Forest Rangers come up empty handed after all day search

One of the last New York State Forest Rangers leaving Peekskill yesterday after conducting a search for a missing young adult. (Photo by Regina Clarkin)

September 6, 2023

The New York Forest Rangers who spent yesterday combing the woods of Depew Park and Blue Mountain Reservation left Peekskill about 6 p.m. and didn’t find Jason Sacasari Martinez, 22, who has been missing since August 15.

Reached at his office in New Paltz this morning, Forest Ranger Joe Pries said their search of the nearly 1,000 acres of both parks showed nothing unusual.

According to a Department of Environmental Conservation spokesperson, yesterday, Sept. 5 at 7 a.m., Peekskill police reached out to Forest Ranger Pries to assist in the search for a missing 22-year old. Rangers and Peekskill police started preliminary searches last week. Yesterday, seven Rangers joined volunteer searchers, law enforcement officers, and K9 units in the search. The search was not successful. Peekskill police have paused the search while pursuing investigative leads, said the DEC official.

Peekskill Police Lt. Adam Renwick said their “investigation into Jason’s disappearance will continue. We will keep working collaboratively with others agencies to try and locate Jason as quickly as possible.” Those other agencies include the Putnam County sheriff’s office and the Westchester County police said Renwick.

This is the flyer that has been circulating in Peekskill for the past three weeks.

Martinez left his home on Oakwood Drive around noon on Tuesday, August 15 and was last seen walking along by the roundabout on Oregon Road in Cortlandt.

This story was updated at 12:45 p.m. with new information provided by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

About the Contributor

Regina Clarkin, Editor and Publisher

When the Peekskill Herald weekly newspaper ceased publishing in August 2000 it was the first time in the history of the city that there wasn’t a local newspaper. The award-winning weekly was often referred to as the ‘glue’ of the community. Founded on January 9, 1986 by Regina Clarkin, Kathy Daley and Rich Zahradnik with a $7,000 credit card line, the paper filled the void created when the daily Evening Star was sold to Gannett and moved out of town. Founding publisher Regina Clarkin continued to live in the Peekskill Cortlandt area and turned her attention to other life endeavors. Through the ensuing 19 years, Clarkin was frequently stopped in town and asked when she would start up the Herald again. In January 2019, Clarkin decided it was less labor intensive to deliver a weekly blog than a print newspaper so she began posting one story a week about life in Peekskill. After a successful crowd funding campaign in 2020, the Herald was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in July of 2021. Peekskill Herald is a digital relative of the former print edition, featuring many of the favorite aspects of the beloved Peekskill Herald such as old pictures, personality profiles and well written stories about newsworthy events. Regina Clarkin is the editor and publisher of the site. Photo by Joe Squillante