http://coldcasesquad.blogspot.com/2012/07/mystery-on-mountain-disappearance-of.html
Mystery on the Mountain: The Disappearance of Joseph Helt
The Disappearance of Joseph Helt
Ellenville New York Case Still Haunts Town
By: Gina Schuster
Joseph Helt
It was January 16, 1987 when Joseph David Helt, age 17, from Ellenville NY, left a party with 3 acquaintances and mysteriously disappeared into the night. For 25 years, no trace of him has ever been found.
On Friday, January 16, 1987, just like many other Friday nights, Joe and other teenagers from Ellenville, NY were going up to the usual party spot, the old Mount Cathalia ski lodge. It was in Cragsmoor, just 3 miles outside of Ellenville. The ski lodge had been long ago abandoned, having been partially burned in the late 1970s. But the building next to the lodge, which served as a full bar with a fire pit when the lodge was in operation, remained intact. It was this building that the kids used as a party spot.
During the evening, Joe spent time at Mt. Cathalia talking with different people and at one point he got into a fight with three particular individuals: John LaForge, 21, Wade Marks, 18, and Kelly Diaz,16. The fight got so heated that people started to move away, for fear that it was about to get physical. After the fight Joe nervously asked someone for a ride home, but this person already had a car full of people and could not take Joe. About an hour later, Joe left the party with these three individuals in LaForge's car. Little did Joe's friends know that was the last time anyone would see him.
Mt. Cathalia
From the point that Joe left the party, the only people to see him were the three in the car with him. They claim that they went for a ride down a road not far from the party called Sam's Point Road, about 2 1/2 miles away. They claim that the car got stuck in a ditch about 1 mile from the Sam's Point Preserve gatehouse, and that after several failed attempts to get the car out, Joe got upset and left the car to walk the 5+ miles back to Ellenville. By this time it was around 3:30am in the middle of January. Joe wasn't wearing a winter coat (he had a camouflage jacket and sweatshirt on) and he did not have gloves or a hat. He was wearing high top sneakers. No winter gear at all. Marks and Diaz claim to have left 20 minutes later and walked the 2+ miles to Marks house (which was less than 1/4 mile from the original party at Mt. Cathalia in Cragsmoor). Ten minutes later LaForge claims to have walked the 2+ miles to his house which was also in Cragsmoor. Whatever really happened that night, three made it safely back home, but Joe was never seen again.
Rescue workers got up to the mountain the night of Sat. Jan. 17th to start the search. It started to flurry that night, and over the next few days a huge snow storm moved into the area dumping over 2 feet of snow on the area. The search was called off after just 6 days. Even through the storm, search and rescue teams scoured the mountain for 6 days, searching near Sam's Point and the surrounding area. The search teams included NY State Forest Rangers, State Police helicopters, tracking dogs, local police, local volunteer firefighters and numerous friends, relatives and neighbors. But nothing was ever found, no trace of Joe, no evidence that he had even been on the mountain. Joe simply disappeared without a trace. In fact, one of the NYS DEC rangers stated in newspaper articles that no tracks were ever found where the three claimed the car got stuck. He also voiced his belief that there was more to this story than was told. (see article in Times Herald Record, 4/1/1990 "Mystery on Mountain Goes Unsolved"
http://tinyurl.com/76dyo3b . After spring came and the snow thawed, additional search efforts commenced, but no trace of Joe was ever found.
Within weeks of Joe's disappearance, Wade Marks was mysteriously packed up by his father and shipped to Tennessee to live with his mother. After many years in Tennessee (Hamilton County), and a very brief return to New York, Wade moved to Vermont where he still lives to this day.
Witnesses have come forward, each of whom had direct conversation with Kelly, Wade and or John. Within these witness accounts, the three each made different statements indicating that their initial account of the night's events were inaccurate and that there was a physical confrontation between Joe the three. One of the three even made statements of questionable behavior on the part of one of the three that led to something happening to Joe.
In a Times Herald Record article dated Jan. 20th, entitled "Buddies Join in Search on Ridge", LaForge told the reporter that Marks called him at 3:30pm on Sat. Jan 17th to tell him that Joe was missing (here is a link to the story:
http://tinyurl.com/7kzbdxs. However, no one knew that Joe was actually missing until after 5pm on Sat. Jan 17th. LaForge is quoted in the article stating that he and Wade had knowledge that Joe was missing a full two hours before it was known that he was actually missing. Joe's mother, Lee Ann, had expected Joe to stay with friends the night of the 16th and then go to work the night of the 17th at the Napanoch Auction Barn. When Joe failed to show up for his shift, his boss, Vic, called Joe's mother, who then checked around for Joe and when it became apparent that Joe was nowhere to be found, she contacted Ellenville Police.
Joe's case was assigned in 2010 to a State Police Detective, Thomas Fortuna, and a missing persons flier was put together. It was at that time, 23 years after Joe disappeared, that he was first registered with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Joe's case was added to the NYS Police Missing Person's site in April 2011. Why he was never added to these sites earlier remains a mystery. Curiously, in an NBC interview in February 2011, a NYS Police spokesperson stated that the three have never and are not considered persons of interest or suspects (
http://tinyurl.com/7y8jalv).
New evidence has recently come to light which has given a couple of new leads to investigators. The investigators are in the process of following these leads right now. If things are followed up on, these leads could very well lead to answers in Joe's case.
You can read more about Joe's case on facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/Justice.For.Joe.Helt.. You can read news articles, watch news videos and take a look at photos of Joe on the website:
http://forjoehelt.webs.com/. Joe's family is currently raising a reward for information in his case. To donate, please go to
https://www.facebook.com/Justice.For.Joe.Helt/app_117708921611213.
If you have a tip, no matter how small you may think it to be, we urge you to call the lead investigator in Joe's case, Mr. Thomas Fortuna of the NYS Police. His direct phone number is 845-626-2863. You can also reach the private investigator working with Joe's family, Mr. Robert Rahn, at 1-800-490-2267.
Additional news accounts on Joe's case from 1987 to current:
http://forjoehelt.webs.com/apps/links/
Cold case feature articles on Joe's case:
http://forjoehelt.webs.com/apps/blog/
Video news footage and blog talk radio episodes on Joe's case:
http://forjoehelt.webs.com/apps/videos/
About the Author
Gina Schuster was Joe Helt's classmate in high school in 1987 when he disappeared. She is presently working with Joe's aunt, Beth Churchill and Joe's close friend, Jackie Mennella to raise awareness for Joe's case through social media and an independent website. Gina worked for years as an accountant and later as a marketing director in charge of the health insurance division for a business to business marketing firm until 2007 when complex and degenerative spinal and nerve issues forced her to stop working. While she is presently in a wheelchair and very physically limited, she is passionate about finding answers for Joe, for his family and for all who love and care for Joe.