Joshua Szostak, 21 [FOUND DECEASED] Albany,NY

Grande · 01-04-2008, 05:11 PM

Search planned for missing Latham man

By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer
Last updated: 2:43 p.m., Tuesday, December 25, 2007

ALBANY - Albany police and family members of a missing 21-year-old are organizing a search party near the Port of Albany at 11 a.m. Wednesday to look for signs of the man.

Joshua Szostak has been missing since about midnight Saturday when he left the Bayou Cafe on North Pearl Street.

Albany police say there appears to be a connection between a stolen state Department of Environmental Conservation vehicle left on South Pearl Street near the Bethlehem and Albany border and Szostak. Albany police spokesman Detective James Miller said Szostak's cell phone was found where the car was stolen from a DEC garage on Broadway. There is no evidence at this point that he stole the vehicle, Miller added.

The car had significant damage to its undercarriage that probably caused the vehicle to stop on South Pearl.

Police say the search is focusing on the possibility that Szostak might have wandered from the vehicle into nearby woods and might have lost his way or was injured. "Exposure to the outside elements could be deadly based on his condition at the time," the police said in a statement.

Volunteers in the search are asked to meet at Wednesday morning in a parking lot at the corner of Grand and Arch streets in Albany.

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/sto...ate=12/25/2007

Grande · 01-04-2008, 05:12 PM

Link possible between stolen state car, missing man
Cellphone found at garage; Albany police set search for today
By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer
First published: Wednesday, December 26, 2007

ALBANY -- City police said Tuesday they are investigating an apparent link between a Latham man's disappearance and the theft of a state Department of Environmental Conservation vehicle over the weekend.

Meanwhile, police and family members of Joshua Szostak, 21, are organizing a search party at 11 a.m. today near the Port of Albany to look for any signs of him.

Szostak has been missing since he left the Bayou Cafe on North Pearl Street early Sunday morning just after midnight while highly intoxicated, police said. His cellphone was found where the car was stolen from the DEC garage on Broadway, police spokesman Detective James Miller said.

There was no evidence he stole the vehicle, Miller said.

The vehicle was left on South Pearl Street near the Bethlehem-Albany border and had significant damage to its undercarriage that probably caused it to stop on the street, he said.

Police say the search is focusing on the possibility Szostak might have wandered from the car into nearby woods and might have lost his way or been injured. "Exposure to the outside elements could be deadly based on his condition at the time," the police said in a statement.

Szostak was wearing baggy jeans, a black, hooded sweat shirt and a white T-shirt. He is described as a white male, 5-foot-11 and weighing 200 pounds. He has a shaved head, a goatee and brown hair and blue eyes.

Search volunteers will meet this morning in a parking lot at the corner of Grand and Arch streets.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories...ate=12/26/2007

Grande · 01-04-2008, 05:13 PM

More than 150 search for missing Latham man
Joshua Szostak's father believes his son may have been harmed
By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer
Last updated: 4:53 p.m., Wednesday, December 26, 2007

At least 150 people have joined in the search for Joshua Szostak, who left an Albany bar three days ago and hasn't been seen since.

"The goal here is to bring my son home," William Szostak said today to a crowd in Albany, which includes area firefighters, police, family, friends and strangers. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."

Three Capital District Transit Authority buses carried searchers to downtown Albany near Pearl Street and to the area around the Port of Albany and at the Bethlehem town border. Among those assisting in the search are Albany police, Selkirk firefighters, Rensselaer County sheriff's deputies and Bethlehem police.

Earlier today, William Szostak said in a phone interview he believed someone mugged and harmed his son, a 21-year-old college student from Latham. Joshua was last seen since leaving the Bayou Cafe on North Pearl Street late Saturday.

The elder Szostak also takes issue with the idea that his son may haven stolen a state vehicle before he disappeared.

Albany Police Department officials at first thought there was an apparent connection with the theft and Szostak's disappearance. An initial police statement Tuesday said they believed Szostak stole the Department of Environmental Conservation car from a DEC parking garage, but shortly afterward said there was no evidence he did.

The car was found wrecked near the Port of Albany. Joshua's cell phone was found near the site where the car was stolen.

"He was intoxicated. He had a very expensive jacket on. He had a lot of cash on him," said the elder Szostak, a Latham resident who is also a retired Green Island firefighter. "I think when he got into the South End, I feel as though something bad happened to him."

Szostak said his son was out celebrating a friend's 21st birthday Saturday night. Joshua was attending college at Hudson Valley Community College this past semester, and planned to return to SUNY Plattsburgh next semester.

Description

Joshua Szostak was wearing baggy jeans, a black, hooded sweat shirt and a white T-shirt. He is described as a white male, 5-foot-11 and weighing 200 pounds. He has a shaved head, a goatee and brown hair and blue eyes.

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/sto...ate=12/26/2007

Grande · 01-04-2008, 05:15 PM

Search grows more urgent
Law enforcement, rescue workers, volunteers fail to turn up more signs of missing 21-year-old
By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer
First published: Thursday, December 27, 2007

ALBANY -- Despite the best efforts of a massive volunteer force that grew Wednesday to more than 150 strong, there was still no sign of 21-year-old Latham resident Joshua Szostak, who disappeared after drinking with friends on North Pearl Street early Sunday..

