Horsch investigation: Police detail disturbing new evidence recovered from Olney home
Philly missing women probe: Police uncover key videos
Philadelphia Police and the FBI shared that more than 1 million individual digital evidence items—including images, videos and writings—have been recovered from an Olney property tied to Eugene Horsch and his late father, Raymond "R.C." Horsch.
PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia police and the FBI shared new information on Wednesday about an ongoing investigation into an Olney house of horrors linked to Eugene Horsch and his father, Raymond "R.C." Horsch.
Eugene Horsch was first arrested in June after a traffic stop at 6th and Market revealed fake federal badges and the ID of a missing woman, according to investigators. His arrest led investigators to a home on Chew Avenue where several unsettling discoveries were made.
Police share major updates on Chew Avenue investigation
What's new?:
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel led a press conference where authorities shared new findings after carefully combing through a trove of evidence collected from the Chew Avenue home during several search warrants.
At the press conference, Philadelphia Police and the FBI shared that more than 1 million individual digital evidence items—including images, videos and writings—have been recovered from the Olney property tied to Eugene Horsch and his late father, Raymond "R.C." Horsch.
Investigators said the FBI has completed about 30 percent of the digital evidence review.
Authorities said they recovered and are reviewing more than 600,000 images, 70,000 videos and 10,000 pages of writings from the property. Police also recovered guns, gun parts, drugs, chemicals and other evidence. The investigation at the Olney home led to excavation of the property and the discovery of urns containing cremated remains.
5 missing women linked to investigation
What we know:
Five missing women have been linked to the property, according to police sources.
Maribel Fresses, 22, and Gabrielle Amarando, 27, were previously identified by police after their bodies appeared on digital evidence recovered from the home.
Amy McHale, who was previously married to Horsch's late father, has been missing since 2016. Blair Tonzelli, whose name appeared on the fake ID of the woman Horsch was stopped with in Center City, has been missing for several years.
Eugene Horsch: Sources ID woman captured on video being strangled to death by suspect's father
Law enforcement sources have identified a woman who investigators say was recorded being strangled to death by Raymond "R.C." Horsch in a video recovered during an exhaustive investigation into an Olney home.
Nicole Fusaro, who was 27-years-old when she was reported missing from Kensington in 2018, was recently identified by police as the woman seen being strangled to death by Raymond Horsch in a disturbing video recovered during the investigation.
Two additional women—one around 25 years old and another not yet identified—appear in images as unconscious with signs of injury, according to investigators.
Victim's mother on loss and new evidence in Olney case
Philadelphia police told Gabrielle Amarando’s family they found images showing her alive and photos of her deceased, in evidence from an Olney home search. The victim's mother spoke out in a social media post.
Federal prosecutors charged Eugene Horsch with being a felon in possession of firearms and unlawfully producing an identification document or authentication feature, according to court records. Raymond Horsch died last year.
A Philadelphia Inquirer report adds that the elder Horsch, a pornographer, had been known to use drugs and cash to lure women in addiction to his home to feature them in his graphic works.
Timeline:
The investigation began June 19 when a federal park ranger approached Eugene Horsch and another individual in a BMW on South Sixth Street, leading to Horsch's arrest on firearms, narcotics and impersonation charges, according to police.
The arrest resulted in a search of the Chew Avenue home, where investigators uncovered chemicals, a homemade laboratory in the basement and multiple urns believed to contain human ashes.
Homicide detectives joined the investigation after the urns were discovered, and the FBI began providing support early in the process, said Bethel. Investigators have since served several search warrants on the property.
Police said that a further search of the residence is planned for late September, as new information has guided ongoing efforts to locate potential evidence.
Police: Five unconscious women, missing cases tied to Olney home search
Digital evidence has led police to identify five unconscious women, four of them reported missing, connected to the West Chew Avenue home.
By the numbers:
According to law enforcement, 58 people have been identified in digital images or videos recovered from the home.
Of those, five women seen on video or in photos appeared to be lifeless, while ten others are known to have died from overdoses elsewhere in Philadelphia.
Authorities said 16 people seen in various states in the evidence have been located and interviewed, although most have not shared details about what occurred in the house.
25 people identified as alive are scheduled for interviews, while three others have declined to speak with police.
Commissioner Bethel and FBI Special Agent Wayne Jacobs emphasized the massive scope of the review, describing a deliberate, methodical process to ensure evidence is handled properly and potential victims are identified.
Community impact and next investigative steps
What's next:
Special Agent Jacobs said investigators expect to return to the Chew Avenue residence in late September with a more focused approach based on new information.
Police plan to inform and engage with neighbors before future operations to minimize disruption.
"We will be on the block talking to the community to try to normalize this. As much as possible, it's going to be clearly disruptive, but we will be down on the community," said Bethel.
The investigation continues with help from the FBI and several branches of the police department, with further updates expected as lab results and digital analyses progress. A hearing on separate federal charges for Eugene Horsch is scheduled for January.
What we don't know:
Police have not found any human remains at the Chew Avenue property, and they have not been able to fully determine the fate of the missing women. The final scientific testing on the urns and chemicals remains incomplete. Investigators declined to share working theories about what happened to the missing women.
The Source: This article was written using information from the Philadelphia Police Department, FBI Philadelphia, federal court records, and prior FOX 29 Philadelphia reporting.