Father and Son Investigated as 5 Women Appear Dead in Photos, Video: Police - Newsweek

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Five missing women are now linked to a Philadelphia home after images and videos recovered there appear to show them unconscious or lifeless, as police continue a massive investigation in the city's Olney neighborhood.

Police identified 58 people in the digital evidence reviewed so far as investigators comb through more than 1 million images and other files recovered from the home on Chew Avenue, authorities said Wednesday.

The home, which has been described as a “house of horrors,” is connected to both Eugene Horsch and his late father, Raymond “R.C.” Horsch, as investigators examine activity at the property spanning years.

Philadelphia police told Newsweek they are not characterizing the investigation as a serial-killer case at this time.

Among the missing women linked to the investigation are Gabrielle Amarando, who was 22 when she disappeared in 2012, and Maribel Fresses, who was 27 when she disappeared in 2018.

Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said images recovered from a computer hard drive, with metadata dating to 2017, show Amarando and Fresses inside the home, appearing unconscious and showing what appeared to be injuries. Investigators notified their families at the time, but both women remain missing.

Vanore said they have not recovered bodies, DNA or other physical evidence connecting either woman to the home.

Vanore also described newly reviewed video from 2017 involving Raymond “R.C.” Horsch.

In the video, police said, Horsch and an unidentified woman are seen unclothed in a bedroom. Investigators said the woman appears to use narcotics during the encounter and is given money by Horsch before he handcuffs her to a bed.

Vanore said Horsch then placed a zip tie around the woman's neck, after which she became unconscious and appeared to be lifeless.

Police have not determined whether the woman died. No body has been recovered, and investigators said they are still looking for evidence to corroborate what appears to have happened in the video.

Vanore said some of the footage recovered as part of the digital evidence appears to be from movies, making it difficult for investigators to determine what was staged and what may have actually occurred.

“Some of this is play acting, and some of it we believe could be real,” he said. “We’re not there yet.”

Asked whether investigators are looking into whether Raymond Horsch may have been involved in the disappearance or deaths of any of the women, police told Newsweek that the department could not discuss “specific investigative leads, individuals being examined, or potential connections to other cases.”

Vanore said a 25-year-old woman has also been identified in the digital evidence and appears unconscious with an injury. Another unidentified woman appears in a similar state.

Of the 58 people identified in the images and videos reviewed so far, police said four appear lifeless. Ten others appear to have overdosed later and were found elsewhere in Philadelphia.

Another 16 people have been interviewed, but Vanore said they have been largely uncooperative and have provided little information about what occurred at the home. Police have also identified 25 people who were seen alive in various states but said investigators do not yet know what they were doing at the property.

Police said “thousands and thousands” of videos still need to be reviewed.

“We need to corroborate what we see,” Vanore said. “We need to find evidence to prove what we think.”

Police also recovered five urns from the home, Vanore said. One is believed to contain the remains of Raymond “R.C.” Horsch, another the remains of his sister and a third the remains of a friend. The identities of the remains in the other two urns are unknown.

The FBI, assisting police with the investigation, said the search recovered an “exceptionally large and diverse amount of material,” including physical and digital evidence. Investigators have reviewed about 30% of more than 1 million digital files so far in what they describe as a “complex and significant investigation.”

“At the center of this investigation are the victims and the families who deserve answers,” FBI Philadelphia Special Agent in Charge Wayne Jacobs said Wednesday.

In the coming weeks, police said teams will return to the community before resuming operations connected to the investigation.

Horsch, 44, was arrested June 19 after he was found parked illegally in a spot reserved for law enforcement officers near Independence National Historical Park, police said. During that encounter, they discovered nearly $10,000 in drugs and Horsch with fake credentials claiming to work as a federal law enforcement officer and a DEA agent, NBC Philadelphia reported. The woman he was with (who has not been publicly named) also presented a false ID; she handed over the ID of Blair Tonzelli, who disappeared in 2023. Court documents said that during the investigation, Horsch allegedly said Tonzelli would "never be seen again."

That's when officials began searching the Chew Avenue home, investigators said, first finding an additional illegal firearm, a marijuana grow operation, another fake FBI badge, and five full urns. Another search was conducted in late June by homicide investigators, ATF agents and a bomb disposal unit. They found computer parts and a home laboratory with an oily substance in containers. In mid-August, video evidence was recovered from a hard drive they had taken from the home, which led investigators to believe that two missing women were dead.

Police told Newsweek that the investigation remains active and ongoing. The police chief said there is no current threat to the community.

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Gray R. Thomas