4 missing women linked to Philadelphia house as Gary Heidnik memories return

Дата публикации: 13-08-2026 16:31:40

The mystery surrounding at least four missing women connected to an Olney home is bringing back memories of Gary Heidnik and another Philadelphia house that became the scene of unimaginable crimes.
Philadelphia police are expected to return to a house in the Olney neighborhood as a sprawling investigation connected to the women, two of whom investigators believe are dead, continues to grow.
On Wednesday, Aug. 12, police announced video evidence recovered from a hard drive located inside the Chew Avenue home leads investigators to believe two missing women, Maribel Fresses and Gabrielle Amarando, are no longer alive. Fresses was last seen in 2018, while Amarando disappeared in 2012.
The latest developments have neighbors drawing comparisons to one of Philadelphia’s most notorious criminal cases: Serial killer Gary Heidnik who kidnapped, tortured and murdered women inside his North Philadelphia home in the 1980s.
Philadelphia police are expected to return to an Olney home as a sprawling investigation connected to the women, two of whom investigators believe are dead, continues to grow.
The Chew Avenue home first came under scrutiny in June after police and federal agents searched the property following the arrest of 44-year-old Eugene Horsch.
During that arrest, police say a woman accompanying Eugene Horsch provided officers with an identification card belonging to another missing woman, Blair Tonzelli, who disappeared in 2023.
The NBC10 Investigators have also confirmed that Horsch’s father, Ray “R.C.” Horsch, who died in 2025, was married to Amy McHale, who disappeared in 2016.
The elder Horsch produced snuff films and wrote erotic books with sadomasochistic themes.
Ray “R.C.” Horsch produced snuff films and wrote erotic books with sadomasochistic themes.
Those findings have connected four missing women to the property.
Comparisons to serial killer Gary Heidnik
The investigation into the Chew Avenue home brings up memories of Gary Heidnik, whose crimes shocked the region nearly four decades ago.
“Well, it was the most bizarre thing that I’d ever seen,” retired prosecutor Charles F. Gallagher III told the NBC10 Investigators on Thursday, Aug. 13.
A jury convicted Heidnik of kidnapping, torturing and killing women inside his North Philadelphia rowhouse. NBC10 was granted access to the property shortly after Heidnik’s arrest in 1987.
“What he had done was he had broken through the cement floor of the basement and built a hole that was maybe three, four feet deep, four by four, and he kept them in there,” Gallagher said.
A jury convicted Gary Heidnik of kidnapping, torturing and killing women inside his North Philadelphia rowhouse in the 1980s. NBC10 was granted access to the property shortly after Heidnik’s arrest in 1987.
Heidnik tortured and raped six women, murdering two of them before his crimes were uncovered. The state put him to death in 1999.
Gallagher said investigators do not necessarily need to recover a body to pursue a murder case.
“If they can show that these girls were living and that they’re now deceased and nobody’s seen them, that’s sufficient,” Gallagher said of the Chew Avenue case.
Search for DNA and physical evidence continues in Olney
Inside the Olney home, federal agents and DEA task force officers discovered “a lot of ammo and some narcotics,” Philadelphia police said in the aftermath of the first raid.
Investigators also found evidence suggesting an attempt to grow or produce narcotics.
Among the items seized was a piece of writing about serial killer Ted Bundy that referenced zip ties and a drum, a source familiar with the investigation told NBC10. The note also mentioned killings and “trash that needs to go.”
It remains unclear who wrote it, though Eugene Horsch’s attorney suggested in an earlier conversation that Ray Horsch was the author.
Among the items seized was a piece of writing about serial killer Ted Bundy that referenced zip ties and a drum, a source familiar with the investigation told NBC10. The note also mentioned killings and “trash that needs to go.”
Dr. Peter Valentin, a former major crimes detective in Connecticut who is not involved in the case and now teaches forensic science at the University of New Haven, said investigators will likely continue searching the Chew Avenue property for DNA and other physical evidence.
“You had them alive at one point and then you have them dead at some point,” Valentin said about the two women police suspect are deceased. “And those videos clearly must have shown them in some part of that house, which is how you made the correlation.”
Valentin said investigators will likely try to support the information contained in the videos through forensic evidence.
“Now we need to substantiate that video evidence by showing through physical evidence that that person was in this room through their DNA being recovered,” he said.
NBC10 was granted access to the property shortly after Heidnik’s arrest in 1987.
Sources tell the NBC10 Investigators that authorities found what appeared to be fake blood during the search of the home, but no human remains. Last month, investigators excavated pipes at the property but did not find anything substantial, sources said.
Even without human remains, Valentin said eliminating a body with no trace would be difficult.
“It would be exceedingly difficult to dispose of a body to the point where no evidence of its existence could be found,” Valentin said. “And in a situation like this, we might just not have enough physical evidence to show what happened or that the person has actually died.”
No charges tied to missing women
Eugene Horsch remains in custody on federal charges connected to firearms and phony federal credentials. He has not been charged in connection with any of the missing women or any death investigation. A jury trial in the federal case was scheduled for Sept. 8, 2026.
Eugene Horsch faces federal charges and is not charged in connection with the missing women or the death investigations.
The NBC10 Investigators reached out again to Eugene Horsch’s attorney for comment Thursday but did not receive a response.
Police are expected to continue searching the property as investigators look for additional evidence that could help explain what happened to the four missing women.
Anyone with information can call Philadelphia police at 215-686-TIPS (8477). To speak directly with a homicide investigator, call 215-686-3334.
NBC10 investigative reporter David Charns can be reached at david.charns@nbcuni.com.














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