LANCASTER, NY - Lancaster police and the Erie County DA's office, are looking for new leads in a cold case -- that's nearly 35 years old. Police and Crime Stoppers are offering up to $11,000 for any information leading to an arrest, in the murder of James Adamski.
The trail to find the person or people responsible has gone quite cold.
Lancaster police say investigators with State Police re-interviewed last year people who last saw Adamski and no substantial leads were found. Now, police are asking for the public's help.
In 1982, nearly 35 years ago, Adamski, who was from Cheektowaga and was only 18 years old, went missing. Only to be found a couple months later, murdered -- a victim of a violent crime. Adamski went to Depew High.
"From all accounts we're aware of he was a super friendly guy well liked in high school," said Det. Lt. Jim Robinson of Lancaster Police -- he is one of the lead investigators in finding the person or people who killed Adamski.
"I would like to remain extremely hopeful that there's definitely someone out there that knows the facts," Robinson said.
In the early morning hours of Oct. 31, 1982, Adamski had left a Halloween party that was at a bar that had been located on Transit Road and Eliot Ave. called 5&23. He was walking with a friend in a southernly direction towards View Court in Cheektowaga where Adamski had lived at the time, the two friends split and that was the last time Adamski had been seen.
When Adamski went missing, police and several local fire departments went searching -- they searched the ground for a couple months and it wasn't until the day after Christmas in 1982 that Adamski was found in Lancaster off of Ransom Road, in a field, in a ditch by some railroad tracks.
He died from head trauma. Investigators say they can't talk about the evidence that's been kept over the years, or whether its been re-examined using new technology. They hope a reward of $11,000 can lead to new information and an arrest.
"And just the lapse in time that maybe someone or something could come forward that we didn't have the advantage to in the past," Robinson said.
"We want the family to know that in no uncertain terms the case will remain open until we find the person responsible for this," said Lancaster police chief Gerald Gill.
Anyone with information related to Adamski's murder is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 867-6161. On Thursday, Channel 2's Jeff Preval spoke briefly by phone with one of Adamski's brothers. He says he's happy police are staying on top of this case.