The circumstances surrounding Szostak's disappearance are unusual in that his cellphone was found at the scene of a car theft two miles away at the Port of Albany. The car was found abandoned, with no trace of its driver.

Albany police initially said they believed Szostak stole the car and then disappeared -- a statement that angered Szostak's family. Police later softened the language to say they are investigating a connection between the car theft and Szostak's disappearance. A surveillance camera at North Pearl and State streets showed that Szostak was alone around 12:15 a.m. Sunday. His parents believe Szostak, who had about $500 with him, was possibly mugged and somehow harmed.

Szostak's mother, Mary Beth, was critical Wednesday of Albany police, saying police discouraged her and her husband from gathering the volunteers to look for Szostak, who was to continue his education at SUNY Plattsburgh next semester.

Albany Police spokesman Detective James Miller said he wasn't aware of such a conversation, but that the police's K-9 and mounted units, as well State Police helicopters, had searched since Sunday for the college student.

The search Wednesday, which included help from Albany and Rensselaer county sheriff's deputies, the Selkirk and Albany fire departments and Albany and Bethlehem police, ended just before dark on Wednesday afternoon with no signs of Szostak. A boat was deployed into the Hudson River near the Normans Kill while a helicopter conducted a third search.

Szostak's father, Bill, a retired firefighter from Green Island, reached out to area firefighters, police and friends to help search for his son Wednesday. Some were telephoned; others heard by word of mouth.

The crowd gathered at the corner of Grand and Arch streets to pick up fliers with Szostak's picture and description on it. Citizen volunteers were taken by Capital District Transportation Authority bus to North Pearl to tape fliers to windows and talk to business owners about Szostak's disappearance.

Another bus took firefighters and police to the southernmost portion of the port near Normanskill Street, where the stolen car was found.

Szostak's Saturday evening started at Elbo Room on Delaware Avenue, where he and a group of friends were celebrating another friend's 21st birthday. Szostak's father then says the group took a cab to North Pearl Street. Szostak's mother said Joshua's friends couldn't find him before they left the Bayou Cafe. A surveillance camera at North Pearl and State streets showed Szostak walking by himself down North Pearl around 12:15 a.m.

A surveillance camera at the state Department of Environmental Conservation Operations Support Facility on Smith Boulevard at the Port showed that someone stole a Dodge Durango out of the DEC's parking lot in the early morning hours Sunday. Szostak's cellphone was found near the lot.

The car, which had major damage to its undercarriage, was found at about 1:40 a.m. Sunday. Miller said police are trying to sweep the car for fingerprints.

Searchers Wednesday were seen wading into snow-covered brush that rested between Normanskill Street and the Normans Kill.

Miller said Szostak's credit cards and bank account hadn't been used since Sunday, and he has apparently not contacted any friends or relatives.
Members of Szostak's family gathered at the search meeting site on Grand Street and wiped away tears, knowing how difficult it would be for Szostak to survive if he was outside for almost four days in weather as cold as 20. His father gave a brief description of his son, including a scar above his eyebrow that he got at age 10 from running into a rocking chair.

"I'm hoping for the best, but he's in a T-shirt," Mary Beth Szostak said, breaking down. Joshua Szostak also was wearing a hooded sweat shirt when he went missing. "This is nothing he would ever do," she said.

Joshua Szostak, who worked at an area Hannaford supermarket, was taking a break from SUNY Plattsburgh this past semester and attending classes at Hudson Valley Community College. The 2004 Catholic Central High School graduate is studying journalism and has dreamed of being a foreign correspondent.

"He's one of the nicest people I've known," said 25-year-old Latham resident Matt Altimari, who worked with Szostak at Hannaford for three years. Altimari joined the search Wednesday.

Joshua Szostak's Facebook page, an Internet profile site that allows people to network with friends and strangers, was filled with pleas from friends that Szostak come home safely.

"God is watching over you to make sure that you are safe and he's going to aid us all in the search for you," said one person who posted a message. Stanforth can be reached at 454-5697 or by e-mail at lstanforth@timesunion.com.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories...007&TextPage=1

Grande · 01-04-2008, 05:16 PM

Help sought to solve mystery of missing man
Albany police hope tips from public will help locate missing college student after ground search turns up nothing
By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer
First published: Friday, December 28, 2007

ALBANY -- Albany police hope the media attention surrounding the disappearance of 21-year-old Joshua Szostak will bring in leads, as the ground search has largely been exhausted.

Albany police spokesman Detective James Miller said searchers Wednesday covered much of the area between a downtown bar on North Pearl Street, where Szostak was last seen, and the Port of Albany, where his cellphone was found. They turned up no clues in the college student's disappearance.

Szostak's cellphone was found at the same location as a car that had been stolen from a state Department of Environmental Conservation office at the port on Smith Boulevard. The DEC Dodge Durango was driven through a locked gate on the property, said DEC spokesman Yancey Roy.

