Circumstances of Disappearance
Puglisi was last seen swimming in a public swimming pool, approximately 100 yards from his family's Lawrence, Massachusetts home on August 21, 1976.
A suspect confessed to two abductions in the New England area during the 1970's; one was the disappearance of Janice Pockett, who was apparently abducted from Tolland, Connecticut in 1973. The other abduction was that of an unidentified boy from Lawrence, Massachusetts -- whom many believe to be Puglisi.
The suspect claimed that he buried the unidentified boy in a grave near Pockett's supposed grave; these graves have never been discovered. The suspect told police that he abducted the boy believed to be Puglisi under the guise of taking him fishing.
Puglisi's mother informed authorities that her son called home at approximately 3:30 PM on the day he disappeared. She said that one of his brothers spoke to him and the conversation gave no indication that anything was amiss at that time. A lifeguard claimed he saw Puglisi wandering around the pool area at 5:45 PM; the child then disappeared.

Two excavations took place in two areas near Lawrence in 1999, both of them with the intention of searching for Puglisi's body. He was never located. Puglisi's childhood friend, Melanie Perkins, is now a filmmaker and is producing a documentary on the search for Puglisi.