July 1st marks a sad anniversary in Allegany County. Eight years ago today, 82-year-old Ray Cornelius was found murdered in his Wadsworth Hill Road home in the town of Ward. Family discovered his body and called police. Wellsville Regional News (quite by accident) broke the story of his murder. This site hounded the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation...relentlessly.
This is one of the stories we did:
82-year-old Raymond Cornelius of Wadsworth Hill Road in Ward in Allegany County was murdered July 1st and State Police continue to track down leads. Cornelius was found shot to death inside his home. State Police Senior Investigator Dan Howard told us this afternoon that new leads and additional information is received "hourly." Howard said "it's a process," and police aren't willing to release a possible motive as it may jeopardize the case. He said, "we've had all kinds of leads." Inv. Howard did say the murder scene has been 'released,' noting that the crime scene has been processed. Inv. Howard said area residents have been "very cooperative." He added that they still are asking anyone with trail cams or home security video in the area to reach out to law enforcement. Police said they will continue to investigate this case until a suspect is found and convicted.
July 2, 2019: Criminal investigators with Amity-based state police say they haven't given up on a 2017 homicide that claimed the life of a Town of Ward man. 82-year-old Raymond Cornelius of Wadsworth Hill Road in Ward was murdered July 1st, 2017 and state police continue to track down leads. His body was discovered July 3rd when family became concerned that they couldn't reach him. They drove to his home and made the discovery. State police Investigator Jed Murphy told WRN today that they have "fairly new leads." He said the case is headed in a "new direction" resulting in "new interviews and theories of the crime." He previously said "this is absolutely not a cold case." Troopers said the investigation isn't going to go away and Murphy said he is "never gonna let this go." He said the family of Cornelius calls him monthly and he provides them with updates. He was not comfortable sharing those details. Investigator Cyle J. Pomeroy has now assumed the lead role in the investigation. He also said the case remains active.
Anyone with information is urged to contact New York State Police at Amity.