The car's undercarriage was damaged and the car was left at the end of an access road in the southernmost portion of the port off Normanskill Street. Police are investigating the connection between the car theft and Szostak's disappearance.

A boat searched the Hudson River near the mouth of the Normans Kill, near where the car was abandoned, and a State Police helicopter flew over the area three times. More than 150 citizens and police and fire volunteers helped with the search Wednesday.

Miller said police hope the attention surrounding the case and fliers posted all over Albany's downtown will lead to tips from the public. He said police will continue to interview Szostak's family and friends and will monitor Szostak's credit card and bank accounts.

"I don't know how much more of the ground search we'll be doing," Miller said Thursday.

Szostak's father, Bill, of Latham, said that the volunteer group Rensselaer County Search and Rescue had a tracking dog Wednesday follow Szostak's scent starting at the Bayou Cafe, 79 N. Pearl St., where he was last seen at 12:15 a.m. Sunday.

Bill Szostak, a retired Green Island firefighter, said he thinks his son was walking southwest back to his car, which was left at the Elbo Room, 170 Delaware Ave. Bill Szostak said the search and rescue dog walked to Delaware and Park avenues and stopped.

No one from Rensselaer County Search and Rescue could be reached for comment Thursday. The group does tracking for various police agencies.

Szostak's family still believes that someone robbed and harmed Joshua on his walk back from the bar.

Szostak was attending Hudson Valley Community College this past semester, with plans to return to SUNY Plattsburgh to study journalism.

"He got separated from his friends and that's all that happened. He's a good kid," Bill Szostak said. Stanforth can be reached at 454-5697 or by e-mail at lstanforth@timesunion.com.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories...ate=12/28/2007

Grande · 01-04-2008, 05:17 PM

Search is tonight for missing man
By DAVID FILKINS, Staff writer
Last updated: 8:40 p.m., Saturday, December 29, 2007

ALBANY - Family and friends of Joshua Szostak will retrace his steps tonight, hoping to find the missing 21-year-old who disappeared on Dec. 23.

Bill Szostak said the search for his son will start at 10:30 p.m. outside the Bayou Cafe on North Pearl Street, where Joshua was last seen, and will end near the Elbow Room on Morton Avenue, an area where police dogs have indicated he walked to.

Family and friends will wear sweatshirts bearing Joshua's face in hopes that someone on the street will recognize him from the night of his disappearance and be able to provide information.

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/sto...ate=12/29/2007

Grande · 01-04-2008, 05:18 PM

Fingerprints yield no clue to missing man
By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer
Last updated: 3:27 p.m., Friday, January 4, 2008

ALBANY -- Police have been unable to identify fingerprints lifted from a Department of Environmental Conservation vehicle stolen from the Port of Albany the same night a 21-year-old Latham man went missing downtown.

Detectives had hoped the prints might establish whether or not the theft is linked to the disappearance of Joshua Szostak, whose cell phone was later found in the street near the facility.

The results neither prove nor disprove that Szostak was in the vehicle, said Detective James Miller, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.

Now, investigators will rely on DNA samples from the vehicle, which they hope will tell them whether Szostak was in the SUV, which was found damaged less than two hours after the young man was last seen.

The last known image of Szostak walking alone was taken by a surveillance camera around 12:15 a.m. Dec. 23 at the corner State and North Pearl streets. Not long before, Szostak had left the Bayou Cafe several blocks away. The last text message sent from his cell phone came at 12:17, said his father, Bill Szostak.

Miller said the DNA samples were taken to the State Police Forensic Investigation Center in Albany, but it was not clear when the results would come back.

The DEC vehicle, which was found at 1:40 a.m. Dec. 23 at the entrance to Dawson's Garage and Scarano Boat Storage, has been a puzzling aspect of the disappearance.

The Dodge Durango had sustained damage to its undercarriage. And whoever stole it apparently failed to disconnect a battery-charging machine until after it was smashed into the gate that surrounds the state facility, according to a DEC official.

Bill Szostak, however, remains focused elsewhere on a track picked up by a volunteer search crew that seemed to indicate his son was, at some point, on Park Avenue before turning south onto the west side of Martin Luther King Boulevard in Lincoln Park.

After about 100 feet, the track crosses the street and then abruptly stops, suggesting Szostak may have gotten into a vehicle, his father said.

Yet the reliability of the track, which was discovered several days after Szostak's disappearance, is in question. Miller said police have not been able to confirm it.

Meanwhile, Bill Szostak said a printing company donated 40,000 posters and 40,000 business cards with his son's photo. He and others plan to pass them out this weekend.

Also, next week police plan to search the Hudson River around the port with a new $2,400 sonar system donated to Troop G dive team last month by the Center for Hope. The group was formed by Doug and Mary Lyall, the parents of Suzanne Lyall, who disappeared from the University at Albany.

A reward fund, the Joshua Szostak Search Fund, remains active and donations can be made at any Pioneer Savings Bank, Bill Szostak said, declining to say how large it has grown.

"We're numb with emotions and we're in denial," Bill Szostak said. "You watch this on TV, you give a little compassion and you change the channel. To live with it, it's a living hell."

