NEW COLUMBIA, Pa. — A face many people in our area will recognize, two year-old Corey Edkin went missing from his home in New Columbia in 1986. Now nearly 37 years later, someone has been charged in connection with the case. 54-year-old Henry Bush of Mifflinburg has been charged with Obstruction of Administration of Law. Investigators accuse him of lying about his relationship with Corey's mother Debbie Mowery.
According to State Police, Corey disappeared from his home in Union County on October 13th, 1986. He was reported to have been sleeping in his mother's bed before he went missing. Investigators say Mowery left the home in the middle of the night to get pizza, leaving Corey and his siblings with a roommate. When Mowery got home, Corey was not there.
Now, a grand jury report that was just unsealed shows that Henry Bush has been a focus of this investigation. The report reveals that he spent an excessive amount of time with Debbie Mowery in the days before Corey's disappearance. Bush was 18 at the time. The grand jury report shows that in 2020 Bush told State Police investigators that he was not romantically involved with Mowery back in 1986, but sometimes washed her car and mowed her lawn. Bush told investigators that he was not at Mowery's house at the time of Corey's disappearance.
But in the grand jury report, investigators reveal there was a fire in a burn barrel in Mowery's backyard the day after Corey went missing. The burn barrel contained torn children's clothing and one of Henry Bush's shirts.
According to court papers, when interviewed in 2020, Bush told investigators he had not had contact with Mowery for at least several days. He also said in 2020 that he could not remember if he stayed overnight at the home on the weekend when Corey disappeared. Then, a couple years later, Bush told the grand jury that he had lied to State Police about his relationship with Mowery.
Henry Bush is due back in court late next month for a preliminary hearing on the misdemeanor obstruction charge.
According to State Police, investigators believe a family member was involved in Corey's disappearance. A $10,000 reward is being offered for information that solves this cold case. Corey Edkin would be 39-years-old today. If you have any information on his disappearance, call State Police.