Szostak Family Focuses on New Find Near Water

A graffiti smiley face spray-painted on a tree near the Port of Albany is giving new home to the family of Joshua Szostak.

Relatives of the 21-year-old wonder if the innocuous symbol they discovered next to the Hudson River on Wednesday morning is a new clue about what happened to him.

The Latham man left a downtown Albany bar on December 23rd and a boater found his body floating in the Hudson River on April 22nd.

In response to a question about a smiley face symbol being a common one, Bill Szostak, Josh’s father, says, “It might be but I say it’s way too coincidental.”

Jaliek Rainwalker, Missing for 6 Months

ALBANY, N.Y. — It’s been six months since Jaliek Rainwalker disappeared. The 12-year-old from Greenwich was last seen in November, after his adoptive father Stephen Kerr picked him up after a week-long stay with another foster family.

Even though it’s been a difficult six months for Jaliek’s friends and family, they said it’s more difficult not knowing what happened to him.

On Thursday, the Find Jaliek Task Force planned to hold a bake sale in front of Jonathan’s Pizza on North Pearl Street in Albany. The money raised will go toward the search effort.

 

This week, they’ll also be hanging new posters at boat launches on the Battenkill and Hudson rivers, urging people to continue to keep an eye out for Jaliek.

On Sunday, the Texas EquuSearch volunteers used side-scan sonar to search the Hudson River for any sign of Jaliek. They discovered two unusual images, which have been handed over to state police divers. If the divers decide the images are suspicious, they will investigate further.

http://capitalnews9.com/Default.aspx?ArID=115214