Suspect arrested in 1975 killing of Delco girl: What we know

The 1975 slaying of Gretchen Harrington, 8, of Marple Township, has haunted Delaware County authorities for years. But now, investigators say they have their suspect.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer on Monday announced charges against David G. Zandstra, 83, of Marietta, Ga. Zandstra, a longtime minister and friend of the Harrington family, exploited the girl’s trust, and killed her on Aug. 15, 1975, authorities said.

Now, Zandstra faces counts that include first-degree murder and criminal homicide.

Zandstra became an ordained minister in New Jersey in the 1960s, and later moved to Chester to begin a new congregation. In the early 1970s, he began working at Trinity Church Chapel Christian Reform Church in Broomall, Delaware County, where he led youth summer workshops for teen girls, and assisted with a Bible school program that Gretchen later attended, according to news reports from the time.

In the late 1970s, following Gretchen’s death, Zandstra was living in Texas, where he worked at another church. According to property records, Zandstra and his wife later moved on to a congregation in California. He retired in the 2000s in Marietta, Ga., where he lives.

Gretchen went missing about 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 15. She had last been seen going to Trinity Church Chapel’s Bible school program about two blocks from her house, The Inquirer reported in 1975. Due to the program’s structure, students at Trinity were taken to the nearby Reformed Presbyterian Church, where Gretchen’s father, Harold, was the pastor, for the latter part of the day.

When Gretchen did not arrive at Reformed, her father became concerned. At about 11 a.m., Zandstra contacted police and reported the girl missing, court documents say.

Despite massive search parties looking for Gretchen throughout Marple Township and neighboring communities, authorities were unable to find her. Police also distributed thousands of leaflets with her photo, and staffed a 24-hour hotline that generated hundreds of ultimately fruitless calls. One detective even consulted a psychic, The Inquirer reported in 1984.

About two months after her disappearance, on Oct. 14, 1975, a jogger found Gretchen’s skeletal remains in a wooded area of Ridley Creek State Park in Edgmont Township, several miles from her home. Her clothing was folded neatly in a pile near her body, and her underwear had been hung like a flag from a tree branch “as if to call attention to the place,” The Inquirer reported.

Gretchen’s body showed evidence of blunt force trauma to the skull. An autopsy later determined she had died from cranial cerebral injuries.

Police began reinvestigating Gretchen’s case in 2017, but it wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the fresh interest in the investigation. Police targeted Zandstra as a suspect in January, when investigators spoke with an unidentified witness who had been friends with Zandstra’s daughter the year Gretchen disappeared, a criminal complaint says. The witness said that during a sleepover at Zandstra’s home when she was a girl, about a week before Gretchen went missing, Zandstra molested her, the complaint said.

The witness ultimately told Zandstra’s daughter what happened, and the girl told her that Zandstra “does that sometimes,” according to the complaint. The witness also told police that one of her classmates had almost been kidnapped twice, and wrote in her diary in 1975 that she believed Zandstra murdered Gretchen.

On July 17, Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Andrew J. Martin and Trooper Eugene Tray traveled to Georgia to speak with Zandstra. Initially, court documents say, Zandstra denied seeing Gretchen the day she disappeared. But when confronted with the witness’ sexual assault allegations, Zandstra admitted to killing Gretchen, authorities said.

According to police, Zandra admitted that he saw Gretchen as she was heading to her Bible study program, and offered her a ride in his green Rambler station wagon, which witnesses identified during the initial investigation. He then allegedly took her to a nearby wooded area, and told the girl to disrobe, which she refused to do. After ejaculating in front of her, Zandstra struck her in the head with his fist, which caused her to begin bleeding, the complaint states.

Believing Gretchen to be dead, Zandstra left her body in the park, covered it with sticks, and left the area, police said.

Zandstra is being held in jail in Cobb County, Ga., and has been denied bail. He has refused to waive an extradition hearing and be returned to Pennsylvania to face charges, authorities said Monday.

Right now, that’s unclear.

Prosecutors said Monday that they plan to submit a petition for requisition in the case, which will be sent to Gov. Josh Shapiro for approval. After that, the petition will be sent to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, and authorities will arrange to have Zandstra taken back to Pennsylvania by the Delaware County Sheriff’s office.

That process could take 60 to 90 days. However, the timeline may change if Zandstra waives an extradition hearing, which he can do at any time. If that happens, he would be taken back to Pennsylvania much quicker. No lawyer was listed for him in court documents Tuesday. A lawyer said to be representing Zandstra did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It wasn’t clear Tuesday whether the petition for requisition had yet been filed.

Following his arrest, authorities collected a DNA sample from Zandstra, which will be compared with DNA collected in other open cases around the country, the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office said Monday. He is currently not facing any other charges, and did not confess to additional crimes. Stollsteimer has encouraged the public to send in any tips.