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/sto...sdate=1/4/2008

Grande · 01-04-2008, 05:56 PM

Father of Joshua Szostak speaks out
Updated: 12/30/2007 8:30 AM
By: Britt Godshalk

LATHAM, N.Y. – “Many times you'd call him on his cell phone and you'd get a ‘Jumbo!’ or a ‘Nashadayma!’” Bill Szostak said.

That is how Josh Szostak answers his phone. Now his father wants nothing more than to hear that voice.

“At Plattsburgh he was the lead radio jockey and he was nicknamed ‘the Stag.’ You couldn't go anywhere without recognizing him and talking to him,” said Szostak. “Never did drugs, since he turned 21 he's been in college, on the weekends they go out and party and he drinks his beer. He likes his Guinness beer. Typical college kid.”

Now pleas to find the Stag flood online sites. His many friends from Plattsburgh, Hudson Valley Community College and Hannaford, where he works, wonder how a guy with such a presence could simply vanish.

It was the afternoon of December 22nd. Josh called his family's house in Latham.

“He told us he was planning to go out,” Szostak said.

Wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with skulls and crossbones on the front, a white t-shirt, baggy jeans and tan sneakers, Josh headed to an Albany bar with enough money to go barhopping with friends around town. From there they went to the Bayou downtown. By midnight, the guys were ready to hit the next bar. Josh made a stop in the men's room.

“His friends said they waited about 45 minutes, they were texting him, searching around, they went in the bathroom,” said Szostak. “Through the surveillance video at the Bayou we could see that Josh bypassed them all, went outside, used the cell, looked up and down the street and couldn't see anybody, decided his friends left and started hoofin’ it towards where his car was.”

But Josh never made it that far. Video proves his car was left untouched outside the Elbo Room. As hours turned into days, search dogs were deployed to follow his scent.

“For some reason the dogs led us down Park Avenue, which is the first cross street in Lincoln Park down by Martin Luther King Monument. If you're a block away from your vehicle, why would you be deterred to go down Park Avenue, unless you happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Szostak said.

A couple days into the search - a twist. A car belonging to the state Department of Environmental Conservation was found damaged and abandoned at the Port of Albany. It had been stolen from a downtown garage, steps from where Josh's cell phone was spotted.

Police initially labeled Josh a suspect in the car theft, but later recanted that theory, saying they had no evidence to support it. Szostak says he's told Josh's prints aren't in or on the car, which is now being combed for DNA evidence. And he says Josh's cell phone provides no leads because the law bars investigators from reading text messages sent to or from it.

Now this former firefighter is facing the fact that passing days with no leads could one day diminish hope.

“We still haven't opened Christmas presents. We still wait for him to come home,” Szostak said. “I'm hoping, but working the type of job that I did for over 20 years, I know reality. I know that if my son were alive I would have heard from him. But I hope to God I'm wrong. You see it on TV. You get a little compassion while you watch the story. To live it, it's living hell.”

As he prays, he speaks of his son, often falling into the past tense.

“Josh would never say goodbye, Josh would end every conversation by saying, ‘peace,’” Szostak recalls. “He was the best son you could have.”

Police tell the Szostaks that they will be going over video from cameras set up along the Capitol to see if the police dogs were correct in the trail they think Joshua took.

Meanwhile, a fund has been set up to help in the search. You can donate at any Pioneer Bank in the Capital Region.

http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:...lnk&cd=1&gl=us

Grande · 01-05-2008, 07:42 PM

Search continues for missing man
Updated: 1/5/2008 6:28 PM
By: Web Staff

BETHLEHEM, N.Y. -- Josh Szostak's friends and family were back out, searching Saturday.

The Latham man was last seen on December 22nd, leaving the Bayou café in Albany.

Szostak attended Plattsburgh State, and Saturday, some of his friends from college handed out fliers in Bethlehem.

Police said they looked at Josh's last text messages, but they didn't provide any useful information.

That cell phone was near the spot where a Department of Environmental Conservation vehicle was stolen. Police had hoped that fingerprints inside that car would offer information, but say they turned out to be inconclusive. Police say Szostak's disappearance is linked to the stolen car, but they have no concrete evidence to prove it.

State Police will also start searching the Hudson River, early next week.
They'll be using dive technology that was donated last month the Lyall family. Doug and Mary Lyall's daughter, Suzanne, disappeared in March of 1998.

Their organization, the Center for Hope, purchased the Hummingbird Technology. It uses sound waves to identify objects under water.

http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/...28745&SecID=33

Grande · 01-06-2008, 11:20 PM

New Tip Line for Missing Latham Man
Last Update: 7:19 pm

The family of a missing Latham man now has some help from a private investigator.

Patrick Anastasi is now looking into the disappearance of 21 year old Joshua Szostak.

Szostak went missing the Sunday before Christmas. He was last seen outside the Bayou Cafe in Albany. The private investigator has set up a 24 hour anonymous tip line for anyone who may have information on this case.

There is also an award being offered.

