Who is Eugene Horsch? All we know about man at center of Olney ‘mystery house’ probe as ‘dark’ videos, photos found
One name that has emerged amid the investigation into a “mystery house” in Philadelphia’s Olney neighborhood is Eugene Horsch. His house is now in focus, with “graphic” videos revealing that two missing women, Maribel Fresses and Gabriella Amarando, died there.
Who is Eugene Horsch?
It all started on June 19, 2026, when a park ranger stopped a BMW on the 600 block of Market Street near Independence Mall. Inside were a male driver and female passenger, Philadelphia Inspector Raymond Evers shared during a press conference.
The driver was identified as 44-year-old Horsch, and the woman provided fake identification with the name Blair Tonzelli. According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUS), Tonzelli went missing in 2023.
The park ranger found two handguns and $8,000 in illegal drugs inside the house.
Images and videos recovered from a hard drive found during the search of Horsch’s Chew Avenue home show what investigators believe are the bodies of two women, Fox29 reported. While some videos showed them alive, others showed them appearing to be dead.
Also Read | Who were Maribel Fresses and Gabriella Amarando? Olney ‘mystery house’ probe reveals missing women died
“I’m not gonna get into exactly what I saw, it’s dark. It’s real dark. But what we saw is these two girls alive. There was a period of time and what appears to us that they’re deceased. There’s pieces of the video that we don’t have yet,” Evers said during the press conference.
The women are identified as Fresses, 27, and Amarando, 22. Both of them were born in 1990, Evers said. While Fressess was reported missing in February 2018, Anarando has been missing since September of 2012.
Their bodies have not been found. The medical examiner confirmed photo and video evidence indicated that the two are dead, but could not verify how they died.
Evers explained that the only entity that can declare the women deceased is the Philadelphia Orphan’s Court. The women’s families have been notified of the findings.
Horsch was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges connected to false FBI credentials, NBC10 reported. At a preliminary hearing on August 6, Pennsylvania state prosecutors withdrew all five charges against him.
Horsch is still facing federal charges for possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of an unlawfully produced document and authentication feature. He was transferred to federal custody after federal prosecutors charged him. A jury trial in the federal case has been scheduled for September 8.
What else was found in Eugene Horsch’s house?
As many as 95 search warrants were issued for Horsch’s house on the 400 block of West Chew Avenue. Inside, the DEA and the Philadelphia Police Department found at least one more illegal gun, a marijuana grow operation, another fake FBI badge and five urns filled with cremated remains.
Authorities also found computer parts and what appeared to be a home lab with several containers of an unknown oily substance. The containers were sent to a Chicago lab to be reviewed.
In the beginning of August, a computer forensic lab started to review the digital evidence from the house. They reportedly went through 600,000 images, 70,000 videos and more than 10,000 pages of drawings and writings, which is just 5% of the digital evidence, according to Evers.
“We have to review and organize those. Why do I say this? This is what this investigation will take time. There’s a lot of evidence to go through,” said Evers. “This is new territory for the homicide unit in Philadelphia. Usually when we have a homicide investigation, we have a body, we have body parts. This time we do not… this has turned into a death investigation; again will be protracted.”
It has been revealed that Amy McHale, who was previously married to Horsch’s late father, has been missing since 2016. Tonzelli, whose name appeared on the fake ID of the woman Horsch was with in the car, has also been missing for several years.
The Philadelphia Police Department has urged anyone who may have been inside this house or interacted with Horsch or his father to call them at 215-686-TIPS. If you wish to speak directly with an investigator from the Homicide Division who is assigned to the case, call 215-686-3334.
