A major investigation at a Philadelphia home linked to at least seven missing women has unearthed more than 1 million photos and videos, including many gruesome images appearing to show several women harmed, dead or unconscious, authorities said.
Out of the seven missing women connected to the home of Raymond “R.C.” Horsch, five are believed dead, Philadelphia police said on Wednesday, September 16, according to NBC News. The residence has been called a “house of horrors.”
Horsch, who died last year at the age of 82, lived with his adult son at the home located in the city’s Olney neighborhood.
Horsch had written several books featuring disturbing and sexually explicit subject matter before his death, according to CBS News Philadelphia. In one of the books reviewed by the outlet, he writes of killing a woman and disposing of the evidence using chemicals.
So far, 58 people have been identified in digital images found at Horsch’s home, including four who looked dead or unconscious, Philadelphia Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore said, NBC News reported. Investigators are trying to interview 25 of those individuals after locating 41 people who were identified.
One video, according to Vanore, seemed to show Horsch fatally strangling a woman with a zip tie, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The footage was said to show first the woman consuming drugs and Horsch handing her money. Then, Horsch, who was allegedly naked, was reportedly seen handcuffing her to a bed before strangling her.
Family members identified the woman as 27-year-old Nicole Fusaro, who disappeared in 2018, the newspaper reported.
Horsch has described himself as an “empathetic serial killer” on a Google Books page for one of his novels, a memoir titled “Empathy” written in 2014.
In an author section for another novel titled “Slaves,” he described himself as an “artist, filmmaker, composer, porn performer,” as well as a “fugitive, sociopath, ex-convict and all-out villain.”
Authorities began investigating his home after a park ranger spotted Horsch’s son, Eugene Horsch, 44, illegally parked at Independence Hall in Philadelphia in June, according to NBC News.
The park ranger found Eugene with a woman who had a missing woman’s identification card, according to police. The woman, Blair Tonzelli, vanished in 2023, the outlet reported.
Authorities also located guns, drugs, a cattle prod and a fake badge purporting to belong to a federal drug enforcement agent in Eugene’s vehicle, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
This prompted a weekslong search at the Olney home, where drugs, weapons, tubs of unknown fluids, and a 55-gallon drum connected to a water line was discovered, per the newspaper.
Eugene was arrested on drug and firearm related charges in connection with his June encounter with a park ranger, according to CBS News. No arrests have been made over the alleged discoveries at his home.
Information on his legal representation wasn’t immediately available.
In addition to Fusaro and Tonzelli, other missing women connected to the Olney house include Amy McHale, Raymond’s ex-wife who was reportedly last seen at his house in 2016, Maribel Fresses, 27, who’s been missing since 2018, and Gabrielle Amarando, 22, according to NBC News. The outlet didn’t specify McHale’s age.
The identities of two other women haven’t been shared by law enforcement.
To date, no human remains have been found at the house, according to authorities.
