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11 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Forced birther and pervert. What a surprise, not. 
This happened only a few months after the disappearance of the Lyon sisters in Wheaton, Maryland. I'll wager that investigators at the time looked into the possibility of a connection.
Sat Mar 25, 2023: On Tuesday, March 25, 1975, the Lyon sisters went to the Wheaton Plaza shopping mall.
Former Church Minister Charged With 1975 Murder of 8-Year-Old Girl
The disappearance and killing of Gretchen Harrington in Broomall, Pa., had been a mystery for decades. The authorities said on Monday that a former leader at the girl’s church had been charged.
A black-and-white missing persons notice for Gretchen Harrington, accompanied by a photo of the smiling girl.
Gretchen Harrington, 8, disappeared as she was on her way to summer Bible school in Broomall, Pa., in August 1975.Credit...Philadelphia Daily News
By Jesus Jiménez
July 24, 2023
On the morning of Aug. 15, 1975, Gretchen Harrington, 8, left her home in Broomall, Pa., for summer Bible school. The Trinity Chapel Christian Reformed Church was less than half a mile down the road, but Gretchen never made it. ... Skeletal remains found nearby in Ridley Creek State Park on Oct. 14, 1975, were later identified as Gretchen’s. The cause of her death, which was ruled a homicide, was found to be injuries to her head. But, for decades, no one knew who killed her.
{snip}
‘I think it was Mr. Z’
{snip}
The police were unable to find any leads that could steer them closer to discovering who had killed Gretchen, and the case went cold. Then, earlier this year, investigators interviewed a woman, identified in the complaint as “CI #1,” who had come forward and said she went to school with Gretchen and Zoey Harrington, one of Gretchen’s sisters. ... The woman told investigators on Jan. 2 that she was friends with Mr. Zandstra’s daughters, and that she would often play at the Zandstra home and stay overnight. The woman told the police that, during two sleepovers, she was awakened by Mr. Zandstra touching her groin area. ... Eventually, the woman said, she told her parents, and that a short time afterward the Zandstras moved to Plano, Texas, a Dallas suburb, according to the complaint.
As the woman was being interviewed, she showed investigators a diary that she kept when she was a girl. In one entry, dated Sept. 15, 1975, she wrote: “Guess what? A man tried to kidnap Holly twice,” referring to a girl in her class. ... “It’s a secret so I can’t tell anyone, but I think he might be the one who kidnapped Gretchen. I think it was Mr. Z,” she wrote, referring to Mr. Zandstra.
The interview and the journal entry prompted investigators to track down Mr. Zandstra, who was living in Marietta, northwest of Atlanta. ... Investigators interviewed Mr. Zandstra at Cobb County police headquarters in Marietta on July 17. At first, Mr. Zandstra denied having seen Gretchen on the day she went missing, according to the police complaint. But eventually, it said, he confessed.
{snip}
Alain Delaquérière contributed research.
Jesus Jiménez is a general assignment reporter. More about Jesus Jiménez
The disappearance and killing of Gretchen Harrington in Broomall, Pa., had been a mystery for decades. The authorities said on Monday that a former leader at the girl’s church had been charged.
A black-and-white missing persons notice for Gretchen Harrington, accompanied by a photo of the smiling girl.
Gretchen Harrington, 8, disappeared as she was on her way to summer Bible school in Broomall, Pa., in August 1975.Credit...Philadelphia Daily News
By Jesus Jiménez
July 24, 2023
On the morning of Aug. 15, 1975, Gretchen Harrington, 8, left her home in Broomall, Pa., for summer Bible school. The Trinity Chapel Christian Reformed Church was less than half a mile down the road, but Gretchen never made it. ... Skeletal remains found nearby in Ridley Creek State Park on Oct. 14, 1975, were later identified as Gretchen’s. The cause of her death, which was ruled a homicide, was found to be injuries to her head. But, for decades, no one knew who killed her.
{snip}
‘I think it was Mr. Z’
{snip}
The police were unable to find any leads that could steer them closer to discovering who had killed Gretchen, and the case went cold. Then, earlier this year, investigators interviewed a woman, identified in the complaint as “CI #1,” who had come forward and said she went to school with Gretchen and Zoey Harrington, one of Gretchen’s sisters. ... The woman told investigators on Jan. 2 that she was friends with Mr. Zandstra’s daughters, and that she would often play at the Zandstra home and stay overnight. The woman told the police that, during two sleepovers, she was awakened by Mr. Zandstra touching her groin area. ... Eventually, the woman said, she told her parents, and that a short time afterward the Zandstras moved to Plano, Texas, a Dallas suburb, according to the complaint.
As the woman was being interviewed, she showed investigators a diary that she kept when she was a girl. In one entry, dated Sept. 15, 1975, she wrote: “Guess what? A man tried to kidnap Holly twice,” referring to a girl in her class. ... “It’s a secret so I can’t tell anyone, but I think he might be the one who kidnapped Gretchen. I think it was Mr. Z,” she wrote, referring to Mr. Zandstra.
The interview and the journal entry prompted investigators to track down Mr. Zandstra, who was living in Marietta, northwest of Atlanta. ... Investigators interviewed Mr. Zandstra at Cobb County police headquarters in Marietta on July 17. At first, Mr. Zandstra denied having seen Gretchen on the day she went missing, according to the police complaint. But eventually, it said, he confessed.
{snip}
Alain Delaquérière contributed research.
Jesus Jiménez is a general assignment reporter. More about Jesus Jiménez
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