Beginning in late 1994 into 1995, Addis, by then operating under the assumed identity John Edwards, was living in Las Vegas. In mid-to-late spring 1995, Addis (as John Edwards), while working at the World's Gym, met then-39-year-old Joann Albanese (January 20, 1956 – August 1995)[2] through a gym client, Tara Rivera. Albanese and Addis were in a relationship for several months; Rivera, however, started having regrets about having introduced Albanese to Addis.
One evening, when Rivera, along with her husband, met with Albanese and Addis at dinner, according to Rivera, Addis had an explosive temper; his face began twisting following an innocent comment Rivera made. After getting home, Rivera told her husband there may have been something wrong with Addis; she planned on warning Albanese and advising her to dump Addis.[1]
When Rivera approached Albanese, expressing her concerns about Addis, Albanese agreed something was not right with Addis; she mentioned to Rivera that Addis wasn't letting her from his sight and would not even let Albanese use the bathroom without him present. Albanese told Rivera she worried about Addis living inside the same residence alongside her daughters.[1]
On August 18, 1995, Albanese telephoned Rivera and informed the latter that she couldn't take any more of Addis' controlling behavior and violence toward her; Albanese decided to end the relationship with Addis and planned on taking him to a nice dinner, then informing him the relationship would be over between them. Rivera never heard anything from her Albanese again.
When Albanese's ex-husband Tom drove his children back to their mother's residence on August 20, the truck belonging to Addis was parked in the street. When the girls went into the residence early that Sunday afternoon, they discovered their mother wasn't there and that the lights throughout the single-family home were all on, the door of their mother's room was open, her car was missing, and Albanese's purse was inside the drawer.
The girls telephoned their father, who in turn gave local police a warning about the missing mother. Several days passed, during which Joann Albanese's family managed to have police convinced that Joann would never abandon her daughters without giving them information on where she was traveling.
Joann's family became very concerned that Addis might have had close associations with the disappearance of Joann Albanese; Joann's oldest daughter mentioned that her mother and the boyfriend were constantly shouting at each other. Joann's sister hardly even liked Addis; furthermore, the sister felt that Joann's new boyfriend only wanted money.[1]
Joann's sister asked Detective Hanna, then working in the Las Vegas Police Department, if she could look inside the pickup truck of her sister's boyfriend; what the sister found in the pickup truck then convinced Las Vegas Police officials to take closer looks into John Edwards.[1]
Police became worried and concerned that the man passing himself off under the identity John Edwards was really John Patrick Addis, and that he was using an identification from a Cape Coral, Florida man.[3]
The 1993 Honda Accord that belonged to Joann Albanese was discovered by a hiker three days after she vanished from her home; the vehicle was discovered in Little
Hell's Canyon, near Prescott, Arizona.[3]
In late 1996, a man labeling himself as John Stone walked into the Gold's Gym in Guadalajara, Mexico. He met Laura Liliana Casillas Padilla (1971–October 18, 2006).[1]
In March of the following year, an episode of the television series Geraldo covering John Addis and the disappearance of Joann Albanese aired. A tipster subsequently telephoned the show and reported seeing a male with a similar description to Addis at the Gold's Gym. When the gym manager informed Stone a woman called the gym seeking someone who fit his description, Addis left the area.[1]
In mid-October 1998, just over three years after Albanese disappeared from her residence, a hunter discovered the remains of Joann Albanese in Little Hell Canyon; several weeks following the discovery, Addis was classified under the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and listed under America's Most Wanted beginning in November 1998 and extending until May 2005.[1][3]
On October 18, 2006, nine years after he and wife Laura Liliana left from Guadalajara, their neighbors in Chiapas realized they hadn't seen Addis, his wife or his children for several days; when the neighbors inspected the Addis apartment, they noticed a pungent smell. Police entered the home and found Laura Liliana dead along with her two children atop their beds. Over twenty syringes were found near Laura's body.[1]
Several weeks following Laura Liliana's murder, John Patrick Addis died from a heart attack at age 56. He was later buried in Guatemala.