By June Mercer | Local News | October 25, 2026
Dutchess County
Sunday was a quiet one on the wires in Dutchess County. No new release landed from the Sheriff’s Office in Poughkeepsie, and the local departments stayed off the blotter. But quiet on the release front did not mean nothing was happening. Out in the Town of Wappinger, State Police spent the weekend looking for a 14-year-old who walked away from home Saturday afternoon and had not come back. And up at State Police headquarters, the day brought news that reaches every troop in the state, Troop K included: the superintendent’s own chief of staff has been suspended without pay, and the FBI has been asked to take over the investigation that led there.
State Police are searching for a missing Wappinger teenager
The search starts on Alpine Drive in the Town of Wappinger. Cameron Smith, 14, left his residence there on Saturday, October 24, at about 1:43 p.m., according to the New York State Police. His family reported him missing that evening, and troopers have been looking for him since.
Cameron is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds, with dark hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black knit hat, a black puffy winter jacket, light blue ripped jeans, and black-and-white sneakers. He was carrying a red backpack and a silver Razor scooter.
That is a specific picture, and it is worth holding onto if you are anywhere in the Wappinger area this week. A teenager on a silver scooter with a red backpack is the kind of detail that sticks when you pass it on the road.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the State Police at 845-677-7300 and reference case number NY2601300332.
Source: Highlands Current, published October 25, 2026, reporting New York State Police information.
State Police chief of staff suspended as FBI is asked to take over investigation
The second story sits far from Dutchess County on the map, but it lands close to home for anyone who drives these roads. Troop K troopers patrol the Taconic and answer calls across the county, and their chain of command runs straight to headquarters in Albany.
On Sunday, the State Police announced that Lt. Col. Jared Duffy, chief of staff for Superintendent Steven James, is being suspended without pay. The suspension follows a search of Duffy’s home in Colonie, a suburb of Albany, carried out on Tuesday as part of an ongoing investigation. Duffy was also reportedly taken into custody and interviewed by State Police.
A State Police spokesperson says the agency has asked the FBI’s Albany Field Office to take over the case. An FBI spokesperson said: “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.”
Citing multiple police sources, the Albany Times Union previously reported that the investigation centered on sexually explicit images of children. That is a report about the focus of an investigation. It is not a charge, and as of Sunday afternoon no charges had been filed against Duffy.
Duffy joined the State Police in 2002 and has served as James’s chief of staff since October 2024, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Source: WAMC, published October 25, 2026.
Halloween patrols are now underway
One more note for the week ahead, and it is a short one. The statewide campaign against impaired and reckless driving that was announced on Saturday is now in its first day. The enforcement period runs from Sunday, October 25 through Saturday, October 31, funded by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee. Sobriety checkpoints will be part of the mix, along with stepped-up attention to underage drinking.
For drivers in Dutchess County, the practical meaning is simple: more troopers and more local patrol cars on the road through Halloween night. During last year’s initiative, officers statewide issued 44,545 citations, including 1,210 for impaired driving and 8,701 for speeding.
Source: Office of the Governor, release dated October 24, 2026.
Charges are accusations; defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
No release dated October 25 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.
