Created in loving memory of Joshua Bressette
Joshua Stephen Bressette
June 6, 1988-May 8, 2014
As a child Josh always had a smile on his face and not a care in the world. He was headstrong and free spirited. He strived to be unlike anyone else. He had his own style - he was the coolest person I ever knew. Even at age 3 he would often wear 2 different shoes on his feet. He would wear a race car sneaker and a teenage mutant ninja turtle boot..no matter how many times I tried to get him to wear a pair of matching shoes like everyone else did, he insisted on being different. I absolutely loved this about Josh. He never cared what anybody else thought he always just did his own thing.
Josh was a walking work of art. He started begging for a tattoo when he was 10 or 11 and I have to say it was a long 5 or 6 years of him trying to convince me he had to have one. Finally when he turned 16 I told him he could have one if he designed it himself and if I approved of it. This began his obsession with tattoos and he had too many to count!
Josh was an amazing person. He was always a leader and knew exactly who he was. Josh had a huge heart and cared about everyone especially family and friends. He loved riding dirt bikes, having fires in the woods, his truck, animals, doing wheelies, working on bicycles, guitars, and music. Josh had a rebel soul but no matter what he loved with all his heart. He is greatly missed.
“If I knew then what I know now”, I could have saved him
Josh was addicted to heroin for several years. I did not know nor understand what he was going through. I am not even sure where it all began. I have been told that Josh originally tried Oxycontin when given to him by one of his friends. A broken jaw in the summer of 2007, requiring surgery, helped fuel his addiction to pain pills. As with most stories of opioid use, once the pain pills were no longer affordable and/or available his dealer offered him heroin and told him he would need to sell it if he wanted the supply to continue.
They should have protected him.
In the beginning of September 2013 I received a phone call from a detective of the North Adams Police Department she stated to me that Josh was selling heroin and that his apartment was going to be raided. I could not imagine how this could possibly be true until a day or so later, Joshua came to me and told me that he had gotten picked up by the Berkshire County Drug Task Force on a search warrant. I could not (for a split second) imagine my son doing or selling heroin. Then it all became crystal clear-his appearance, his attitude, his constant need for money. I was sick to my stomach and even sicker once Josh told me that the police hadn't arrested him in exchange for becoming an informant. At this point I felt as if my heart was going to explode. I told him to go back and tell them that he had made a mistake and that he changed his mind and needed to be arrested. Josh said it was too late. He had made a fatal mistake and we both knew it.
Josh’s dealer was arrested as a result of his cooperation with authorities
Josh was murdered in May of 2014 by his heroin dealer. We may never know the exact date of his death. Josh was taken from his hometown on May 5, 2014 and driven to Bronx NY. He was found shot to death on the roof top of a housing complex at 711 Magenta Street, Bronx NY on May 8, 2014 at 10 pm. Because Josh's wallet and other personal items had been taken from him, the authorities in the Bronx were unable to identify him.
When my oldest son and I found out early in the morning on May 6 that Josh was missing, we immediately began searching for him. In the following days, family members, friends, and local community members, searched frantically and non-stop for Joshua.
On May 6th, 24 hours after his disappearance Josh's grandmother filed a missing person’s report. The local authorities waited to enter Josh into the missing person’s data base on May 8th. On May 15th at 10:30 pm, 10 days into our search, the Massachusetts State Police came to our house to tell us that Joshua had been found in New York and that he was a victim of murder.
It took another week before Josh could be sent back to us for his funeral. I was not allowed to see his body, even though I asked to, just to prove to myself that this nightmare I was living in was real. I was told that too much time had passed since his death and that "time" had taken its toll on his body. In reality, I did not need to see my son's body to know that he was truly gone. Even as I was searching miles of train tracks, woods, and back roads for Josh, I knew in my broken heart that heroin had taken my beautiful son from me forever.
GET HELP TODAY, BEFORE YOU LOSE ALL THAT YOU LOVE!
Josh was addicted to heroin for several years. I did not know nor understand what he was going through. I am not even sure where it all began. I have been told that Josh originally tried Oxycontin when given to him by one of his friends. A broken jaw in the summer of 2007, requiring surgery, helped fuel his addiction to pain pills. As with most stories of opioid use, once the pain pills were no longer affordable and/or available his dealer offered him heroin and told him he would need to sell it if he wanted the supply to continue.
They should have protected him.
In the beginning of September 2013 I received a phone call from a detective of the North Adams Police Department she stated to me that Josh was selling heroin and that his apartment was going to be raided. I could not imagine how this could possibly be true until a day or so later, Joshua came to me and told me that he had gotten picked up by the Berkshire County Drug Task Force on a search warrant. I could not (for a split second) imagine my son doing or selling heroin. Then it all became crystal clear-his appearance, his attitude, his constant need for money. I was sick to my stomach and even sicker once Josh told me that the police hadn't arrested him in exchange for becoming an informant. At this point I felt as if my heart was going to explode. I told him to go back and tell them that he had made a mistake and that he changed his mind and needed to be arrested. Josh said it was too late. He had made a fatal mistake and we both knew it.
Josh’s dealer was arrested as a result of his cooperation with authorities
Josh was murdered in May of 2014 by his heroin dealer. We may never know the exact date of his death. Josh was taken from his hometown on May 5, 2014 and driven to Bronx NY. He was found shot to death on the roof top of a housing complex at 711 Magenta Street, Bronx NY on May 8, 2014 at 10 pm. Because Josh's wallet and other personal items had been taken from him, the authorities in the Bronx were unable to identify him.
When my oldest son and I found out early in the morning on May 6 that Josh was missing, we immediately began searching for him. In the following days, family members, friends, and local community members, searched frantically and non-stop for Joshua.
On May 6th, 24 hours after his disappearance Josh's grandmother filed a missing person’s report. The local authorities waited to enter Josh into the missing person’s data base on May 8th. On May 15th at 10:30 pm, 10 days into our search, the Massachusetts State Police came to our house to tell us that Joshua had been found in New York and that he was a victim of murder.
It took another week before Josh could be sent back to us for his funeral. I was not allowed to see his body, even though I asked to, just to prove to myself that this nightmare I was living in was real. I was told that too much time had passed since his death and that "time" had taken its toll on his body. In reality, I did not need to see my son's body to know that he was truly gone. Even as I was searching miles of train tracks, woods, and back roads for Josh, I knew in my broken heart that heroin had taken my beautiful son from me forever.
GET HELP TODAY, BEFORE YOU LOSE ALL THAT YOU LOVE!