Philadelphia police said they uncovered images of seven missing women while reviewing more than 1 million files seized from a home. Two of the women appear to be unconscious and injured, and investigators also found five urns believed to hold human ashes, authorities said Wednesday.
An initial review of the images identified two missing women — 27-year-old Gabrielle Armando and 26-year-old Marabel Fresses — lying unconscious inside the Chew Avenue residence with what appeared to be injuries, Philadelphia Police Department Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said during a news conference.
Image metadata indicates the photographs were taken in 2017. “Both women remain missing and have not been seen,” Vanore said, adding that “to date, neither their bodies nor any DNA evidence have been recovered.”
The Chew Avenue home belonged to the late pornographer Raymond “R.C.” Horsch and was occupied by his son, Eugene Horsch, whose arrest in June prompted the investigation.
R.C. Horsch in a 1999 mugshot. (S. E. Stokowski/Wikimedia Creative Commons)
Vanore said a Federal Park Ranger arrested 44-year-old Eugene Horsch on June 19 after investigating him and a female passenger who were sitting in a BMW near Philadelphia’s Independence Mall.
“During the course of that investigation, officers recovered two firearms, narcotics, and identification impersonating a federal law enforcement officer, and he was charged. Task force officers from the DEA were able to develop probable cause that same day and serve a warrant on Mr. Horsch’s residence,” Vanore said.
The woman riding with Horsch gave police false identification in the name of Blair Tonzelli, who has been missing since 2023, a Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson confirmed to News Media.
A photo of Blair Tonzelli, who disappeared in February 2023. (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NAMUS))
Police have not released the actual identity of the woman found in the vehicle. Tonzelli’s whereabouts remain unknown.
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After obtaining a warrant, investigators found “a homemade laboratory of some kind in the basement area, five urns believed to contain human ashes, and a large amount of digital evidence — including computers, hard drives, flash drives, DVRs, cameras, and phones,” Vanore said during the press conference.
Investigators have identified 58 total people in the videos and images they found in the home. Vanore said “four of those identified appear lifeless, with video depicting what may have happened to one of them.”
Eugene Horsch’s mugshot. (FOX 29 Philadelphia)
One video shows R.C. Horsch handcuffing a woman to a bed and zip-tying her neck until she became unconscious. Police identified this woman as Nicole Fusaro, according to FOX 29 Philadelphia.
Another missing woman connected to the home is R.C. Horsch’s ex-wife, Amy McHale, who has been missing since 2016, FOX 29 reported.
Two other missing women have been connected to the home. Police identified one as a 25-year-old woman but did not name her, and the other has yet to be identified, according to FOX 29.
Image of Marabel Fresses, who went missing in 2018. (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NAMUS))
“We have only processed a small fraction of the total media. Thousands of videos remain to be analyzed. We are working to corroborate what we see and gather physical evidence to prove our findings, supported throughout by the FBI as we determine our next steps,” Vanore concluded Wednesday.