The tip line is 424-7236

http://www.fox23news.com/news/local/...5-0aa53899af63

01-04-2008, 05:11 PM	#1
Grande Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 8,719	Joshua Szostak, 21 [FOUND DECEASED] Albany,NY Search planned for missing Latham man By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer Last updated: 2:43 p.m., Tuesday, December 25, 2007 ALBANY - Albany police and family members of a missing 21-year-old are organizing a search party near the Port of Albany at 11 a.m. Wednesday to look for signs of the man. Joshua Szostak has been missing since about midnight Saturday when he left the Bayou Cafe on North Pearl Street. Albany police say there appears to be a connection between a stolen state Department of Environmental Conservation vehicle left on South Pearl Street near the Bethlehem and Albany border and Szostak. Albany police spokesman Detective James Miller said Szostak's cell phone was found where the car was stolen from a DEC garage on Broadway. There is no evidence at this point that he stole the vehicle, Miller added. The car had significant damage to its undercarriage that probably caused the vehicle to stop on South Pearl. Police say the search is focusing on the possibility that Szostak might have wandered from the vehicle into nearby woods and might have lost his way or was injured. "Exposure to the outside elements could be deadly based on his condition at the time," the police said in a statement. Volunteers in the search are asked to meet at Wednesday morning in a parking lot at the corner of Grand and Arch streets in Albany. http://timesunion.com/AspStories/sto...ate=12/25/2007

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01-04-2008, 05:12 PM	#2
Grande Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 8,719	Link possible between stolen state car, missing man Cellphone found at garage; Albany police set search for today By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer First published: Wednesday, December 26, 2007 ALBANY -- City police said Tuesday they are investigating an apparent link between a Latham man's disappearance and the theft of a state Department of Environmental Conservation vehicle over the weekend. Meanwhile, police and family members of Joshua Szostak, 21, are organizing a search party at 11 a.m. today near the Port of Albany to look for any signs of him. Szostak has been missing since he left the Bayou Cafe on North Pearl Street early Sunday morning just after midnight while highly intoxicated, police said. His cellphone was found where the car was stolen from the DEC garage on Broadway, police spokesman Detective James Miller said. There was no evidence he stole the vehicle, Miller said. The vehicle was left on South Pearl Street near the Bethlehem-Albany border and had significant damage to its undercarriage that probably caused it to stop on the street, he said. Police say the search is focusing on the possibility Szostak might have wandered from the car into nearby woods and might have lost his way or been injured. "Exposure to the outside elements could be deadly based on his condition at the time," the police said in a statement. Szostak was wearing baggy jeans, a black, hooded sweat shirt and a white T-shirt. He is described as a white male, 5-foot-11 and weighing 200 pounds. He has a shaved head, a goatee and brown hair and blue eyes. Search volunteers will meet this morning in a parking lot at the corner of Grand and Arch streets. http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories...ate=12/26/2007

01-04-2008, 05:13 PM	#3
Grande Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 8,719	More than 150 search for missing Latham man Joshua Szostak's father believes his son may have been harmed By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer Last updated: 4:53 p.m., Wednesday, December 26, 2007 At least 150 people have joined in the search for Joshua Szostak, who left an Albany bar three days ago and hasn't been seen since. "The goal here is to bring my son home," William Szostak said today to a crowd in Albany, which includes area firefighters, police, family, friends and strangers. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this." Three Capital District Transit Authority buses carried searchers to downtown Albany near Pearl Street and to the area around the Port of Albany and at the Bethlehem town border. Among those assisting in the search are Albany police, Selkirk firefighters, Rensselaer County sheriff's deputies and Bethlehem police. Earlier today, William Szostak said in a phone interview he believed someone mugged and harmed his son, a 21-year-old college student from Latham. Joshua was last seen since leaving the Bayou Cafe on North Pearl Street late Saturday. The elder Szostak also takes issue with the idea that his son may haven stolen a state vehicle before he disappeared. Albany Police Department officials at first thought there was an apparent connection with the theft and Szostak's disappearance. An initial police statement Tuesday said they believed Szostak stole the Department of Environmental Conservation car from a DEC parking garage, but shortly afterward said there was no evidence he did. The car was found wrecked near the Port of Albany. Joshua's cell phone was found near the site where the car was stolen. "He was intoxicated. He had a very expensive jacket on. He had a lot of cash on him," said the elder Szostak, a Latham resident who is also a retired Green Island firefighter. "I think when he got into the South End, I feel as though something bad happened to him." Szostak said his son was out celebrating a friend's 21st birthday Saturday night. Joshua was attending college at Hudson Valley Community College this past semester, and planned to return to SUNY Plattsburgh next semester. Description Joshua Szostak was wearing baggy jeans, a black, hooded sweat shirt and a white T-shirt. He is described as a white male, 5-foot-11 and weighing 200 pounds. He has a shaved head, a goatee and brown hair and blue eyes. http://timesunion.com/AspStories/sto...ate=12/26/2007

