South-Central Pennsylvania news wrapup: Deadly river crash, unusual delivery and election dispute<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s top stories across the Susquehanna Valley included a deadly crash in Lancaster County, an abuse-of-corpse charge in Adams County, traffic trouble in Harrisburg and a funeral home\u2019s unexpected delivery.<\/p>\n
Video above: Headlines from WGAL News 8.<\/p>\n
Woman dies after two vehicles plunge into Susquehanna River<\/p>\n
Saige Zink, 20, of Columbia Borough, was killed early Thursday after two vehicles crashed into the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County.<\/p>\n
The crash happened around 2:25 a.m. near Water Street and Charlestown Road in Washington Boro. <\/p>\n
Officers found a white BMW SUV and a blue Chrysler sedan submerged in the river. <\/p>\n
Investigators believe both vehicles had been traveling at high speed west on Charlestown Road before entering the water.<\/p>\n
Investigators are seeking three people captured in surveillance footage near the scene. Manor Township Police Chief Colin Cleary said they may have important information about what happened. Anyone who can identify them or provide information is asked to contact Manor Township police at 717-299-5231.<\/p>\n
Nearby Norfolk Southern railroad tracks were temporarily closed following the crash. Train traffic resumed around 9:30 a.m. Thursday.<\/p>\n
Adams County man accused of moving body<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania State Police charged a Gettysburg man after investigators found a body in a wooded area of Menallen Township on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Troopers responding to Upper Temple Road discovered the body of 48-year-old Oliviero Soto-Escobar of Mexico. Investigators identified him with the help of a social media account and information from a former employer.<\/p>\n
Police said Soto-Escobar had been staying with 60-year-old Anastacio Gonzalez Larios at a home on Hanover Road in Straban Township.<\/p>\n
According to court documents, Gonzalez Larios initially told investigators he had not seen Soto-Escobar for about a week and a half. Police said he later admitted finding Soto-Escobar dead in a bedroom, placing the body in a vehicle and taking it to an unfamiliar wooded area rather than calling emergency services.<\/p>\n
Investigators allege Gonzalez Larios attempted to prop the body upright, discarded the man\u2019s flip-flops and cleaned or altered the bedroom where the body had been found.<\/p>\n
Gonzalez Larios faces charges of abuse of a corpse and obstructing the administration of law or another government function. The cause and manner of Soto-Escobar\u2019s death remain pending toxicology results.<\/p>\n
Authorities are also trying to locate Soto-Escobar\u2019s relatives. Anyone with information may contact Pennsylvania State Police in Gettysburg at 717-334-8111 or the Adams County Coroner\u2019s Office at 717-337-0962.<\/p>\n
Construction equipment hits Harrisburg overpass<\/p>\n
A mini excavator being transported on a truck struck a bridge overpass in downtown Harrisburg on Tuesday morning, then toppled onto the street below.<\/p>\n
Police closed two lanes of Chestnut Street at Mulberry Street while crews worked to remove the equipment. Vehicles were able to move around the scene, but the incident caused delays in the area.<\/p>\n
No injuries were reported.<\/p>\n
York funeral home receives 27-pound marijuana shipment<\/p>\n
Employees at Heffner Funeral Chapel and Crematory in York received a startling delivery this week: a package containing 27 pounds of marijuana.<\/p>\n
Staff member Allison Duke initially thought the heavy box contained urns. Funeral director Todd Eckert noticed a strong odor after opening it and discovered the marijuana inside.<\/p>\n
The shipment was addressed to Jennifer Schaeffer, the employee responsible for the funeral home\u2019s shipping account. Schaeffer said invoice records showed the package had traveled from Portugal through Germany, California and Kentucky before arriving in York.<\/p>\n
She believes the delivery may be connected to a $778 shipment she had previously disputed as fraudulent. The package used the company\u2019s address and Schaeffer\u2019s name as return information, while listing a woman in Portugal as the intended recipient.<\/p>\n
Employees said the incident raised concerns about stolen personal information and the fraudulent use of online shipping accounts.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania challenges DHS voter-registration claim<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania officials are disputing a Department of Homeland Security claim that as many as 14,576 noncitizens may be registered to vote in the commonwealth.<\/p>\n
In a July 16 letter, DHS said its review identified more than 250,000 potential noncitizens on voter rolls in four states, including Pennsylvania. <\/p>\n
Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt responded in a July 29 letter, saying DHS had not explained its methodology or identified the data used to reach its conclusion. Schmidt warned that flawed comparisons of government records can incorrectly classify eligible voters as noncitizens.<\/p>\n
He asked DHS to reassess the claim and provide documentation detailing its sources and methods.<\/p>\n
Schmidt also emphasized that Pennsylvania\u2019s 67 counties regularly remove registrations belonging to people who have died, moved or otherwise become ineligible. Counties canceled 338,295 registrations during 2025, according to the state.<\/p>\n
The dispute remains unresolved as Pennsylvania awaits more information from federal officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South-Central Pennsylvania news wrapup: Deadly river crash, unusual delivery and election dispute This week\u2019s top stories across the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[791,3679,30813,109369,95429,23070,26670,37,109370,3685,51665,109368,28,30,29,1224,109367,3689,4335,2483,4815,109366,2813],"class_list":["post-257236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-abuse-of-corpse","tag-adams-county","tag-al-schmidt","tag-anastacio-gonzalez-larios","tag-columbia-borough","tag-department-of-homeland-security","tag-gettysburg","tag-harrisburg","tag-heffner-funeral-chapel","tag-lancaster-county","tag-manor-township","tag-oliviero-soto-escobar","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-pennsylvania-state-police","tag-saige-zink","tag-south-central-pennsylvania","tag-susquehanna-river","tag-susquehanna-valley","tag-voter-registration","tag-washington-boro","tag-york"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}