Corey Edkin declared legally dead, Union County case remains open

Corey James Edkin was declared legally dead after a Union County court granted his father’s petition on May 14, a formal change in status that does not close one of the county’s longest-running mysteries. The 2-year-old vanished from a home in New Columbia in October 1986, and state police along with Union County District Attorney Brian Kerstetter say the case remains open nearly 40 years later.

Investigators have long said Corey was sleeping in his mother’s bed before he disappeared. His mother, Debbie Mowery, had left the house in the middle of the night to get pizza, leaving Corey and his siblings with a roommate. Police, rescue teams, dogs, helicopters and divers searched extensively after the child went missing, but no trace of him was found.

The new legal ruling changes Corey’s status in court, but it does not end the investigation. State police have said they believe a family member was involved, and investigators still say leads may exist. The case remained active enough that a statewide investigative grand jury examined it in 2022, and the first arrest tied to the disappearance came in 2023, when Mifflinburg resident Henry Bush was charged with obstruction of administration of law. Bush later waived his preliminary hearing in October 2023.

Grand jury material described a burn barrel fire in Mowery’s backyard the day after Corey disappeared. Investigators said the barrel contained torn children’s clothing and one of Bush’s shirts. A $10,000 reward is also being offered for information that solves the cold case, keeping the possibility of a breakthrough alive for anyone who still has a memory, record or detail that was never shared.

The timeline of Corey’s disappearance has also remained part of the case’s confusion. NamUs lists Corey’s date of last contact as October 12, 1986, while local reporting has commonly used October 13, reflecting the overnight timing described by investigators.

For Corey’s family, the ruling brings a legal acknowledgment that had not existed for decades. For investigators, it leaves the central question unanswered. Corey has never been found, and the disappearance that began in New Columbia in 1986 is still an open Union County case.