01-04-2008, 05:15 PM	#4
Grande Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 8,719	Search grows more urgent Law enforcement, rescue workers, volunteers fail to turn up more signs of missing 21-year-old By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer First published: Thursday, December 27, 2007 ALBANY -- Despite the best efforts of a massive volunteer force that grew Wednesday to more than 150 strong, there was still no sign of 21-year-old Latham resident Joshua Szostak, who disappeared after drinking with friends on North Pearl Street early Sunday.. The circumstances surrounding Szostak's disappearance are unusual in that his cellphone was found at the scene of a car theft two miles away at the Port of Albany. The car was found abandoned, with no trace of its driver. Albany police initially said they believed Szostak stole the car and then disappeared -- a statement that angered Szostak's family. Police later softened the language to say they are investigating a connection between the car theft and Szostak's disappearance. A surveillance camera at North Pearl and State streets showed that Szostak was alone around 12:15 a.m. Sunday. His parents believe Szostak, who had about $500 with him, was possibly mugged and somehow harmed. Szostak's mother, Mary Beth, was critical Wednesday of Albany police, saying police discouraged her and her husband from gathering the volunteers to look for Szostak, who was to continue his education at SUNY Plattsburgh next semester. Albany Police spokesman Detective James Miller said he wasn't aware of such a conversation, but that the police's K-9 and mounted units, as well State Police helicopters, had searched since Sunday for the college student. The search Wednesday, which included help from Albany and Rensselaer county sheriff's deputies, the Selkirk and Albany fire departments and Albany and Bethlehem police, ended just before dark on Wednesday afternoon with no signs of Szostak. A boat was deployed into the Hudson River near the Normans Kill while a helicopter conducted a third search. Szostak's father, Bill, a retired firefighter from Green Island, reached out to area firefighters, police and friends to help search for his son Wednesday. Some were telephoned; others heard by word of mouth. The crowd gathered at the corner of Grand and Arch streets to pick up fliers with Szostak's picture and description on it. Citizen volunteers were taken by Capital District Transportation Authority bus to North Pearl to tape fliers to windows and talk to business owners about Szostak's disappearance. Another bus took firefighters and police to the southernmost portion of the port near Normanskill Street, where the stolen car was found. Szostak's Saturday evening started at Elbo Room on Delaware Avenue, where he and a group of friends were celebrating another friend's 21st birthday. Szostak's father then says the group took a cab to North Pearl Street. Szostak's mother said Joshua's friends couldn't find him before they left the Bayou Cafe. A surveillance camera at North Pearl and State streets showed Szostak walking by himself down North Pearl around 12:15 a.m. A surveillance camera at the state Department of Environmental Conservation Operations Support Facility on Smith Boulevard at the Port showed that someone stole a Dodge Durango out of the DEC's parking lot in the early morning hours Sunday. Szostak's cellphone was found near the lot. The car, which had major damage to its undercarriage, was found at about 1:40 a.m. Sunday. Miller said police are trying to sweep the car for fingerprints. Searchers Wednesday were seen wading into snow-covered brush that rested between Normanskill Street and the Normans Kill. Miller said Szostak's credit cards and bank account hadn't been used since Sunday, and he has apparently not contacted any friends or relatives. Members of Szostak's family gathered at the search meeting site on Grand Street and wiped away tears, knowing how difficult it would be for Szostak to survive if he was outside for almost four days in weather as cold as 20. His father gave a brief description of his son, including a scar above his eyebrow that he got at age 10 from running into a rocking chair. "I'm hoping for the best, but he's in a T-shirt," Mary Beth Szostak said, breaking down. Joshua Szostak also was wearing a hooded sweat shirt when he went missing. "This is nothing he would ever do," she said. Joshua Szostak, who worked at an area Hannaford supermarket, was taking a break from SUNY Plattsburgh this past semester and attending classes at Hudson Valley Community College. The 2004 Catholic Central High School graduate is studying journalism and has dreamed of being a foreign correspondent. "He's one of the nicest people I've known," said 25-year-old Latham resident Matt Altimari, who worked with Szostak at Hannaford for three years. Altimari joined the search Wednesday. Joshua Szostak's Facebook page, an Internet profile site that allows people to network with friends and strangers, was filled with pleas from friends that Szostak come home safely. "God is watching over you to make sure that you are safe and he's going to aid us all in the search for you," said one person who posted a message. Stanforth can be reached at 454-5697 or by e-mail at lstanforth@timesunion.com. http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories...007&TextPage=1

