March 31st 1978: The Disappearance of Paul Rudolph Alwardt

Paul Alwardt was a 17 year old boy originally from Martha's Vineyard but living in Falmouth where he worked for Melvin Reine at his waste haulage company. His mother had gone missing when Paul was a baby. With a believed drug problem, she was not able to cope with being a mother to Paul. His father, also named Paul, settled with his son in Martha's Vineyard where he grew up. Paul Senior was not without his problems either, these problems seemed to centre around alcohol and Paul Junior was left to fend for himself a lot. Paul was bullied as a child due to a deformity which caused him to have an extra row of top teeth. The constant bulling and harassment Paul received in his early years caused him to become rebellious and act out as he developed into his teens.

As Paul Senior was often busy with his own life and problems, Paul spent a lot of his time hanging out on the streets and this is how he began working for Melvin Reine at his business, Five Star Enterprises. Reine had a reputation for being a criminal and had a long history with police. He was questioned in relation to the disappearance of his first wife, Wanda,  who disappeared after Reine dropped her to a bus stop to go and visit some cousins but her mother claimed that they had no relatives in that area. He was also charged on several counts of arson in 1968 and spent some time in prison but was released early. 

By April of 1972 Paul Senior had had enough of his son's behaviour and thrown him out of the home. Fortunately Reine took pity on the boy and invited him to live with his family. On April 12th of that year there had been two fires started close to the home of Reine's mother. By chance it had actually snowed that night in Cape Cod and police only had to follow the footsteps in the snow to a small property at the very edge of the Reine property. Inside police officers found Paul Alwardt, cold and wearing the exact boots that had made the footprints leading form the fires. There was no way that Paul could ever deny his involvement in starting the fires. He was brought in for questioning that night. Paul was a child at the time and he was easily won over by one police officer who questioned him that night Rick Smith. Smith said that Paul was a nuisance and a trouble maker but he felt a sense of sympathy towards the boy and he also was aware that in a way, Paul was looking for a father figure in his life. Paul would be picked up by police on several more occasions and overtime, Rick Smith and Paul Alwardt began to form a friendship of sorts. 

in 1978, due to the bond that Smith and Paul had built up, Paul begins to trust the officer and Smith eventually get Paul to agree to testify against Reine in an arson case that was being put together against him. Rick Smith decided that it would be best to take Paul Alwardt out of the reach of Reine. 

Melvin Reine had a long history of getting even with people who he felt had wronged him. He would sneak into their houses at night as they slept and set fires, it was believed that one of his favourite things to say to people was "I smell smoke", in an attempt to taunt and instill fear in them. He felt untouchable and that the law did not apply to him. He had even been suspected in the shooting of a police officer later in 1979. 

Rick Smith was sure that if Melvin Reine got wind of the the fact the prosecution had a witness who was willing to testify he would surely hunt them down and kill them before the trial began.

Ahmed Mustafa was the head of a new arson unit that had been set up in the the Falmouth area had many dealings with Melvin Reine. He was considered a close and personal friend and had even sold a car to him. Unfortunately, Ahmed Mustafa was one of the 4 police officers present in the room when the plan to use Paul to testify against Reine was made and also when the officers discussed putting Paul Alwardt abroad a ferry back to Martha's Vineyeard to stay with some relatives until the trial. 

The cops walked Paul Alwardt down to the ferry on March 31st 1978 and watched him get onto the boat, Paul never got off the ferry at the other side. 

What happened to Paul Alwardt remains a mystery to this day and his body has never been found. It is believed that Melvin Reine was involved with the untimely disappearance of Paul and that the information from the meeting could have been leaked to him by Ahmed Mustafa.