Berkshire County District Attorney David Capeless speaks at a press conference staged to announce that convicted serial child murderer Lewis Lent had confessed and is believed to be responsible for the abduction and murder of 16-year-old Jamie Lusher in 1992. Also speaking at the news conference were Westfield Police Capt. Michael McCabe (center) and Hampden County District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni, right. (File photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
WESTFIELD – It was a warm afternoon on July 15 as local and state law enforcement representatives gathered at South Middle School, blanketed by a crowd of media from near and far, hanging on every word, waiting with bated breath.
The cold case disappearance of James “Jamie” Lusher, a 16-year-old Westfield boy who vanished while riding his bicycle to visit his grandmother over 20 years ago, was getting reopened.
Flanked by retired Massachusetts State Police Lt. Stephen Griffin and Westfield Police Capt. Michael McCabe, who spearheaded the investigation in 1992, current Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, Col. Timothy Alben, and Berkshire County District Attorney David Capeless, Hampden County District Attorney Mark Mastroianni approached the podium to make the announcement.
Mastroianni stated that investigators had received a confession from Lewis Lent, a North Adams man currently serving multiple life sentences in Bridgewater for the kidnapping and murder of a Pittsfield boy in 1990 and a girl from New York State in 1993. Lent said that he had abducted Lusher, killed him, and dumped his body in Greenwater Pond, an 88 square acre lakelet in the town of Becket, nestled between Route 20 and the Massachusetts Turnpike.
James Lusher speaks to news media at Greenwater Pond in Becket. (AP Photo/Berkshire Eagle, Ben Garver)
“The case, after years and years, no longer became about Lewis Lent. It really became about Jamie, about Jamie’s family,” said Mastroianni. “It became about closure, in trying to provide some peace to the family and to the community for what happened to that young boy.”
“We have a belief, and we strongly believe that it’s accurate, that the remains of Jamie Lusher are located in Greenwater Pond in Becket,” he said.
Alben then announced to the media and the Lusher family that the dive units of both the Massachusetts and New York State Police would be suiting up for the next three days to search the pond for the remains of their son and brother.
Jennifer Nowak of Westfield and her father, James D. Lusher Sr., are surrounded by reporters as they speak with the press following a news conference where District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni announced that their bother and son, Jamie Lusher, was abducted and killed by convicted serial child murderer Lewis Lent. (File photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
“This is an enormous challenge,” Alben said. “We remain hopeful, we remain optimistic, but I think we have to be realistic, too.”
The following day, six boats carrying eighteen divers from both agencies began the monumental search, while a helicopter patrolled overhead.
“The divers will be conducting a grid search from the point that we believe is the location of entry for Jamie Lusher,” said David Procopio, spokesman for the Massachusetts State Police, adding that they were looking for bones, clothes, or shoes in the pond.
By the end of the first two days, divers had yet to uncover a trace of Lusher, and a press conference was held by the water’s edge on the morning of July 18, with Alben updating the dissipated media throng and the Lushers, who had overseen the search from a secluded pond bank, breaking their silence.
James Lusher, right, explains how is son “Jamie” looks down from the heavens during a memorial ceremony at the Sgt. John Hussey Memorial Park at the intersection of North Elm Street and Holyoke Road as his daughter Jennifer, center, listens. A memorial bench was placed in the park to honor his son who went missing on November 6, 1992. The park was chosen due to it’s close proximity to the Lusher home. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
“We have to manage expectations here. This is a crime that occurred almost 21 years ago,” Alben said, contrasting the search with finding needles in a haystack. “But we find needles in haystacks quite frequently in this business. This is far more challenging.”
“I would like to thank all of the law enforcement agencies who have been involved in this search effort and over the years,” said Jamie’s father, James Sr. “These are awesome, excellent people who do this not because it’s a job but because they have a passion for it and they put out every effort possible to find my son’s remains.”
“We are realistically optimistic that eventually something will turn up,” he said. “Now I feel fairly confident that I can come to a specific spot on this lake and talk to him. Someday, I will see him again.”
James D. Lusher, Sr, holding on his lap James “Jamie” Lusher and his sister Jennifer, now Jennifer Nowak.
On November 6, months after the search for his body came up empty, Jamie Lusher’s memory would again become a source of joy for his family, as a bench honoring him was placed in the former Clay Hill Park, now Sgt. John Hussey Memorial Park, alongside Route 10/202.
A ceremony was held to commemorate the bench, as his sister Jennifer Nowak, shared her favorite Jamie stories and emphasized the importance of the bench to her family.
“This bench is in the memory of my brother,” Nowak said. “Now when people are walking or riding their bikes up the hill, they will remember my brother.”
Nowak thanked the Westfield PD, represented by Chief John Camerota and McCabe, who the senior Lusher couldn’t say enough about.
“This summer was amazing. The way we were treated, I was stunned, and I’ll never forget it,” he said of the efforts of law enforcement.
As the ceremony ended, and the attendees dispersed, Lusher focused his attention on a table of refreshments and a collection of his son’s favorite toys that Nowak had brought to the event.
He gathered a few of them and said he was planning a dedication of his own.
“I’m going to go… to the pond with one of these,” Lusher said as he clutched several G.I. Joes and Hot Wheels tightly. “This (the bench) is really nice. But my memorial is at Greenwater Pond.”
