A video recovered from the Horsch family home in Olney appears to show two dead women who went missing years ago, authorities announced Wednesday.

The footage shows Maribel Fresses and Gabrielle Amarando alive inside the house and later displays their bodies; however, it does not depict how they may have died, Philadelphia Police Inspector Raymond Evers said. He described the video as “graphic and dark.”

Fresses was reported missing in 2018, and Amarando was last seen 14 years ago, law enforcement officials said. Both women were born in 1990. A page on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System states that Fresses was last spotted by relatives at the home of her boyfriend in Kensington.

Evers said officials notified both families hours before holding a news conference Wednesday afternoon at PPD’s headquarters on North Broad Street.

The Medical Examiner’s Office reviewed the clip and determined that the women were dead, assuming the images “are real and not altered in any way,” Evers told reporters. But, he continued, the MEO said it could not issue a death certificate without a body. Only the Orphans’ Court can officially declare someone deceased in such a case, according to police.

Evers explained that the video of Fresses and Amarando was on the first hard drive reviewed by detectives. More than 50 drives were recovered from the house, containing 600,000 images, 70,000 videos and more than 10,000 pages of writings, he said.

He estimated that law enforcement has so far analyzed 5 to 7% of the digital evidence, as part of what he called a “very complex and protracted” investigation.

Police have searched the property at 417 W. Chew Avenue — where 44-year-old Eugene Horsch lived for years alongside his father, Raymond “R.C.” Horsch — nearly 100 times over the past couple of months.

The elder Horsch, who died last year, was a pornographer, photographer and writer, whose titles include “The Memoir of an Empathetic Serial Killer” and “Slaves.” His son is in federal prison on gun and impersonation charges.

Detectives have recovered no human remains, other than five urns that were carried out during an initial sweep of the twin home.

A third missing woman, Blair Tonzelli, has been officially linked to the Horsch family. When Eugene was arrested June 19 following a traffic stop outside Independence Hall, a female passenger presented authorities with identification in Tonzelli’s name, police said. She later admitted the fake ID had been provided to her by Horsch, according to authorities.

Officers confiscated two illegal guns from Horsch’s car and found a third inside the Chew Avenue home, alongside a marijuana growing operation that police say had a street value in excess of $280,000. 

Investigators also discovered a home lab with about 20 containers of an unknown, oily substance, Evers said. The chemicals have been shipped to a specialized lab in Chicago for analysis, he added.

The FBI has been assisting PPD in the probe, and crews have dug up water and sewer lines outside the home to search for clues.

Police are asking anyone who has been inside the Chew Avenue house or interacted with Eugene or Raymond Horsch to call the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or the PPD tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477).

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Keywords

Philadelphia Police,

Olney,

Crime,

Missing Persons,

Eugene Horsch,

Raymond Horsch