01-04-2008, 05:16 PM	#5
Grande Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 8,719	Help sought to solve mystery of missing man Albany police hope tips from public will help locate missing college student after ground search turns up nothing By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer First published: Friday, December 28, 2007 ALBANY -- Albany police hope the media attention surrounding the disappearance of 21-year-old Joshua Szostak will bring in leads, as the ground search has largely been exhausted. Albany police spokesman Detective James Miller said searchers Wednesday covered much of the area between a downtown bar on North Pearl Street, where Szostak was last seen, and the Port of Albany, where his cellphone was found. They turned up no clues in the college student's disappearance. Szostak's cellphone was found at the same location as a car that had been stolen from a state Department of Environmental Conservation office at the port on Smith Boulevard. The DEC Dodge Durango was driven through a locked gate on the property, said DEC spokesman Yancey Roy. The car's undercarriage was damaged and the car was left at the end of an access road in the southernmost portion of the port off Normanskill Street. Police are investigating the connection between the car theft and Szostak's disappearance. A boat searched the Hudson River near the mouth of the Normans Kill, near where the car was abandoned, and a State Police helicopter flew over the area three times. More than 150 citizens and police and fire volunteers helped with the search Wednesday. Miller said police hope the attention surrounding the case and fliers posted all over Albany's downtown will lead to tips from the public. He said police will continue to interview Szostak's family and friends and will monitor Szostak's credit card and bank accounts. "I don't know how much more of the ground search we'll be doing," Miller said Thursday. Szostak's father, Bill, of Latham, said that the volunteer group Rensselaer County Search and Rescue had a tracking dog Wednesday follow Szostak's scent starting at the Bayou Cafe, 79 N. Pearl St., where he was last seen at 12:15 a.m. Sunday. Bill Szostak, a retired Green Island firefighter, said he thinks his son was walking southwest back to his car, which was left at the Elbo Room, 170 Delaware Ave. Bill Szostak said the search and rescue dog walked to Delaware and Park avenues and stopped. No one from Rensselaer County Search and Rescue could be reached for comment Thursday. The group does tracking for various police agencies. Szostak's family still believes that someone robbed and harmed Joshua on his walk back from the bar. Szostak was attending Hudson Valley Community College this past semester, with plans to return to SUNY Plattsburgh to study journalism. "He got separated from his friends and that's all that happened. He's a good kid," Bill Szostak said. Stanforth can be reached at 454-5697 or by e-mail at lstanforth@timesunion.com. http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories...ate=12/28/2007

01-04-2008, 05:17 PM	#6
Grande Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 8,719	Search is tonight for missing man By DAVID FILKINS, Staff writer Last updated: 8:40 p.m., Saturday, December 29, 2007 ALBANY - Family and friends of Joshua Szostak will retrace his steps tonight, hoping to find the missing 21-year-old who disappeared on Dec. 23. Bill Szostak said the search for his son will start at 10:30 p.m. outside the Bayou Cafe on North Pearl Street, where Joshua was last seen, and will end near the Elbow Room on Morton Avenue, an area where police dogs have indicated he walked to. Family and friends will wear sweatshirts bearing Joshua's face in hopes that someone on the street will recognize him from the night of his disappearance and be able to provide information. http://timesunion.com/AspStories/sto...ate=12/29/2007

01-04-2008, 05:18 PM	#7
Grande Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 8,719	Fingerprints yield no clue to missing man By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer Last updated: 3:27 p.m., Friday, January 4, 2008 ALBANY -- Police have been unable to identify fingerprints lifted from a Department of Environmental Conservation vehicle stolen from the Port of Albany the same night a 21-year-old Latham man went missing downtown. Detectives had hoped the prints might establish whether or not the theft is linked to the disappearance of Joshua Szostak, whose cell phone was later found in the street near the facility. The results neither prove nor disprove that Szostak was in the vehicle, said Detective James Miller, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety. Now, investigators will rely on DNA samples from the vehicle, which they hope will tell them whether Szostak was in the SUV, which was found damaged less than two hours after the young man was last seen. The last known image of Szostak walking alone was taken by a surveillance camera around 12:15 a.m. Dec. 23 at the corner State and North Pearl streets. Not long before, Szostak had left the Bayou Cafe several blocks away. The last text message sent from his cell phone came at 12:17, said his father, Bill Szostak. Miller said the DNA samples were taken to the State Police Forensic Investigation Center in Albany, but it was not clear when the results would come back. The DEC vehicle, which was found at 1:40 a.m. Dec. 23 at the entrance to Dawson's Garage and Scarano Boat Storage, has been a puzzling aspect of the disappearance. The Dodge Durango had sustained damage to its undercarriage. And whoever stole it apparently failed to disconnect a battery-charging machine until after it was smashed into the gate that surrounds the state facility, according to a DEC official. Bill Szostak, however, remains focused elsewhere on a track picked up by a volunteer search crew that seemed to indicate his son was, at some point, on Park Avenue before turning south onto the west side of Martin Luther King Boulevard in Lincoln Park. After about 100 feet, the track crosses the street and then abruptly stops, suggesting Szostak may have gotten into a vehicle, his father said. Yet the reliability of the track, which was discovered several days after Szostak's disappearance, is in question. Miller said police have not been able to confirm it. Meanwhile, Bill Szostak said a printing company donated 40,000 posters and 40,000 business cards with his son's photo. He and others plan to pass them out this weekend. Also, next week police plan to search the Hudson River around the port with a new $2,400 sonar system donated to Troop G dive team last month by the Center for Hope. The group was formed by Doug and Mary Lyall, the parents of Suzanne Lyall, who disappeared from the University at Albany. A reward fund, the Joshua Szostak Search Fund, remains active and donations can be made at any Pioneer Savings Bank, Bill Szostak said, declining to say how large it has grown. "We're numb with emotions and we're in denial," Bill Szostak said. "You watch this on TV, you give a little compassion and you change the channel. To live with it, it's a living hell." http://timesunion.com/AspStories/sto...sdate=1/4/2008

