Case Details
- Photo URLs:
-
- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 03/25/1996
- Missing From:
- Missing From Kerhonkson, New York
- Classification:
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Gender:
- Male
- Race:
- Race White
- Date of Birth:
- Date of Birth 11/12/1980 (44)
- Age:
- Age 15 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’2, 115 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A green and blue flannel shirt, a hooded green sweatshirt, blue jeans and dark-colored sneakers.
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Blond hair, hazel eyes. Joseph’s left ear is double-pierced. His two upper eye teeth cross over each other. Joseph had a slim, muscular build at the time of his 1996 disappearance and was a track runner. His nicknames are Joe and Joey. His head was shaved at the time of his disappearance, except for his ponytail.
- Details of Disappearance:
- Joseph disappeared on March 25, 1996, after leaving his home in Kerhonkson, New York, to meet friends, Daniel Malak and Alexander Barsky, to watch a comet. He never arrived.
Years later, Barsky confessed to killing Joseph with Malak. They beat Joseph to death with a pipe after smoking marijuana and drinking beer, motivated by a minor argument over something Joseph had stolen. They hid the body, then later moved the remains. Police found evidence supporting Barsky’s confession.
Barsky pleaded guilty to manslaughter and got a short prison sentence because he was almost, but not quite, 16 at the time of the crime. Malak was also convicted of murder after Barsky testified against him.
While some still list Joseph as a runaway, the evidence strongly suggests he was murdered.
- Agency:
- New York State Police
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 03/25/1996