Allison Jackson Foy went missing in the summer of 2006. The following June, Angela Rothen went missing. In 2008, their remains were found in the same area off Carolina Beach Road, linking their murders and eventually leading the Wilmington Police Department to Timothy Iannone, a local cab driver.
Foy’s sister, Lisa Valentino, has spent nearly twenty years pushing law enforcement, the district attorney’s office, the media, and the public to keep a focus on the murder of her sister and Rothen. Her relationship with WPD, in particular, got off to a rough start, but eventually turned into more of a genuine partnership.
Valentino began working with the Community United Effort (CUE) Center for Missing People, a nonprofit founded in 1994 in Wilmington that assists the families and loved ones of missing people nationwide. To date, they’ve helped over 12,000 families. Valentino is now the outreach coordinator in her home state of New Jersey.
Valentino and other family members have endured heartbreaking dead ends and frustrating cold spells. Then, in 2024, Iannone went on trial for a 26-year-old rape and kidnapping case. Then-District Attorney Ben David was able to get law enforcement testimony about Iannone’s links to the Foy and Rothen murders on the court record — where they would be available to the Court of Appeals if necessary. (The jury was not permitted ot hear the testimony, although jurors, who convicted Iannone, did learn about it later.)
Related: Timothy Iannone’s conviction is justice for some, more complicated for others
Iannone will almost certainly die in prison, but the trial provoked mixed feelings for Foy and Rothen’s families.
After the sentencing, Allison Jackson Foy’s daughter Courtney said she was thankful to have had the opportunity to support the woman Iannone had attacked so many years ago, but the similarities that played out in court were painful to hear.
“Listening to the testimony, there are a lot of similarities that I've noticed. And it took [the victim] 26 years to get the justice that she has very much deserved. And we've been waiting 16 years for ours. And I just, I really hope that if anybody has any information, that I encourage them to come forward, because we would like our own day in court as well. And this definitely gives me some hope in that,” she said.
Valetino has taken the anniversary of her sister’s disappearance as an opportunity to try and move the needle on other missing person cases. In a message she posted on social media, which she shared in an email with WHQR, she wrote, “Year to year, my family and I have done events on the date or asked you all to do something in Allison's name. This year, I ask that you share information about a missing person in your local area, that you say a prayer for the missing and their family. As you do this, please think of Allison and her daughters and our family. Pray for an arrest, justice, and final resolution.”
Valentino also asked those who are able to make a donation in her sister’s name to the CUE Center for Missing Persons — or to consider becoming a volunteer.
“Remember Angela Rothen who went missing one year after Allison and was recovered next to her,” she added. “For my part, I will light a candle Wednesday and offer prayers trusting in God the Father. I will also raise a glass to my sister Allison whom I miss everyday. And as I do this, I will also remember the roughly 600,000 missing today.”
Advocates for missing people sometimes recite the mantra, “somebody knows something.” As hopeless and cold as some cases seem, there are others — the rape and kidnapping charge that put Iannone away — that can take decades, even a quarter century to get justice and resolution.
Valentino is still keeping the faith, telling WHQR that she and family have positive feelings about the case under Jason Smith, who took over from David as District Attorney after the 2024 election. She also noted that the rerelease of the 2008 Dateline episode “Cape Fear,” which includes updates on the case, has sparked renewed interest.
And, of course, if you have any information about the murders of Foy or Rothen, contact the Wilmington Police Department.
