Body of Missing Woman Found in River, Educator Sister Arrested as Victim's Phone Found in Dunkin' Donuts Trash

10/21/2024 04:06 PM

Penny Busch, 62, was allegedly strangled by her younger sister Jamie Busch, per police

Authorities in New York State arrested a 53-year-old woman after recovering the body of her sister from a river several days after the victim disappeared. 

Penny Busch, 62, was found dead the Genesee River in the Town of Rush, N.Y., on Oct. 14, prompting the arrest of her sister Jamie Busch, according to a statement from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. 

The investigation began earlier this month after Penny could not be located by Monroe County law enforcement officials when they performed a welfare check in her home in on Oct. 11, the sheriff's office said. 

Police considered her disappearance "suspicious" and began a search, per the statement.

On Oct. 14, following a weekend of extensive searches including on Penny's eight-acre property, police recovered a body from the Genesee River, located about an hour from the victim's Honeoye Falls home, the sheriff's department said in their statement.

After the body was identified to be Busch's, "investigators established significant evidence and probable cause" that led to Jamie's arrest, per the statement. 

In a felony complaint shared by WHEC and reviewed by PEOPLE, investigators allege Jamie strangled Penny on Oct. 8 between 4:50 p.m. and 11:59 p.m. during a physical altercation. 

Early in the morning on Oct. 9, investigators allege, Jamie threw away Penny's three phones in the trash at a Dunkin Donuts store. 

Sometime between the alleged killing and Oct. 12, Jamie allegedly "discarded" her older sister's body in the Genesee River, the complaint states. 

Investigators have not commented on a motive. 

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Jamie was an employee at the Honeoye Falls-Lima Middle School, the school's superintendent said in a statement, sharing that the community has been "deeply impacted" by the incident.

"We are shocked and saddened by the reports," superintendent Gene Mancuso said in the statement.

According to 13 WHAM, Jamie worked as a paraprofessional for the district. She has been placed on leave by the school, per Mancuso's statement.

Jamie is facing one count of second-degree murder and two counts of tampering with evidence, per the sheriff's office. She has been arraigned and is being held without bond, per 12 WHAM, the Finger Lakes Times and the Democrat and Chronicle. It wasn't immediately clear if Jamie has entered a plea or retained an attorney to speak on her behalf.

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