{"id":292709,"date":"2026-09-24T02:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T02:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/292709\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T02:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T02:54:13","slug":"missing-womans-roommate-recalls-time-inside-horschs-philadelphia-home-it-smelled-like-ammonia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/292709\/","title":{"rendered":"Missing woman’s roommate recalls time inside Horsch’s Philadelphia home: ‘It smelled like ammonia’"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — A woman who spent time inside the Chew Avenue home in Philadelphia’s Olney neighborhood<\/a> says the property was long frequented by vulnerable women, including her former roommate, who is among those missing.<\/p>\n

Marybeth, who asked that her last name not be used, said she visited the home several times over the years.<\/p>\n

But she said her experiences were limited compared to her roommate, Blair Tonzelli<\/a>, who she said stayed there for days at a time and has since disappeared.<\/p>\n

RELATED | Timeline of investigation into missing women connected to Horsch Philly house<\/a><\/p>\n

Marybeth told investigative reporter Chad Pradelli that she has lived on the streets of Kensington <\/a>for more than a decade among other vulnerable women.<\/p>\n

She recalled seeing Raymond ‘R.C.’ Horsch parked near Harrowgate Park or by a vacant lot, where she spoke exclusively to Action News.<\/p>\n

“They actively used these streets as a hunting ground,” Marybeth said about R.C. Horsch and his son Eugene.<\/a><\/p>\n

RELATED | Police review writings linked to ‘R.C.’ Horsch as part of missing women investigation in Olney<\/a><\/p>\n

Police are reviewing thousands of pages of writings, manuscripts and drawings by Raymond ‘R.C.’ Horsch as part of an ongoing investigation, authorities said.<\/p>\n

She said they took her to the Chew Avenue home multiple times.<\/p>\n

“It smelled like ammonia, like maybe they peed on the floor. I don’t know,” she recalled.<\/p>\n

Inside, she said there was a constant flow of men and women.<\/p>\n

She said the men drank coffee – something Horsch referenced in his self-described fictional autobiography Empathy.<\/a><\/p>\n

She acknowledged using drugs there and performing sex acts but declined to elaborate.<\/p>\n

When asked whether Horsch was ever violent toward her, she said, “Oh sure.”<\/p>\n

“Ray did?” Pradelli asked.<\/p>\n

“Yeah,” said Marybeth.<\/p>\n

“With your consent?” asked Pradelli.<\/p>\n

“That’s the thing, you do it, and afterwards it’s part of the act,” she said.<\/p>\n

Marybeth said Tonzelli visited the home far more frequently than she did.<\/p>\n

“Blair would go for days at a time,” she recalled. “It wasn’t unusual for her to be gone for three days at a stretch.”<\/p>\n

She said Tonzelli often returned emotionless, but she remembered her fondly: “She was introverted, beautiful, sarcastic, laughter.”<\/p>\n

The two lived together on the 1800 block of East Wensley Street, just off Kensington Avenue.<\/p>\n

Marybeth said she moved out years before Tonzelli went missing in 2023.<\/p>\n

Though she is not closely following the investigation, she said she hopes families of the missing women find closure.<\/p>\n

“I think the father was the true perpetrator, and I think the son was dysfunctional, making his dad proud.”<\/p>\n

Police are expected to conduct another search of Horsch’s home. They have also circulated a flyer to neighbors and business owners announcing a community meeting scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m.<\/p>\n

To read more on the Horsch Case, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — A woman who spent time inside the Chew Avenue home in Philadelphia’s Olney neighborhood says…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[121309,69,71,70,121308],"class_list":["post-292709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-121309","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-the-roommate-of-blair-tonzelli-is-recalling-her-time-inside-the-horsch-family-home-on-chew-avenue-in-philadelphias-olney-neighborhood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292709","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=292709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}