Philadelphia police and FBI investigators say they have reviewed only 30% of the more than 1 million digital files recovered from a home linked to five missing women, a pace that suggests the case will stretch for months, officials said at a Sept. 16 briefing. No human remains have been recovered three months into the investigation. The case centers on a home in the 400 block of West Chew Avenue in Philadelphia’s Olney neighborhood, where investigators say Eugene Horsch, 44, and his late father lived. Horsch has not been charged with homicide. He faces federal weapons and forged-credentials charges tied to his June arrest, and his next hearing has been pushed to January 2027 to give investigators more time to work through the evidence, according to Fox 29 Philadelphia.
What Investigators Found Inside the Chew Avenue House
The investigation began June 19, when a federal park ranger found Horsch illegally parked near Independence National Historical Park with a woman who was carrying identification belonging to Blair Tonzelli, a woman missing since 2023. A search of Horsch turned up a switchblade, guns, drug paraphernalia and forged DEA and FBI credentials, according to CBS News. That led investigators to the Chew Avenue home, which belonged to Horsch’s father, Raymond “R.C.” Horsch, who died in 2025 and had described himself as a sociopath who made adult films.
Searches of the property turned up more than 1 million digital images and videos, five urns believed to contain cremated remains, more than 120 pieces of ballistic evidence, a makeshift chemical “laboratory” built around a 55-gallon drum connected to the home’s plumbing, a small marijuana growing operation and a handwritten note referencing serial killer Ted Bundy and methods of disposing of a body, according to 6abc Philadelphia.
Investigators believe one of the five urns holds Raymond Horsch’s own remains. Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said investigators found “tons of pictures of lots of people, women, posed in different positions within that house,” including footage from 2017 that Vanore described in graphic terms: “He puts a zip tie around her neck, and she becomes unconscious on that video.” Evidence has been sent to a federal laboratory in Chicago for testing, and crews have excavated parts of the property, including a sewer pipe in the front yard.
Five Women Connected to the Case, and an Explicit Caution From Police
Investigators have named five women as the focus of the case: Blair Tonzelli, missing since
2023; Amy McHale, 44, who was previously married to Raymond Horsch and last seen at the
Chew Avenue address in 2016; Gabrielle Amarando, who disappeared in 2012 at age 22; Maribel Fresses, who disappeared in 2018; and Nicole Fusaro. At the Sept. 16 briefing, police gave Fresses’ age as 28; earlier reporting from CBS News and 6abc had listed her as 26 or 27.
Investigators say Amarando and Fresses appear deceased in recovered video, and a 25-year-old woman identified but not publicly named at her family’s request appears injured and unconscious in other footage.
Philadelphia Police Inspector Ray Evers was careful to frame the video evidence as unconfirmed: “If the images in the video are real and not altered in any way, based on their review, the M.E. would believe the individuals depicted in the images are deceased.” Vanore was more direct about what investigators have not found: “I’ve got to caution you and emphasize we did never recover a body here.
” Ashley Levin, a childhood friend of Amarando, told 6abc that addiction shouldn’t define how Amarando is remembered: “Drug addiction and mental health can take people to some really terrible places, but that doesn’t define that person. Gabby was just, she’s so much more than that.” Horsch has not been charged in connection with any of the five women’s disappearances.
His attorney has separately argued in a pending court filing that drugs found in his BMW were “for personal use” and has asked a judge to return the vehicle so Horsch can use it to help cover legal fees, according to Fox 29.
The Math Behind a Review That Could Run Into Next Year
Horsch was arrested June 18. The 30% figure investigators gave at the Sept. 16 briefing came roughly three months, or about 13 weeks, later. If the review continues at that same pace, the remaining 70% of the files would take roughly seven more months to get through, which would push a full review of the evidence into the spring of 2027, a timeline that lines up with the January 2027 court date prosecutors and Horsch’s attorney have already agreed to.
FBI Philadelphia Special Agent Wayne Jacobs said the slow pace reflects how forensic review of digital evidence actually works, not a lack of urgency. “This is simply not a matter of moving through a queue,” Jacobs said at the briefing reported by WHYY. “There are multiple layers that make up the review process. We have a significant number of FBI personnel examining items one at a time for potential evidentiary or investigative value.
” Investigators have so far identified 58 people who appear in the recovered videos and photos: 16 have been found alive but are not cooperating, 25 more have interviews scheduled, and about 10 who appeared in footage tied to the home have since died of drug overdoses elsewhere in Philadelphia, deaths police say are unrelated to the homicide investigation.
Part of what makes the case slow, according to former FBI agent JJ Klaver, is that the physical evidence recovered so far complicates DNA matching rather than simplifying it. “Because there’s no easy source of DNA to match to any potential forensic evidence they find in the house,” Klaver said, referring to the cremated remains in the urns. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel has resisted pressure to move faster, telling reporters the department needs FBI help it doesn’t have on its own: “We recognize we don’t have enough of the resources and capabilities to do what we needed to so.
” He added that families deserve a complete answer rather than a fast one: “We have a duty to those families that are concerned about whether their loved one lost their lives in that house, or maybe somewhere else. We’re going to dictate the pace … We have to get this right.” Police have asked anyone with information to call the department’s tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477) or its Homicide Unit at 215686-3334.
