Philadelphia police are continuing to investigate a home in the city’s Olney neighborhood that has been linked to at least five women presumed dead. The disappearances have drawn investigators’ attention to a father-and-son pair who lived at the property.
Authorities said they found a large collection of digital images inside the house, along with what they described as a chemical “laboratory” and a small marijuana-growing operation. Eugene Horsch, the property’s owner, was arrested in June and faces firearms and drug charges. His father, R.C. Horsch, also lived there before his death last year.
Here is what is known so far about the investigation.
Eugene Horsch arrested in June
Eugene Horsch was first arrested in June after a park ranger found him illegally parked near Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park, according to a criminal complaint. When the ranger approached the 44-year-old, he saw a woman inside the vehicle. The identification she provided belonged to Blair Tonzelli, another woman who has been missing since 2023.
A search of Horsch and the vehicle allegedly turned up a switchblade, two firearms, drug paraphernalia and documents falsely identifying him as a DEA agent, the complaint says. Horsch was arrested and faces charges involving the alleged forged credentials, as well as drug and weapons offenses.
Search of Olney home
Later in June, law enforcement officers searched Horsch’s home in Olney.
Investigators discovered concealed spaces containing hazardous chemicals, a 55-gallon drum attached to hoses and other piping, a small marijuana operation and what authorities described as 120 pieces of ballistic evidence.
The searches also yielded “over 1 million digital images,” including “tons of pictures of lots of people, women, posed in different positions within that house,” Philadelphia Police Department Deputy Commissioner of Investigations Frank Vanore said Wednesday. Police said some of the images appear to show women who were reported missing and were last seen with Eugene Horsch. Several videos also appear to include R.C. Horsch, while investigators said none of the footage reviewed so far features Eugene Horsch.
Investigators have identified 58 people in the recovered images. Sixteen have been located alive but are not cooperating with police, while another 25 have been found alive and have interviews scheduled. Five women appear in photos or videos with injuries, and at least one person appears to be dead. Police said they believe they know the identities of four of those five women.
Police also recovered five urns they believe may contain human remains. Authorities said one urn may hold the remains of R.C. Horsch, another may contain the ashes of his sister and a third may hold the remains of a friend.
As of Wednesday, however, investigators had not confirmed that any human remains were at the property, including remains potentially connected to criminal activity.
At least five missing women linked to Olney home
Police said at least five women who have been missing for years appear to be connected to the Olney house. They have been identified as Gabrielle Amarando, Maribel Fresses, Nicole Fusaro, Amy McHale and Tonzelli.
Amarando, 27, has been missing since 2012. Police said she is among the women shown in images dated to 2017 that were found inside the home. Fresses, 26, also appears in images from 2017, according to investigators.
McHale has been missing since 2016. On the night she disappeared, she left her daughter a voicemail saying she was at the Olney home with R.C. Horsch, her family has said. Her daughter, Amanda Stofer, said McHale and Horsch met in the 1990s, married and later divorced, although they remained friends. The family said McHale went to his house after an argument with her mother.
One video recovered from the home, also dated to 2017, shows R.C. Horsch and a woman naked, police said. At one point, the footage shows Horsch handcuffing the woman to a bed.
“He puts a zip tie around her neck, and she becomes unconscious on that video. Appeared to be lifeless at that time, but it’s just appearing that way. I have to caution you, and emphasize, we never recovered a body here,” Vanore said.
“We still need to find evidence to corroborate what appears to have happened in this video,” he said.
Vanore said they believe some of the videos involved include “play-acting” while other events “could be real.”
Jericka Duncan,
Joe Brandt,
Brandon Goldner,
Joe Holden and
Tom Ignudo
contributed to this report.
