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Content warning: This story contains descriptions of violence and death.
A routine encounter near Independence Mall led authorities to an Olney home containing more than one individual digital evidence items, five urns, firearms, drugs and unidentified chemicals.
Investigators have connected seven women to the case, including five who appear lifeless or unconscious in the recovered material, according to Philadelphia police. They have not recovered any bodies or announced any homicide charges.
With only about 30% of the material reviewed, here is what authorities know — and what remains unclear.
How did the investigation begin?
In June, a U.S. Park Police officer approached an illegally parked BMW near Independence Mall and found 44-year-old Eugene Horsch inside with a woman.
Authorities said Horsch possessed firearms, illegal drugs and fraudulent law enforcement credentials. The woman presented an ID bearing the name of Blair Tonzelli, who was reported missing in 2023. Police said the ID displayed the unnamed woman’s photograph, but Tonzelli’s name.
The encounter led investigators to Horsch’s residence on the 400 block of West Chew Avenue.
What did investigators find?
Police and the FBI recovered computers, cameras, hard drives, phones and other devices containing more than 600,000 images, 70,000 videos and over 10,000 pages of writing.
The material depicts at least 58 people. Some women appear unconscious or lifeless, police said, although authorities have not confirmed that anyone died inside the house.
One video described by police shows Raymond “R.C.” Horsch, Eugene Horsch’s late father, with a woman who used drugs before being handcuffed to a bed. Investigators said the woman appeared to lose consciousness after a zip tie was placed around her neck.
Authorities are trying to determine whether the video depicts an actual assault or something staged for one of R.C. Horsch’s adult films.
Police said 10 people seen in the recovered material later died of overdoses elsewhere. Investigators have also located and interviewed several people depicted in the files.
What was found in the basement?
Investigators discovered a homemade laboratory containing a 55-gallon drum connected to hoses and water lines. A forensic laboratory in Chicago is analyzing unidentified chemicals recovered from the property.
Authorities have not determined how the chemicals were used or whether they have any connection to the missing women.
Police also recovered five urns believed to contain human ashes. One is believed to hold R.C. Horsch’s remains, while two others may contain the remains of his sister and a friend. The identities of the remains in the other urns are unknown.
Guns, gun parts, ammunition, drugs and a small marijuana-growing operation were also found, police said.
Who was R.C. Horsch?
R.C. Horsch owned the Olney property until he transferred it to Eugene in 2006 and died in 2025 at age 82. Police said he was an erotic filmmaker and photographer who appears in some of the recovered material.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Horsch recruited women experiencing addiction by offering them money and drugs in exchange for sexual activity and appearances in his films and photographs. Some reportedly stayed at the Olney house.
Horsch also had a criminal history involving counterfeiting, drug manufacturing, fraudulent identities and firearms, according to The Inquirer and 6abc.
Had authorities searched the house before?
Narcotics officers searched the property after a fire in May 2025 and found marijuana plants, firearms, ammunition and containers of chemicals, The Inquirer reported. The police report from that search did not mention missing women.
Friends and relatives of missing women reportedly had also directed authorities to the property in previous years. The broader investigation began after Eugene Horsch’s encounter with the U.S. Park Police officer in June.
Has anyone been charged?
Eugene Horsch is in federal custody on firearms and fake-credential charges.
He has not been charged in connection with the disappearance or death of any woman. His father died before the current investigation began.
Authorities said they must review the remaining digital material, identify the people depicted and find evidence corroborating what appears in the files. No remains connected to the missing women have been recovered.
