7 Missing Women, 5 Presumed Dead, Seen on Digital Files Found in Late Pornographer’s Home

The Philadelphia Police Department recovered more than 1 million digital images and videos of 58 people from the home of Eugene and Raymond Horsch on Wednesday, Sept. 16

NEED TO KNOW

• Seven missing women are linked to disturbing images and videos recovered from the home of Eugene Horsch and his late father, Raymond Horsch, on Wednesday, Sept. 16
• The files include footage of lifeless women, drug use and potential evidence of violent crimes
• Authorities are investigating chemicals found in the home and reviewing over 1 million recovered files

Seven missing women, five of whom are presumed dead, have been linked to images and videos recovered from a Philadelphia home, in a case with broader ties.

On Wednesday, Sept. 16, the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) recovered more than 1 million digital images and videos of 58 people at a home on Chew Avenue in Philadelphia, NBC News reported. The resident is Eugene Horsch, 44, who previously lived there with his late father, pornographic filmmaker and photographer Raymond Horsch. Raymond died at age 82 last year.

The recovery follows authorities’ June search of the home after Eugene and a woman were approached by a federal park ranger because they were illegally parked near Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, according to NBC News.

The woman was carrying identification belonging to a missing woman, Blair Tonzelli, who was last seen in 2023, police said, per the outlet. Additionally, the ranger discovered around $8,000 worth of illegal drugs, two handguns and false federal law enforcement officer credentials belonging to Eugene.

Authorities then searched Eugene’s home and recovered false law enforcement credentials, drugs, firearms, containers of unknown chemicals and five urns with cremated remains, according to NBC News.

Authorities, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and a bomb squad, later returned to Eugene’s home to execute a search warrant and found over 1 million videos and photos showing women in the home.

Seven missing women were among the people in the files. Four of the missing women “appear to be lifeless,” and there is a video of “what may have happened” to the fifth woman, PPD Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said during a press conference on Wednesday, 6abc reported.

The five women are Blair Tonzelli, Amy McHale, Maribel Fresses, Gabrielle Amarando and Nicole Fusaro, according to NBC News.

McHale, who went missing in June 2016, was Raymond’s ex-wife and was last seen at his home, her family said. Fresses and Amarando are two of the women who appeared “unconscious and injured” in the files. Fresses has been missing since 2018, and Amarando since 2012.

Footage captures Fusaro naked with Raymond while she was handcuffed to a bed. The video also includes drug consumption and money being issued. “At some point during this, using a channel lock tool of some kind, he puts a zip tie around her neck and she becomes unconscious on that video,” Vanore said.

Two more women in the files appeared to be injured and unconscious. One 25-year-old woman’s identity is unknown, while the other, a 27-year-old woman, has not been publicly revealed.

No bodies were recovered at the home, and no homicide charges have been announced.

Agents are still reviewing the files, and the FBI said about 30% have been viewed, according to Fox 29.

The files have shown that an additional 10 people who were identified died of overdoses. Their deaths occurred at a later time, and they were “found somewhere else, in a different residence, in a different place in Philadelphia,” Vanore said during the press briefing.

Police attempted to speak with 16 people, but they weren’t cooperative. The police plan to interview another 25 people seen in the videos.

The authorities plan to return to the Horsch home with a search warrant later this month, according to Fox 29. Currently, evidence is being examined, and detectives are investigating whether the found chemicals were used to dispose of the victims’ bodies, ABC7 reported.

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PEOPLE has reached out to the Philadelphia Police Department for comment.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

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