Weekday top 5: Sheriff discusses 'unique' search for Owasco teen, AuroraFest returns (2024)

When 13-year-old Joseph Wade Czyz was located after a two-day search in Owasco last week, relief quickly gave way to questions.

Why were police bloodhounds and a helicopter being used to find this local youth but few, if any, of the others who go missing?

And how did the teen manage to enter Owasco Elementary School and elude searchers from under their noses for almost two days?

The answers, The Citizen has found, involve several unique and unlikely circ*mstances. Among them, Joseph "basically just disappeared without a trace,"Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck said.

When most youths go missing, authorities have reason to believe they ran away to a friend's home or another familiar destination. But Joseph's disappearance was so unique, Schenck told The Citizen, because he didn't have a history of running away. The teen didn't have a cellphone, either. His parents, Joshua and Rachel Czyz, posted on Facebook that he didn't even take any of his shoes.

"If we had evidence to suggest he was a runaway or he had a place to go, certainly he wouldn't have gotten that much attention," the sheriff said. "It was just a unique situation."

Without any indication that Joseph was intentionally hiding, as authorities would learn when they found him, they had to consider the possibility he was a victim of abduction or another form of foul play. That's why, after he went missing from his family's Owasco home the night of Monday, Aug. 14, Schenck's office was joined by a New York State Police K-9 unit to canvass the neighborhood the next day.

As the search intensified, the missing teen received significant interest on social media. The Facebook post from the sheriff's office announcing the disappearance was shared more than 5,000 times. While that interest led hundreds of volunteers to help with the search, Schenck stressed that it did not influence the search itself — nor did Joshua Czyz's role as chaplain for the sheriff's office.

"(That) did not trigger a different response than would have been given for any other child missing under the same circ*mstances," Schenck said.

That Wednesday, the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office's Air 1 helicopter swept the area as Cayuga County Highland Search and Rescue and others searched and handed out fliers. But it was the criminal investigation division of Schenck's office that traced Joseph to Owasco Elementary that evening, the sheriff said, by determining he was accessing the internet from a school in the Auburn district.

"Being in that area, we went to search the school for him, and sure enough we found him," Schenck said. "Looking back, people might say that was a lot of resources to find a kid who wasn't very far from his own house when he was found, but we didn't know that at the time. ... Had we found that he did in fact meet foul play, or was being held against his will, would the question be — did we do enough?"

Joseph entered Owasco Elementary by jimmying a window, Auburn Enlarged City School District Superintendent Jeff Pirozzolo told The Citizen. A security camera recorded him working on the window's lock for about five minutes before breaking it. But the school's alarm system was disarmed at the time due to capital projects underway there, including an upgrade to that very alarm system.

For the same reason, Pirozzolo continued, the teen's presence in the halls for two days didn't set off any motion sensors. No staff was at the school on those days, either, because the county sheriff's office was holding a school resource officer training. If the janitors were there, the superintendent said, they likely would have spotted the food wrappers Joseph left in the teacher's lounge.

"I don't want people breaking into our buildings. But at least the school provided an environment that kept him safe," Pirozzolo said. "I'm just so glad it was a happy ending."

The Elbridge pizza shop owner arrested earlier this month on a charge of forcibly touching a minor there has pleaded not guilty.

Sotirios "Sam" Gotsis, 57, pleaded not guilty to the class A misdemeanor as well as a charge of endangering the welfare of a child, also a class A misdemeanor, in Elbridge Town Court on Monday.

Gotsis was arrested by state police Aug. 4 for allegedly having sexual contact with "a female under the age of 17" at his restaurant, Dimitri's Pizza, located in Elbridge Plaza at the time, on June 15.

An order of protection for the victim was issued Monday.

According to a copy of the arrest report provided to The Citizen, the victim was an employee of Dimitri's since September 2022 whom Gotsis allegedly touched in an inappropriate manner "constantly," such as rubbing her thigh, pulling her onto his lap and putting his hand on her hip, beginning the following January.

On June 15, the victim said in a deposition, Gotsis allegedly took her to the new Dimitri's location on 1124 Route 5 in Elbridge. While there he grabbed her inappropriately for about 30 seconds and tried to kiss her. When she told him that she didn't like what he was doing, Gotsis allegedly gave her $100 and said "don't tell anybody."

Gotsis is scheduled to next appear in court on Oct. 16.

A man has been arrested for allegedly exposing himself to a woman in a parking lot in the village of Cato.

