Steven Tomaselli, of Warwick, owns Speed's Diesel Service, in Warren, and was last seen March 27.

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, April 7, 2006

By KIA HALL HAYES
Journal Staff Writer

WARREN -- While the search continues for Warren boat mechanic Steven Tomaselli, the family waits for any word of his whereabouts.

"I'm pulling myself together and I'm preparing for the worst," said Tomaselli's cousin Paula Swanson.

Tomaselli, 52, who lives in Warwick with his ailing mother and owns Speed's Diesel Service on Water Street in Warren, has been missing since Monday, March 27.

Since his disappearance last week, the family has been "devastated," said Swanson, 54.

Swanson, who grew up with Tomaselli, said he is a selfless man who is always willing to help anyone in need. She said he has a daughter, Dana, who is in her 20s.

As word has spread about Tomaselli's disappearance, many people have offered Swanson and Tomaselli's brother Michael their sympathies and support.

"We didn't realize how many friends that he's had," she said.

Swanson, who last saw Tomaselli in September, said that during boating season she visited him often and helped him around the store. She said it's bizarre for Tomaselli to be gone for this long.

"He had an agenda every day and it never changed," said Swanson, who lives in the Riverside section of East Providence.

Every morning, he'd have coffee at Dunkin' Donuts before heading down to the shop for work, and every evening he'd lock up and go to one of his regular haunts like Jack's Family Restaurant or the Wharf Tavern for dinner.

"He was always working. He was a workaholic," she said.

Swanson also said that someone found that the store's garage door was left open on Tuesday, March 28, another occurrence out of step with his normal routine.

"It's strange that he had left his garage door open and not locked. He always locks it," she said.

Lt. Joseph Loiselle could not confirm that information, but said it's possible that one of the investigators left the garage door open after searching the property.

He said the Warren detectives are continuing to interview people who knew and had contact with Tomaselli.

"It's ongoing, we plan on continuing to work on this until he's located," he said.

Little has turned up since the investigation began last week. On the last day Tomaselli was seen, a Barrington man reported hearing a scream and a struggle across the river from Speed's, and people at the nearby Blount Seafood also reported hearing screams from that area, but responding officers found no evidence of a disturbance and guessed the noise came from an animal.

Tomaselli's family reported him missing the following night.

On Wednesday morning, a joint search of the Warren River and the waterfront near Tomaselli's store was conducted by the Coast Guard, Warren police and fire personnel, the Bristol Harbor Patrol, the East Providence Police Department and the state Department of Environmental Management.

The areas surrounding his home and business were also searched by the Warren police, to no avail.

As the days pass, Swanson's optimism wanes. But she still has hope for her cousin.

"He was a hard-working man, he was a good father, he was a great man," she said.

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