Seven missing women linked to Philadelphia home where officials found 1,000,000 images and videos
Warning: This article contains discussion of drugs, physical violence and sexual violence, which some readers may find distressing.
Authorities have connected seven missing women to the Philadelphia home of Eugene Horsch and his late father Raymond.
In June earlier this year, Eugene Horsch and an unidentified woman were approached by a federal park ranger after they parked illegally near Philadelphia's Independence Hall, NBC News reports.
The ranger discovered the woman was carrying identification belonging to a missing woman named Blair Tonzelli.
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They also found Eugene in possession of identification impersonating a federal law enforcement officer, alongside two handguns and $8,000 of illegal drugs in the car, Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said during a press conference, as shared by 6abc Philadelphia.
Eugene was arrested and during the course of the investigation, authorities resolved to conduct a search of his house - a property on Chew Avenue, which belonged to him and his late father Raymond.
They allegedly discovered further false law enforcement credentials, drugs, firearms, a 'home-made laboratory in the basement area' and containers of unknown chemicals, alongside 'five urns believed to be containing human ashes'.
Officials later returned to the house with a search warrant and found 'over one million' images and video 'on various hard drives, flash drives and other items throughout the house' of 58 people 'posed in different positions within that house on Chew', including seven women who've been missing for over a decade.
Who the seven missing women are
Blair Tonzelli was the first woman to be linked with the case, with her name on the identification card in the possession of the woman Horsch was with when arrested. Tonelli went missing in 2023 at the age of 35.
Shortly after Horsch's arrest, the family of Amy McHale came forward, reporting she had last been seen in 2016 at Horsch's house in Chew Avenue at the age of 44. McHale is reported as previously being married to Ray.
Gabrielle Amarando and Maribel Fresses appear within images recovered from the house of which the metadata is dated 2017.
Amarando was first reported missing in 2012 at the age of 22. And Fusaro was reported missing the following year in 2018 at the age of 27.
The images showed them pictured 'in the house, lying unconscious'. "They had what appeared to be injuries on them," he added.
The two women remain missing. "Their bodies and no other trace of DNA has been recovered at this point," he said.
Upon further investigation of the images, homicide detectives discovered another 'few significant videos' with metadata from 2017.
"This video depicts a female and RC Horsch, who is the father of Eugene. They're in the video, both are not wearing clothing," he said.
The commissioner goes on to detail the disturbing events of the video including the woman being tied to the bed and strangled using a zip tie until she 'becomes unconscious' to the point by which she 'appears lifeless'.
He added: "I have got to caution you and emphasize we never recovered a body here. Mr Horsch is deceased at this time and we still need to find evidence to cooborate what appears to have occurred in this video."
Two other images were also recovered, believed to show a 25-year-old female who has been identified, but her name was not publicly released.
She similarly appears 'unconscious'; and 'with some type of injury'.
There's also 'an unknown female' who remains unidentified 'in the same type of state'.
He resolves: "That's five women altogether that we've had in this house that we're concerned about. [...] Four of them as we said that were identified appear to be lifeless. One of them we have a video of what may have happened to her. The other one is not identified, so it's not counted here."
Meanwhile, a cousin of Nicole Fusaro told NBC10 that police believe they have a video connecting her to the Ray Horsch case. Fusaro went missing in 2018, aged 27.
DC Vanore explained '10 women they know overdosed later on way after the video was done but they were found somewhere else in a different residence in a difference place in Philadelphia' and '16 of them that we see in various states, we found and we interviewed'.
"There's 25 people that we know are now alive that we're scheduling interviews with," he added, noting three people called in identifying themselves in the images but declining to talk.
The team is set to be joined by other departments to help assist the investigation and properly analyse the discovered videos and pictures.
While Ray Horsch died in 2025, Eugene Horsch remains in federal custody on firearms charges.
Anyone with information can call the PPD tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477). To speak directly with a Homicide Unit investigator assigned to the case, call 215-686-3334.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence 24 hours a day to the national domestic violence helpline on 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) 24/7. You can find a list of local resources here.
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org
Topics: US News, True crime, Philadelphia
Poppy Bilderbeck