01-04-2008, 05:56 PM	#8
Grande Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 8,719	Father of Joshua Szostak speaks out Updated: 12/30/2007 8:30 AM By: Britt Godshalk LATHAM, N.Y. – “Many times you'd call him on his cell phone and you'd get a ‘Jumbo!’ or a ‘Nashadayma!’” Bill Szostak said. That is how Josh Szostak answers his phone. Now his father wants nothing more than to hear that voice. “At Plattsburgh he was the lead radio jockey and he was nicknamed ‘the Stag.’ You couldn't go anywhere without recognizing him and talking to him,” said Szostak. “Never did drugs, since he turned 21 he's been in college, on the weekends they go out and party and he drinks his beer. He likes his Guinness beer. Typical college kid.” Now pleas to find the Stag flood online sites. His many friends from Plattsburgh, Hudson Valley Community College and Hannaford, where he works, wonder how a guy with such a presence could simply vanish. It was the afternoon of December 22nd. Josh called his family's house in Latham. “He told us he was planning to go out,” Szostak said. Wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with skulls and crossbones on the front, a white t-shirt, baggy jeans and tan sneakers, Josh headed to an Albany bar with enough money to go barhopping with friends around town. From there they went to the Bayou downtown. By midnight, the guys were ready to hit the next bar. Josh made a stop in the men's room. “His friends said they waited about 45 minutes, they were texting him, searching around, they went in the bathroom,” said Szostak. “Through the surveillance video at the Bayou we could see that Josh bypassed them all, went outside, used the cell, looked up and down the street and couldn't see anybody, decided his friends left and started hoofin’ it towards where his car was.” But Josh never made it that far. Video proves his car was left untouched outside the Elbo Room. As hours turned into days, search dogs were deployed to follow his scent. “For some reason the dogs led us down Park Avenue, which is the first cross street in Lincoln Park down by Martin Luther King Monument. If you're a block away from your vehicle, why would you be deterred to go down Park Avenue, unless you happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Szostak said. A couple days into the search - a twist. A car belonging to the state Department of Environmental Conservation was found damaged and abandoned at the Port of Albany. It had been stolen from a downtown garage, steps from where Josh's cell phone was spotted. Police initially labeled Josh a suspect in the car theft, but later recanted that theory, saying they had no evidence to support it. Szostak says he's told Josh's prints aren't in or on the car, which is now being combed for DNA evidence. And he says Josh's cell phone provides no leads because the law bars investigators from reading text messages sent to or from it. Now this former firefighter is facing the fact that passing days with no leads could one day diminish hope. “We still haven't opened Christmas presents. We still wait for him to come home,” Szostak said. “I'm hoping, but working the type of job that I did for over 20 years, I know reality. I know that if my son were alive I would have heard from him. But I hope to God I'm wrong. You see it on TV. You get a little compassion while you watch the story. To live it, it's living hell.” As he prays, he speaks of his son, often falling into the past tense. “Josh would never say goodbye, Josh would end every conversation by saying, ‘peace,’” Szostak recalls. “He was the best son you could have.” Police tell the Szostaks that they will be going over video from cameras set up along the Capitol to see if the police dogs were correct in the trail they think Joshua took. Meanwhile, a fund has been set up to help in the search. You can donate at any Pioneer Bank in the Capital Region. http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:...lnk&cd=1&gl=us

01-05-2008, 07:42 PM	#9
Grande Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 8,719	Search continues for missing man Updated: 1/5/2008 6:28 PM By: Web Staff BETHLEHEM, N.Y. -- Josh Szostak's friends and family were back out, searching Saturday. The Latham man was last seen on December 22nd, leaving the Bayou café in Albany. Szostak attended Plattsburgh State, and Saturday, some of his friends from college handed out fliers in Bethlehem. Police said they looked at Josh's last text messages, but they didn't provide any useful information. That cell phone was near the spot where a Department of Environmental Conservation vehicle was stolen. Police had hoped that fingerprints inside that car would offer information, but say they turned out to be inconclusive. Police say Szostak's disappearance is linked to the stolen car, but they have no concrete evidence to prove it. State Police will also start searching the Hudson River, early next week. They'll be using dive technology that was donated last month the Lyall family. Doug and Mary Lyall's daughter, Suzanne, disappeared in March of 1998. Their organization, the Center for Hope, purchased the Hummingbird Technology. It uses sound waves to identify objects under water. http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/...28745&SecID=33

01-06-2008, 11:20 PM	#10
Grande Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 8,719	New Tip Line for Missing Latham Man Last Update: 7:19 pm The family of a missing Latham man now has some help from a private investigator. Patrick Anastasi is now looking into the disappearance of 21 year old Joshua Szostak. Szostak went missing the Sunday before Christmas. He was last seen outside the Bayou Cafe in Albany. The private investigator has set up a 24 hour anonymous tip line for anyone who may have information on this case. There is also an award being offered. The tip line is 424-7236 http://www.fox23news.com/news/local/...5-0aa53899af63