Police find more photos of women who appear dead in pornographer R.C. Horsch’s home, bringing the number of missing to 7

Police have recovered images they believe show two additional women dead inside the residence of the late Raymond “R.C.” Horsch, officials said Wednesday — bringing the total number of dead or missing women linked to the violent pornographer’s Olney twin home to seven.

The discovery marked the latest turn in a sprawling local and federal investigation into the drug, sex, and porn operation Horsch ran out of his home. Horsch left behind a digital archive of more than a million photos and videos that detectives now believe shows a mix of real and staged violence — as well as potential killings.

During a news conference Wednesday, Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore said investigators recovered photos that showed a 25-year-old woman unconscious, with visible injuries, inside the Chew Avenue home where Horsch and his son, Eugene, lived for decades.

The woman, who was from Philadelphia, had not been reported missing, police said. Vanore declined to identify her at the request of her family.

Detectives also recovered images showing another woman lifeless with injuries. Investigators have not yet been able to identify her, Vanore said, but she appeared to be in her mid-20s.

Vanore also confirmed that police recovered a video that appeared to show Horsch strangling a woman. Horsch used two cameras — one mounted in the room, and another that he held — to film the assault, he said. In the video, he said, the woman used drugs before Horsch gave her money and handcuffed her to the bed. He was naked and tightened a zip tie around her neck until she became unconscious, Vanore said.

That woman has been identified by a family member as Nicole Fusaro, who went missing in 2018 at the age of 27.

Police last month also announced they recovered images that appeared to show two women dead inside the home: Maribel Fresses, who was 27 when she was reported missing in February 2018, and Gabrielle Amarando, who went missing in September 2012 at the age of 22.

Vanore said the metadata of those images shows both were photographed in 2017.

Police have not recovered any human remains.

Horsch died last year at age 82 of lung issues.

Special Agent Wayne Jacobs, of the FBI in Philadelphia, said federal agents have been assisting city homicide detectives in downloading and sorting through the excessive amount of digital evidence. So far, he said, they have reviewed about 30% of the existing materials.

“The objective here is thoroughness, not simply speed,” he said.

Vanore said investigators have identified 58 people in the images and videos they have reviewed. Of those, five women appeared to be dead.

There are 10 other women who subsequently died of an overdose elsewhere, he said. Police have interviewed 16 people who are still alive, he said. They are still working to track down 25 others.

The investigation has been protracted, in part because Horsch spent decades producing pornography that often focused on the brutalization of women in addiction — producing photos and videos for books, movies, and his website that featured women in various staged scenarios, including being drowned, shot, and strangled.

“Some of this is playacting, and some of it we believe could be real,” Vanore said. “But we’re not there yet. We don’t want to end our investigation before it even — we’re not even in the middle of it. There’s a lot more to unpack.”

Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel also counseled patience. A large team of detectives, he said, was diligently and carefully reviewing the materials and working to ensure any identified victims and their families are handled with care.

“We have a duty to those families who are all concerned about whether their loved one lost their lives in that house, or maybe somewhere else,” he said. “And so we’re going to take the time, we’re going to put the effort in. We’re going to do all the things that we have at our disposal.”

Police started looking into Horsch and his son, Eugene, in June, after a car stop near Independence Hall.

A U.S. park ranger encountered Eugene Horsch and a woman inside his black BMW on June 19, police said. When the officers questioned them, the woman produced a fake ID in the name of Blair Tonzelli, a woman who had been missing since 2023. Police searched the car and found two guns, drugs, a cattle prod, and a phony federal drug enforcement badge.

Local and federal law enforcement spent weeks searching the home on Chew Avenue and found additional drugs and weapons, as well as a basement holding vats of mysterious fluids and a 55-gallon drum leading to a water line.

Police also recovered five urns containing cremated remains. Ryan Gallagher, the police department’s assistant director of forensics, said authorities now believe those urns hold the ashes of Raymond Horsch, his sister, and a friend. Investigators are still working to identify the other two, he said.

Tests for DNA and of the chemicals in the basement remain ongoing.

The case expanded when investigators learned Raymond Horsch’s ex-wife, Amy McHale, had been reported missing in 2016, and was also last seen at the home.

Police then excavated the yard of the home in search of physical evidence linked to the missing women.

Vanore said investigators have not recovered any digital evidence as to the whereabouts of Tonzelli or McHale.

Eugene Horsch, 44, remains in federal custody on drug and gun charges. Vanore said investigators have not found evidence that connects him to the dead or missing women.

Bethel said police intend to return to the Chew Avenue home in the coming weeks to recover additional materials, and will meet with neighbors.

Staff writer Barbara Laker contributed to this article.

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