, the police finally searched the old apartment that Anna shared with Charles. At that point, the unit had been vacated, but Charles still owned it.
But, the police didn’t find any evidence — not even fingerprints or hair from day-to-day life. They also noted that the unit was apparently “wiped clean” with the bathroom sink seemingly replaced, and the floorboards sanded down. Investigators note that floorboard samples were collected for future forensic testing.
On August 19, 1999, on the one-year anniversary of Anna’s disappearance, Deputy Inspector Charles Wells shared with the media that investigators believe Anna has been a victim of a homicide.
Since then, a few tips have come in, mainly one from the early 2000s that investigators have looked into.
In an interview, former District Attorney for Richmond County, Daniel Donovan revealed an anonymous male caller sent in a tip, where the tipster claimed that he had dropped off Anna's “blue/grey” Mazda at a dumping ground in 1998, near the Outerbridge Crossing on Staten Island. Following his report, the DA's office and the FBI teamed up, dredging the waters near the Kreischer House on Arthur Kill Road which runs along the water. Investigators recovered car parts from many different vehicles, but none were linked back to Anna's Mazda.
Where the case stands today
Now, it’s been nearly 24 years since Anna has disappeared — over two decades without movement, without many eyes, and without answers.
In 2005, Anna was declared legally dead on the anniversary of her disappearance. In 2020, Charles Chorman — who has only ever been deemed a Person of Interest — passed away.
Anna’s case remains unsolved. But, with a fresh take, newfound media interest, and a thorough investigation of all angles, can her case be dusted off?
