An Abandoned Car Unearths A National Mystery

In March 2017 two teenagers from Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, discovered something in the woods that caused quite a stir, and even made them local sensations. Their story went viral and this is why.

How Did It All Begin?

It all started when 15-year-old Alec Yanisko and 18-year-old Joe Delvecchio were out riding their ATVs one evening. This is something they did quite regularly, and didn’t give it a second thought, that something out of the ordinary might happen to them.

A Very Unexpected Ride

They headed to the woods near their homes, a place that’s popular with local hikers and quad bikers. They had absolutely no idea that this ride would be some what life changing, they just set off to do something they both enjoyed doing and did quite often. But this ride would be like not other before.

Something Lurking

As they were enjoying themselves, though, they saw something through the trees. And upon closer inspection, they realized that that something was a car. However, the vehicle’s presence didn’t feel quite right to the two young men. They just knew that this was not just an innocent sighting.

Something Does Not Feel Right

For a start, the car was a quarter of a mile from the nearest road. That in itself was strange and piqued the teenagers’ interest because of this. There was no sign of anyone else around so they decided to check it out even more.

Chilling Scene

Then Yanisko and Delvecchio saw that the car was actually stuck. It seemed to be some sort of mystery they had to unfold, but it was quite eery. Was someone in the car? How long had it been there? They went with their instinct to stay at the scene and investigate. It was beginning to get dark, but they decided to stay.

Upon Closer Inspection

So the boys went even closer to check it out. After doing so, they saw that the car was caught on a log; what was even more unnerving, however, was the fact that some of the windows were smashed. Furthermore, there was no one to be seen nearby. What could have caused this? They had so many unanswered questions that needed to be resolved. Where was the person who was driving?

Looking For A Helpful Clue

As it appeared abandoned, the pair decided to look and see if they could find any clues as to the identity of the owner. They carefully looked through the car, checking the glove compartment, under the seats, in the trunk. They even checked the woods and the track to see if anything had fallen on the path that could give them more of an idea of the situation.

A Clue Was Found But What Did It Mean?

In their search, they discovered something that seemed to point the way: a Sam’s Club retail card, which belonged to a man named Edwin Kosik. This was definitely a clue to piece together their puzzle, but what would it reveal?

What Would They Unravel?

Because they didn’t recognize this name at first, they thought they could check out who he was on Facebook. And it was this online search that told them everything they needed to know about the bizarre situation. Just by typing in his name, it gave them the clues they needed, but what was it that they unravelled?

An Important Car It Seemed

In particular, when they typed his name into a search engine, they found numerous news reports about him. It turned out that he was a 92-year-old well known and respected federal judge who had been missing for the previous two days. What had they just stumbled upon by accident? Are they now embroiled in this search?

Vanished, But Is There More Than Meets The Eye?

But the elderly man was nowhere to be seen around the wreck. The teenagers were understandably totally freaked out, then, and instead of staying around the scene, they rushed home. All the while, they didn’t know what their discovery in the woods meant for the old man.

Police Search Begins

After the boys had told their parents about what they found, however, the police were called immediately. And officers  asked the young men to show them where the car was, which they did. But there was still no sign of Kosik in the woods. This was really freaking the men out.

What Did It All Mean?

“I was a little scared,” Yanisko told The Times-Tribune in April 2017. “I didn’t think they’d find him alive.” Meanwhile, after the pair had shown police the abandoned car, law-enforcement officials organized a huge search party, which included specially trained dogs. It was becoming far bigger than the boys had ever imagined.

Locals Were Very Worried

Highway message boards across Pennsylvania were even flashing information about the Federal judge that went missing. “I’m shocked. I’m very upset because he’s a great man and we don’t want anything happening to him” said Georgia Fisch, of Madison Township. Like many people in the North Pocono Region — Georgia Fisch had known Judge Kosik for years. She drove around Thursday on her own — looking for any clues about his whereabouts. “I’ve gone up the mountain, Aston mountain, checking the back roads and stuff, just seeing if he made a wrong turn somewhere and got lost!”