Philadelphia police say digital evidence recovered from an Olney home suggests at least two missing women died inside, the latest disturbing development surrounding a property linked to years of disappearances and unanswered questions.
No remains of the women have been found.
“Usually when we have a homicide investigation, we have body parts,” Philadelphia Police Inspector Raymond Evers said. “This time we do not.”
Evers described the evidence recovered from the home at 417 West Chew Avenue as “graphic and dark” and said the case could become one of the largest death investigations ever handled by the Philadelphia Homicide Unit.
The latest development marks a major turn in an investigation that began nearly two months ago and has since expanded to include multiple missing women, federal investigators and an extraordinary volume of digital evidence.
Investigation Began With Encounter Near Independence Mall
The investigation began June 19, when a park ranger encountered 44-year-old Eugene Albert Horsch and a woman inside a black BMW near Independence Mall.
During a June press conference, Philadelphia Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said the ranger noticed some type of disturbance inside the vehicle. According to NBC10 Philadelphia when the ranger approached, he reportedly heard the woman say words to the effect of, “You’re going to hurt me.”
Authorities said the encounter led to a closer investigation of Horsch and the vehicle.
Investigators allegedly found Horsch in possession of fraudulent DEA credentials and a switchblade. Two firearms recovered during the encounter had serial numbers Vanore described as “obliterated.”
The woman accompanying Horsch allegedly presented fraudulent identification and had a bank card bearing the name of Blair Tonzelli, a woman who was reported missing in 2023.
That discovery ultimately led Philadelphia police and DEA task force officers to the West Chew Avenue property, which had belonged to Horsch’s late father, Raymond “R.C.” Horsch, who died in May 2025.
Search of the Chew Avenue Home
When investigators executed a search warrant at the residence, authorities said they discovered another fraudulent federal badge, an illegal firearm and firearm parts, five urns believed to contain cremated remains and more than 20 containers holding unknown substances.
According to KYW Newsradio investigators also uncovered a marijuana-growing operation with a street value of more than $280,000.
The home in Olney as the last known location of Amy McHale, who vanished in 2016/Handout
NBC10 Philadelphia reported that search warrants also turned up disturbing writings containing references to serial killer Ted Bundy, zip ties, a 55-gallon drum, killings, and the phrase “trash that needs to go.”
But investigators say the staggering amount of digital material recovered from the property may prove even more significant.
Authorities have collected more than 600,000 images, 70,000 videos and 10,000 pages of writings, manuscripts and drawings from devices found inside the home.
“The amount of information and digital evidence that we got is astonishing,” Evers said.
At the time of the press conference, detectives had reviewed only about 5% of the material discovered.
Missing Women Appear in Digital Evidence
On the first hard drive examined, investigators found photographs and videos of two missing women, Maribel Fresses and Gabrielle Amarando, alive inside the Chew Avenue home.
Even more troubling, police say some of the images appear to show both women deceased.
Fresses has been missing since 2018, while Amarando disappeared in 2012, according to CBS News Philadelphia.
Gabrielle Amarando and Maribel Fresses/Facebook via Marissa Amarando; Facebook via Buried Cold Cases
Despite the digital evidence, investigators have not recovered the remains of the missing women. DNA samples are being analyzed, but the process can be lenthy. Without remains, the medical examiner cannot issue death certificates or determine how the women died.
And they may not be the only missing women connected to the property.
A Disappearance Dating Back a Decade
The investigation has also renewed attention on Horsch’s late father, Raymond “R.C.” Horsch, an erotic author and photographer whose work included graphic sadomasochistic themes.
Amy McHale, who was once married to R.C. Horsch, disappeared in 2016. Her daughter, Amanda Stofer, said her mother left her a voicemail on the day she disappeared indicating that she was at the Chew Avenue home.
The renewed investigation has given McHale’s family hope that after nearly a decade, they may finally learn what happened to her.
“It’s obviously not the ending that anybody would want, but it feels like it could be close to some kind of end and just some kind of closure because 10 years is a really long time,” Stofer told 6abc Philadelphia. “Especially for my grandmother. It’s her daughter.”
Investigation Continues
Philadelphia police are now working with the FBI and other agencies to determine whether additional missing women could be connected to the property.
With investigators having reviewed only a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of files recovered from the home, authorities have indicated the scope of the case could continue to grow.
Eugene Horsch remains in federal custody on firearms and fraudulent credential charges. He has not been charged in connection with the disappearances or suspected deaths of any of the women.
His federal jury trial is scheduled for September 8, 2026.
Police are asking anyone who has been inside 417 West Chew Avenue, or has information about the property or missing persons who may be connected to it, to contact investigators.
[Featured images: (r) NBC10 Philadelphia/ (l) Philadelphia PD]
