Dead former Rebels bikie Ricky Ciano had $1.5m price on his head
Updated
A former bikie who survived an attempt on his life and subsequently relocated to Queensland has been found dead in a car in the NSW Central Tablelands, the ABC understands.
Homicide detectives are investigating the death of a man understood to be Ricky Ciano.
Mr Ciano, 35, had been missing for almost four days when police found his body in a car on Duckmaloi Road near Oberon on Wednesday.
A friend, who asked not to be named, said Mr Ciano was in Penrith on Saturday night and sent a text message to his pregnant wife saying he loved her.
The man revealed Mr Ciano had a contract of $1.5 million on his head and had made a lot of enemies over the years.
"He caused a lot of problems," the man said.
"He ran out of friends and he ran out of places to hide."
Mr Ciano was the target of a failed hit at his Wamberal home on the Central Coast in 2015.
Abuzar Sultani, 27, the man charged over the murder of mafia identity Pasquale Barbaro, is also accused of conspiring to kill Mr Ciano.
Police sources allege a hitman pretending to deliver a pizza knocked on Mr Ciano's door but he refused to open it.
But Mr Ciano's friend said it was possible the former enforcer may have taken his own life.
"Ricky was going through a lot of tough times, a lot of struggles," he said.
Family began to fear the worst
Mr Ciano's family and friends began to fear the worst when they did not hear from him after Saturday night.
His wife, Rachel Ciano, reported him missing to police on Monday and also spread the word on social media.
"Ricky has been missing since Saturday," she wrote on Facebook.
"If anyone has seen or heard from him please urgently contact Crime Stoppers.
"Any information is valuable, big or small."
NSW Police are treating the death as suspicious but a spokeswoman said the man, believed to be Mr Ciano, had no obvious injuries that could shed light on how he died.
The body has yet to be formally identified and a post-mortem examination will be carried out.
Topics: crime, murder-and-manslaughter, death, police, law-crime-and-justice, sydney-2000
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