By June Mercer | October 26, 2026
Dutchess County
Dutchess County had a quiet Monday on the release front. No new release came from the Sheriff's Office in Poughkeepsie, and the local departments stayed off the wire. The news that did arrive mostly closed loops or added a page to stories already in motion: a missing Wappinger teenager was located in good health, a pursuit that started with a tool theft in Putnam County crossed into Dutchess County before it was stopped with a device New York had never successfully used before, and the investigation around the State Police superintendent's chief of staff added a claim that the man at the center of it lost control of his own accounts.
Missing Wappinger teenager located in good health
The update from the New York State Police was short, and it was the one this county wanted. Cameron Smith, 14, of the Town of Wappinger, has been found.
"Cameron has been located in good health. State Police thank the media and public for their assistance," the State Police said in an update to its earlier release.
Cameron was reported missing after he left his Alpine Drive home on Saturday, October 24, at about 1:43 p.m. His family reported him missing that evening. Troopers asked for the public's help and gave out case number NY2601300332, a description, and the details of what he was last seen wearing and carrying. That appeal was first reported in the October 25 blotter.
The update does not say where Cameron was located or when. It closes the search with the only fact that matters most to the people who spent the weekend watching for a teenager on a silver scooter with a red backpack: he is safe.
Pursuit crosses into Dutchess County and ends with first Grappler stop in New York
Thursday's pursuit started in Putnam County, but for a stretch it belonged to Dutchess County roads.
According to a Putnam County Sheriff's Office press release reported by Hudson Valley Country, deputies were sent at about 6:50 p.m. on Thursday, October 22, to a larceny in progress at the Tractor Supply on Route 311 in Patterson. A man had stolen several power tools and fled in a U-Haul van.
Deputies used license plate reader technology to identify the van, then found it at the Highlands shopping center on Independent Way in Southeast, according to the Sheriff's Office. A deputy tried to stop the van, but the driver refused and led deputies onto I-84 westbound at high speed. The van then moved onto the Taconic State Parkway and into Dutchess County, traveling through East Fishkill before turning back into Putnam County.
Back in Patterson, deputies put stop sticks across Route 311. The sticks deflated the van's tires. Then a deputy used the Grappler, a pursuit intervention device mounted to a patrol vehicle that is designed to stop a fleeing vehicle, and the chase ended after about 30 minutes.
The Sheriff's Office said it was the first successful Grappler deployment in New York State. The device was bought with asset forfeiture funds, at no cost to taxpayers, according to the Sheriff's Office.
"Our deputies stopped a dangerous pursuit, and thankfully, no members of our community were injured by the actions of these two individuals," Sheriff Brian Hess said in the statement. "I'm proud of the work of our deputies, our dispatchers, and our assisting agencies."
Frank V. Commisso and Hilary L. Rampe were charged with numerous violations, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Brother says hacked accounts may be tied to Duffy investigation
The second follow-up reaches the top of the State Police, whose Troop K patrols Dutchess County. It was first reported in the October 25 blotter, when the suspension became public. On Monday, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, the FBI in Albany acknowledged that the State Police had asked it to take over the case involving Lt. Col. Jared W. Duffy, chief of staff to Superintendent Steven James.
"The New York State Police contacted FBI Albany last week to request we adopt this investigation. As this is an ongoing investigation, we will not be commenting further," the FBI said.
A State Police release issued Sunday confirmed that Duffy was suspended without pay. "The New York State Police has asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Albany to adopt the case involving Lieutenant Colonel Jared Duffy. Any further inquiries concerning this case should be directed to the FBI," the release said.
The State Police have not publicly disclosed the reason for the suspension. According to the Democrat and Chronicle, the Albany Times Union reported that the investigation began with a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and, citing multiple police sources, reported that the investigation centered on sexually explicit images of children.
Duffy has served as chief of staff to Superintendent Steven James since October 2024 and has been with the State Police since 2002. The Democrat and Chronicle reported that troopers searched his home in Colonie on Tuesday.
The Times Union also reported, according to the Democrat and Chronicle, that Duffy passed a polygraph examination last week. Duffy's brother, a Buffalo-based lawyer, told the Times Union it appeared that Duffy's email account and a dormant X account had recently been hacked and could be connected to the investigation.
State Police have not publicly confirmed those details. No charges had been filed against Duffy as of Sunday afternoon.
That leaves two accounts of how this began sitting side by side, one from investigators' sources and one from the family, with the FBI now holding the case and saying nothing more.
Charges are accusations; defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
No release dated October 26 was found from the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office (its newest release is dated October 23), the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department, the Hyde Park Police Department, the Beacon Police Department, the Fishkill Police Department, or the Dutchess County District Attorney's Office.
