After five years, family continues to seek closure
This weekend, Jerry Cushey Jr. would have celebrated his 35th birthday.
He is spoken of in the past tense because his family believes Jerry is dead.
They have worked tirelessly for closure, for the Christian burial they believe Jerry deserves, but loved ones say they have been foiled and frustrated at every turn by a police investigation they say was mishandled from the start.
"I have cried so many tears so many nights," said Sonya Helmantoler of Monongahela, Jerry's older sister by 15 months. "I don't know why they won't do anything with this case. I will not go away. I want to know what happened."
Jerry disappeared five years ago on the day he was moving into a new apartment with an old acquaintance, Christopher Myers. The pair made plans to move into an apartment above a tattoo business that Mr. Myers owned, Totally Tattoos on Second Street in Monongahela.
Jerry didn't go to work on Oct. 12, 2001, because he planned to do some work on the apartment with Mr. Myers, according to family members. He picked up his paycheck from the local construction company he worked for and cashed it at a local beer distributor after making plans with some co-workers to meet at a local social club later that night.
Jerry never made the rendezvous with his co-workers, and was last seen by a friend outside the tattoo shop early in the evening. Since that time, Mr. Myers has been arrested for impersonating Jerry in phone calls to his mother and police, a possible eyewitness has come forward and new evidence has been unearthed by a private investigator, but no arrests have been made in Jerry's disappearance to the dismay of his family.
continue at link http://www.postgazette.com/pg/06358/748063-58.stm
This weekend, Jerry Cushey Jr. would have celebrated his 35th birthday.
He is spoken of in the past tense because his family believes Jerry is dead.
They have worked tirelessly for closure, for the Christian burial they believe Jerry deserves, but loved ones say they have been foiled and frustrated at every turn by a police investigation they say was mishandled from the start.
"I have cried so many tears so many nights," said Sonya Helmantoler of Monongahela, Jerry's older sister by 15 months. "I don't know why they won't do anything with this case. I will not go away. I want to know what happened."
Jerry disappeared five years ago on the day he was moving into a new apartment with an old acquaintance, Christopher Myers. The pair made plans to move into an apartment above a tattoo business that Mr. Myers owned, Totally Tattoos on Second Street in Monongahela.
Jerry didn't go to work on Oct. 12, 2001, because he planned to do some work on the apartment with Mr. Myers, according to family members. He picked up his paycheck from the local construction company he worked for and cashed it at a local beer distributor after making plans with some co-workers to meet at a local social club later that night.
Jerry never made the rendezvous with his co-workers, and was last seen by a friend outside the tattoo shop early in the evening. Since that time, Mr. Myers has been arrested for impersonating Jerry in phone calls to his mother and police, a possible eyewitness has come forward and new evidence has been unearthed by a private investigator, but no arrests have been made in Jerry's disappearance to the dismay of his family.
continue at link http://www.postgazette.com/pg/06358/748063-58.stm