35 Years On, Bombing That Claimed Life Of Long Island Detective Remains Unsolved

LONG ISLAND, NY — Saturday marked 35 years since the death of Suffolk police narcotics Detective Dennis Wustenhoff, and his family and supporters still hope that there will be justice in his case.

When Wustenhoff got into the unmarked car that he used for his undercover work on Feb. 15, 1990, and a motion sensor detonated a bomb placed underneath, severely injuring the lower portion of his body.

A neighbor pulled him from the burning car and paramedics raced him in an ambulance to a landing site where a helicopter was waiting to airlift him to Stony Brook University Hospital.

He was lucid and was aware of what happened, and was able to speak in the aftermath, but by the time his family arrived at the hospital, he had lost consciousness.

He died about three hours after the bombing.

In a recent post to the Facebook group, "Justice For Dennis Wustenhoff," which was set up in his honor, his daughter, Jenn, noted that another February had begun and it's "like a countdown to neverending heartbreak, frustration, and a void that we can't seem to fill."

It's "a month of lumps in our throats, echos of bagpipes haunting our minds, familiar cold weather, anxiety, and sadness," she said. "In just two weeks, it will be 35 years of no justice for my dad.

She was a teenager and the date of her father's death is "a milestone my 14-year-old self couldn't have fathomed, yet here I am today," she wrote.

Please hold our family in your thoughts this month, and continue to send us strength," she said. "We will never give up."

Wustenhoff, 41, left behind a wife and three children.

He was remembered on Saturday in Facebook posts by the police department, as well as the Police Benevolent Association, who called on anyone with tips to come forward.

Two years ago, the Wustenhoffs added another $35,000 to the previous $65,000 raised between Suffolk's Crime Stoppers' fund and the police unions. Crime Stoppers is offering $30,000, and the remainder has been collected by the police unions.

The total amount of reward money available is $100,000.

Anyone with information about the bombing that killed Wustenhoff can contact Crime Stoppers' anonymous tipline at 1-800-220-TIPS.

The PBA's leadership called Wustenhoff's death tragic, recounting "Thirty-five years later, his family is still seeking justice for his unsolved murder."