August 12, 2026
Molly McVety/PhillyVoice
Philadelphia Police Inspector Raymond Evers, center, said two women who were previously reported missing were dead and linked to a home in Olney that's under federal investigation.
An Olney home that has been linked to missing persons cases and a narcotics investigation has now also been tied to the deaths of two missing women after police recovered "real dark" images and videos, Philadelphia Police Inspector Raymond Evers said Wednesday.
The two victims were identified as Maribel Fresses, 27, who was last seen in February 2018, and Gabriela Amarando, who was born in 1990 and has been missing since September 2012.
Evers did not delve into what the videos depict or when they were taken, but he said they believe they show the women alive inside 417 Chew Ave. — the home of Eugene Horsch — before later being shown appearing to be dead.
"I'm not going to get into exactly what I saw," Evers said. "It's real dark. But what we saw is these two girls alive. There's a period of time, and it appears to us that they're deceased. There are pieces of the video that we don't have yet.”
The Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office said that without a body or body parts, it can't conclusively declare that the women are dead, but based on their review of the evidence, it “would believe the individuals depicted in the images are deceased.” The victims' families were notified Wednesday morning. Evers said neither family knew Horsch or his father.
“This is new territory for the Homicide Unit in Philadelphia," Evers said. “Usually, when we have a homicide investigation, we have a body. We have body parts. This time, we do not. … This is taking the energy of some really, really senior detectives in homicide to solve exactly what's going on here."
Evers said the footage of Amarando and Fresses is just a small portion of over 600,000 images, 70,000 videos and 10,000 pages of writing uncovered from a hard drive found at the house in one of the largest cases that the department’s homicide unit has ever been tasked with. Officials returned to the Olney home on Wednesday afternoon to re-examine certain areas that may have first appeared "benign" but may now be considered a "critical piece of evidence," Evers said.
"This is going to be a very complex, long investigation," Evers said. "Our goal is to bring justice to the families. There will be increased police activity at 417 Chew Avenue. Our work is not done there."
The investigation into the house began around 8 a.m. on June 19, when a U.S. Park ranger intervened after seeing a man inside a black BMW on the 600 block of Market Street appearing to threaten a female passenger. The ranger uncovered two illegal handguns and around $8,000 in illegal drugs.
The female passenger gave the officer a fake ID that identified her as Blair Tonzelli, who had been reported missing in Kensington for over three years. The male driver had a fake Drug Enforcement Administration badge with Eugene Horsch’s picture on it.
Upon further investigation of Horsch’s house, police and the DEA found additional firearms, ammunition, vats of potentially hazardous chemicals, five urns filled with what are believed to be cremated remains and evidence of a narcotics grow operation. The FBI was called to the scene to help investigate the substances. Horsch, 44, was arrested on June 20 on multiple weapons and narcotics charges. He is being held at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility and a preliminary hearing is scheduled in August.
The house is also linked to Amy McHale, the ex-wife of Horsch’s late father, Raymond. McHale was last seen at the home in 2016 before she was reported missing.
Federal and city investigators began excavating the pipes and land around the Olney home late last month in search of more evidence. As of Wednesday, no results have been reported from that part of the investigation. Police said Wednesday that over 20 containers of the unknown substances were sent to a lab in Chicago for testing and analysis. No definitive results have been sent back yet.
Officials are urging anyone with information related to the case to call the Philadelphia Police Department tip line at 215-686-TIPS. Anyone who wants to speak personally to a homicide investigator should call 215-686-3334.
