On this day in 1962 Anthony Strollo aka Tony Bender who was a high ranking capo within the Genovese Crime family went missing.

According to a testimony from Joe Valachi, Vito Genovese was said to have been behind the hit, after Strollo switched sides in an attempt to set Genovese up with a drug trafficking conviction back in 1959.

Strollo’s remains were never found.

On this day in 1962, Anthony Strollo — better known throughout the underworld as Tony Bender — vanished without trace, never to be seen again. He was 62 years old, a senior capo within the Genovese Crime Family, and one of the most powerful mob figures operating out of New York's Greenwich Village. His disappearance sent a quiet but unmistakable message through the ranks of organised crime: nobody, regardless of their standing, was beyond reach.

Strollo had built his reputation over decades, rising through the ranks of what would become one of the most formidable of New York's Five Families. He was a trusted lieutenant under Vito Genovese himself, overseeing criminal operations across lower Manhattan and maintaining significant influence in the family's day-to-day affairs. His position afforded him wealth, connections, and a degree of insulation from law enforcement — yet it was ultimately his relationship with Genovese that would seal his fate.

The critical turning point came in 1959, when federal authorities successfully prosecuted Vito Genovese on narcotics charges, resulting in a fifteen-year prison sentence. According to testimony later provided by Joseph Valachi — the first made member of the American Mafia to publicly break the code of omertà — Strollo had allegedly cooperated with authorities and played a role in engineering the drug case that brought Genovese down. Whether Strollo acted out of self-preservation, ambition, or genuine cooperation with law enforcement remains a matter of historical debate, but the consequences were never in doubt.

From behind bars, Genovese is widely believed to have ordered the hit on Strollo. On the evening of 8th April 1962, Tony Bender told his wife he was stepping outside for some fresh air. He was never seen again. No body was ever recovered, no formal charges were ever brought, and the case officially remains unsolved. His wife reportedly told investigators that Strollo had left the house wearing only light clothing — hardly the attire of a man planning to disappear voluntarily.

The disappearance of Tony Bender stands as one of the more chilling examples of Mafia justice being administered across state lines and even from a federal penitentiary, demonstrating the extraordinary reach that Vito Genovese retained even while incarcerated. It remains a stark reminder that in the world of organised crime, betrayal — real or perceived — carried only one penalty.