Divers return from searching for clues to the disappearance of Jamie Lusher on Greenwater Pond in Becket yesterday. (AP Photo/Berkshire Eagle, Ben Garver)
BECKET – As the mist that hovered over a crystal-clear Greenwater Pond disappeared with the first beams of sunlight yesterday morning, divers from the Massachusetts and New York State Police again readied their gear and prepared to descend into the pond in hopes of uncovering the remains of Jamie Lusher, a Westfield boy who disappeared in 1992 while riding his bicycle to visit his grandmother in Blandford.
By midday, despite the efforts of all involved, the search ended bearing no fruit, as the divers were unable to uncover any remains or articles of the boy’s clothing in the pond after a thorough three-day operation.
After receiving a confession from convicted serial killer Lewis Lent, Jr. for the kidnapping and murder of Lusher, Massachusetts State Police detectives then received further information from Lent divulging the location of where he dumped Lusher’s body, which in turn prompted a collaborative search effort between Massachusetts and New York State Police, as well as Massachusetts Environmental Police.
Lent is currently serving a life sentence in Bridgewater for the kidnapping and murder of a boy from Pittsfield and a girl from upstate New York in the early ’90s.
Pondside yesterday, as the New York State divers shed their grey t-shirts, adorned with their logo of a fierce-looking cartoon octopus, in favor of their thick neoprene dive suits, they joined their Massachusetts counterparts in completing the third and final day of the organized search, making good on their commitment to the Lusher family.
Despite the hourglass running out of sand, the scene hummed with activity at 8:30 a.m., a testament to the dedication of the divers and ground officers alike.
Massachusetts and New York State Police search for the body of James Jamie Lusher on Greenwater Pond on Tuesday in Becket. (AP Photo/Berkshire Eagle, Ben Garver)
By early afternoon, with the divers employing the same grid search of the pond’s mucky floor with the guide of weighted lines, Colonel Timothy P. Alben, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, addressed the assembled media, after waiting for television crews from Springfield and Albany.
Flanked by representatives from Massachusetts State and Environmental Police, as well as the State’s Underwater Recovery Unit and New York’s Division Dive Officers, Alben spoke briefly of the progress of the search as it neared the midpoint of its final day.
“At this point, there is nothing to report of any evidence, but we are not necessarily disappointed in that,” he said.
“We have to manage expectations here. This is a crime that occurred almost 21 years ago,” he said, before comparing the search to that of a needle in a haystack. “But we find needles in haystacks quite frequently in this business. This is far more challenging. The ground varies from gravel to between five inches to several feet of silt.”
Alben went on to explain that the divers were going by hand and touch, and that the water temperature was 44 degrees at the time of the conference.
Alben stated that his divers will be going back to the drawing board.
“We will regroup and strategize this operation. We aren’t abandoning it,” he said. “We are looking for other technology with which to continue searching, and we will be using training dives to go back into this body of water.”
According to Mass. State Police spokesman David Procopio, the divers expanded yesterday’s search to include points further west of where Lent claimed to have dumped the body, but divers still focused a large part of their efforts on that primary search area, roughly the size of a football field.
James Lusher speaks to news media at Greenwater Pond in Becket yesterday. (AP Photo/Berkshire Eagle, Ben Garver)
That section of the pond was marked off by buoys near the shoreline, several yards beneath Route 20, where the fleet of Massachusetts and New York State Police vehicles had been stationed for the past three days.
“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, after he bought pizzas for the divers. “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.”
Lusher went on to thank his family and the press for their support and despite coming up empty handed during this three day search, he hasn’t given up hope.
“We are realistically optimistic that eventually something will turn up,” he said, before saying that Lent unwittingly placed his son in a place he would’ve loved.
“Now I feel fairly confident that I can come to a specific spot on this lake and talk to him,” he said. “Someday, I will see him again.”
“I’d like to thank everyone,” Jamie’s sister Jennifer Nowack said of Massachusetts and New York State Police and their dive units. “This has been the most incredible thing. (My brother) would’ve loved this, with the boats and police officers… I’m truly appreciative. It’s unbelievable.”
Nowack also stated that now she, too, is confident that Greenwater Pond is where Jamie is resting.
“Now when I go down the Mass Pike, I have a place to blow a kiss,” she said.
“This is not over today – not by a long shot,” Procopio said. “We’ll be back here. None of us will forget Jamie.”
In a statement issued yesterday evening, Procopio asks anyone familiar with the pond who may have noticed any personal items or other objects in the water or on the banks to contact the Massachusetts State Police Lee Barracks at (413) 243-0600.
