Investigators taking apart pieces of Horsch "house of horrors" in Olney linked to 7 missing women

The investigation into the Horsch home — or so-called "house of horrors" — in Philadelphia's Olney neighborhood is expected to ramp up over the coming weeks, police sources tell CBS News Philadelphia.

FBI agents and Philadelphia police crime scene personnel pulled up to the home on the 400 block of Chew Avenue Monday morning, Sept. 28, and soon established a perimeter with police tape and tents. Law enforcement is 3D photographing the home from top to bottom, and it will be forensically processed Monday, Oct. 5.

The home is owned by Eugene Horsch, and his late father, Raymond "R.C." Horsch, lived in the home before his death last year.

Sources say police are looking at everything in the home, including the flooring, drywall and plaster. Investigators will be removing pieces of the home's interior, guided by what they have seen since reviewing 1 million-plus videos and images recovered from inside.

The home, which has been called a "preying ground" for vulnerable women, is linked to at least seven missing persons cases, including five women who are feared dead.

Investigators have identified 58 women seen in the videos recovered from the home, police said earlier this month. Investigators are looking to uncover evidence of murder and other crimes believed to have happened inside the home at 417 Chew Ave., including places where there might be DNA or blood.

A video reviewed by police showed R.C. Horsch strangling a woman with a zip tie, which sources say would implicate him in murder.

Over the next few weeks, the investigation will expand and include heavy construction equipment, street closures and parking restrictions for some residents, police sources say. Police said Tuesday they cleared out clutter and rotten food from the home as a trash truck picked up a dozen bags.

A spokesperson for City Councilmember Anthony Phillips said the 400 block of Chew Avenue will be closed to traffic at Lawrence Street on Monday, Sept. 28 and Tuesday, Sept. 29 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. There won't be parking restrictions during this first round of closures.

Then, from Oct. 5 through Oct. 16, residents will need to move their parked cars between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. for a further phase of the investigation.

"When they go in, they don't come out"  

Imani Lamour, who lives near the Chew Avenue home in Olney, stopped to watch investigators in hazmat suits move through the property. 

"Being as though so many victims have been missing and it's connected back to this house, that's pretty shocking," Lamour said.

A woman who asked not to be identified told CBS News Philadelphia there were rumors about the Horsch home and missing people. 

"I've been around here 50-some years, and that house had been strange, and people like go in there and wouldn't come back out," she said. "When they go in, they don't come out, and people have been saying that for years."

Jerry Johnson owned Sam's Cold Cuts in Olney for years. He couldn't say if he knew the Horschs. But police and federal agents carting bags of trash from the home Tuesday seemed to convince Johnson he was better off not knowing the troubling details emerging about the home.

"My attitude is to pray, hope and not worry too much," Johnson said. "That's kind of the way I go about things." 

What led investigators to the Olney "house of horrors"

The investigation was fueled by a traffic stop that resulted in Eugene Horsch's arrest on gun and drug charges in June. In that stop, which occurred near the federal courthouse at 6th and Market streets, Horsch was found with guns and drugs as well as fake DEA credentials.

An unidentified woman who was with Horsch also gave investigators an ID with the name Blair Tonzelli, a woman who had been reported missing in 2023.

Soon after, federal law enforcement obtained several search warrants for the home. The nameless woman told investigators she was scared to enter the home's basement "because of things he did down there," sources said. She did not specify who "he" was. 

Philadelphia police previously said an elaborate laboratory with corrosive and toxic chemicals was located in that basement. Investigators are awaiting test results of some 50 containers of an oily, sludge-like substance removed from the basement.

In some of his own writings, R.C. Horsch talked about a process made to sound routine of dissolving human remains, known as alkaline hydrolysis.

Who are the missing women linked to the Olney home?

Police and sources have named five women who were previously reported missing and may have been connected to the Horsch home. Seven missing women in total have been linked to the house.

Three women are believed to be dead: Gabrielle Amarando, Maribel Fresses and Nicole Fusaro.

Two more women with connections to the house — Blair Tonzelli and Raymond Horsch's ex-wife Amy McHale — are still considered missing.

Multiple sources fear there will be more victims connected to the Horsch home.