Cushey resided in Union Township, Pennsylvania in 2001. He was employed at Forward Construction Inc. at the time. Cushey was staying with a friend, Christopher Myers, at an apartment above Totally Tattoos, a business owned by Myers in the 200 block of Second Street in Monongahela, Pennsylvania in October 2001. Myers and Cushey had not seen each other for ten years before they had a chance encounter the week before Cushey vanished and Myers invited him to stay at his apartment. Cushey was last seen inside Totally Tattoos on October 12, 2001. He did not go to work that day because he planned to some work on the apartment with Myers. He did pick up his paycheck from the construction company that employed him, cashed it, and made plans to meet friends at a bar that evening. Cushey never arrived at the bar and has never been heard from again.

Myers's vehicle was discovered over an embankment on Morgan Run Road in Morgantown, West Virginia, in the Cheat Lake area, on October 16, four days after Cushey disappeared. A stick had been placed on the van's gas pedal and the vehicle crashed into a tree at the bottom of a 30-foot embankment; the tree kept it from running into a stream. There was no sign of Cushey or anyone else at the scene. After the vehicle was found, Myers reported that Cushey had stolen it, and $1,500, from him. Authorities returned the van to Myers shortly afterwards.

Cushey had borrowed his father's Jeep Wrangler prior to his disappearance. At 11:00 p.m. the day after he vanished, the vehicle was found parked outside Cushey's father's residence. It had been wiped clean of fingerprints. Cushey's father reported seeing a man, not Cushey, park the car in his yard. Myers later admitted to having left the Jeep there, and was charged with obstructing the administration of law as a result. Cushey's sister reported that someone called her claiming to be Cushey and stating he was in Oklahoma and safe, but she did not believe the caller was actually her brother.

Authorities searched a portion of Cheat Lake in West Virginia in November 2001 in an attempt to locate evidence pertaining to Cushey's case. They found a hat that Cushey's family members believe was his, but nothing else. In 2006, investigators searched the Mon River, which is a block and a half from where Cushey was last seen, and some items were located, but additional information about the search was not released. Cushey's family hired a psychic, who said that her visions of Cushey's whereabouts were connected to the lake. His relatives suspect that foul play was involved in his case. They said that it is uncharacteristic of Cushey to leave without warning.

During the search for him, Cushey's sister received a threatening phone call from an anonymous person who warned them to "back off" and stop searching for Cushey or "something would happen." The individual has never been identified. Cushey's parents also got telephone calls from a man saying he was their son, and giving various reasons as to why he had left of his own accord. The man was not Cushey and Myers was later charged with impersonating him over the phone. He stated he felt the police were targeting him (he has a juvenile criminal record for burglary) and he moved Cushey's father's car and made the telephone calls in an effort to cast suspicion elsewhere.

Cushey's case remains unsolved.