The Cayuga County Sheriff's Office said in a news release Tuesday that Jeremy J. Wagner, 28, of Victory, was arrested by the office's Patrol Division on Aug. 9. He was charged with public lewdness, a class B misdemeanor.

Wagner is alleged to have exposed himself to a woman at a business parking lot in the village on Aug. 7, the sheriff's office said.

Wagner was processed at the Cayuga County Public Safety Building, issued a mandated appearance ticket and released. He was due to appear in town court at 6 p.m. Monday.

The sheriff's office encourages anyone with more information on the incident or similar incidents to contact Deputy Ashley Lawson at (315) 253-1222. Tips can also be left at cayugacounty.us/452/send-a-tip.

Tipsters can remain anonymous.

After returning last year for the first time in almost a decade, AuroraFest will once again be held this weekend.

The village of Aurora's traditional late summer celebration will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 26. The theme of this year's festival is "Grateful Dead or Alive," inspired by the Dead & Company anniversary concert at Cornell University in May. Some members of the band stayed in the Cayuga Lake village that month, festival organizers told The Citizen.

In keeping with the theme, wearing tie-dye or Grateful Dead clothing will be encouraged. There will be a tie-dye station at the festival, as well as AuroraFest bandanas available to purchase.

AuroraFest events will begin with yoga and a run at 9 a.m. in the Wells College Boathouse on Main Street. The Aurora Farmers Market, with crafters, food and other vendors, will begin there at 10 a.m.

The traditional George and Gloria Peter Parade will line up at 2 p.m. and begin at 3 p.m. at the Aurora Fire Department, and proceed down Main Street to Wells. It will feature Grateful Dead-themed floats, marching bands (including official Buffalo Bills drumline DownBeat Percussion), the Wells stagecoach, classic cars, community members and more. A goddess and a cricket for the parade will once again be named, inspired by the story of the goddess Aurora and the prince she asked Zeus to grant eternal life. Though immortal, the prince continued to age, so she turned him into a cricket out of pity.

As the parade concludes, the AuroraFest celebration will take place at the AA Field at Wells College from 4 to 9 p.m. There will be field games like a pie eating contest and sack races, food trucks Pete's Treats, Pizzeria Azzurri and Muzzi's D'Italia Ice, beverages by Grisamore Cider Works and Treleaven and Bright Leaf wineries, and snacks provided by the Southern Cayuga boys soccer program.

Performing live music at the celebration will beSteam Boiler Works from 4 to 4:30 p.m., Flea Circus from 5 to 7 p.m. and Cruise Control from 7 to 9 p.m.

Then, from 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 27, Peter Palooza will serve as a finale for AuroraFest at 461 Main St. in the village. The event will include live music by Radio London, of Ithaca, with a surprise guest recording artist. There will also be free food and beverages, and more can be brought. The event is named after the late George and Gloria Peter, both prolifically active community members.

Admission and parking for AuroraFest is free and open to the public.

For more information, to register as a vendor, to enter the parade or to learn about volunteer and sponsorship opportunities at the festival, email aurorafestcommittee@gmail.com.

Officials in Sempronius have agreed to take corrective action after a state audit revealed that the town had approved $1.4 million in property tax exemptions without collecting all of the required documentation.

A report from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the Cayuga County town's assessor "did not properly administer all of the real property tax exemptions reviewed and did not ensure applicants provided documentation required to grant an exemption or maintain the documentation."

The audit showed that the assessor granted 278 exemptions on the 2022 assessment roll, collectively reducing the town’s 2023 taxable assessed value by approximately $6.2 million.

A review of the supporting documentation for 58 property tax exemptions, which included agricultural, veteran, senior citizen and other exemptions totaling approximately $2.7 million, found that 32 of them (55%) totaling approximately $1.4 million in town-exempted assessed value lacked one or more pieces of supporting documentation to verify eligibility and the accuracy of the exemption calculation.

Because each exemption impacts the tax roll, the report said, a miscalculated or inappropriately granted exemption can cause inequity among taxpayers.

The report said that exemptions granted may have lacked the original application, soil group worksheet, income support, proof of age or property information.

The key recommendations highlighted in the audit include:

• Ensuring applicants provide supporting documentation before granting exemptions, retaining documentation to support eligibility and periodically verifying that those granted exemptions qualify.

• Reviewing data entered in the real property tax system periodically to ensure accuracy.

Town officials responded to the audit by saying they agreed with the findings and plan to initiate corrective action.