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New York News
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Father Of Former PSU Student Wants FBI Investigation

http://www.wptz.com/news/16219792/detail.html

Father Believes Foul Play Led To Son's Death

POSTED: 8:52 pm EDT May 9, 2008
UPDATED: 9:06 pm EDT May 9, 2008

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Bill Szostak holds on tightly to every
memory of his son Josh, the 21-year-old Plattsburgh
State Student found drowned in the Hudson Fiver late
last month.

Albany police closed the case a day after his body was
found.

They said the drowning was accidental and there was no
evidence of foul play.

But Szostak's father believes something did happen to
his son the December night he vanished.

He said there are too many circumstances that just
don't add up.

Police initially said they believed his son stole a
DEC vehicle from the Port of Albany the night he
disappeared.

Now, they say the DNA in the vehicle was not
conclusive.

Szostak says there is no way his son could have walked
from downtown Albany to the port in the time frame the
vehicle was stolen.

He said he son was last captured by three security
cameras at 12:17 a.m. walking from a bar in downtown
Albany.

At 12:44 a.m., he said the DEC vehicle was seen
pulling out of a garage in the Port of Albany.

Szostak said he walked the 3.7 miles from downtown to
the garage himself, and said it would have taken Josh
at least 45 minutes to walk.

"Obviously he got put into a vehicle, whether, where
it was, I definitely feel strongly he did not walk all
the way down here. And I know deep down in the bottom
of my heart, he did not accidentally fall in the
river," Szostak said.

Szostak believes another vehicle may have worked in
coordination with the stolen DEC vehicle.

He said one photo shows that another car maneuvered
off the main road to likely avoid getting its license
plate on a surveillance camera.

He said this was not the work of a drunken college
student.

The DEC vehicle ended up abandoned off a dead-end road
near the river, he said.

"Why would a vehicle stolen drive down along the
water's edge, why? Why would you drive, force your
way, ram a gate, to get down to an area where you can
get down to access the river? Why? This is a very
desolate area, my only conclusion is, to dispose of a
body," he said.

Szostak said he wants an FBI investigation into his
son's death and deaths of dozens of other college-age
men around the country.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr. has already called on the
FBI to work with local law enforcement on new leads
and evidence in the string of drownings.

Szostak also wants a state and national protocol for
how to handle missing persons cases.

He said, "If you knew the whole case, you couldn't
close it. There's more than the public knows, there's
a lot of unanswered questions. It's just not a boy
goes missing, boy found in river, end of story.
There's a lot of other areas that need to be looked
at."

He added, "It's my responsibility as my son's father,
he only deserves to have his story told."

Bill Szostak said a scholarship fund is set up in his
son Josh's memory.

The goal is to raise at least $25,000.

Contributions can be made at this address: Bowen
Funeral Home, 97 Old Loudon Road, Latham, NY 12110.
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