Bones have been unearthed in the backyard of a Philadelphia ‘house of horrors’ linked to seven missing women, while FBI investigators have uncovered a hidden safe concealed beneath the floorboards of the notorious property.
The grim discoveries were made as detectives continued to dismantle and excavate the dilapidated home once occupied by convicted methamphetamine producer and perpetual pornographer Raymond ‘R.C.’ Horsch and his son Eugene.
Horsch, whose violent erotic films, disturbing writings and vast trove of explicit images have become central to an investigation into the disappearances of multiple women, died last year aged 82.
A concealed safe was found as investigators removed sections of the walls and flooring, although it remains unclear what, if anything, was inside.
Then, on Thursday, October 15, forensic teams recovered bones from the backyard, prompting the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office to be called to the scene, according to NBC10.
Officials have yet to determine whether the remains belong to a human or animal.
The discoveries have intensified scrutiny of the West Chew Avenue property, where investigators have already recovered an extraordinary collection of material they are now painstakingly examining for clues.
FBI Evidence Response Team agents have been collecting soil samples from different locations and depths, with crews expected to extend their search to the front of the property.
Horsch, an erotic photographer and filmmaker whose work frequently depicted violence against women, is receiving mass attention from investigators after bones were discovered in the backyard of his property
Police first discovered more than a million digital images and videos allegedly depicting sex, drug use and even at least one snuff film at Horsch's Philadelphia home
Officials removed pipes and debris while searching Eugene Horsch’s Philadelphia home on July 22 amid the search at the property
Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant who is not involved in the investigation, told NBC10 that the samples could help establish whether chemicals were present in the ground.
‘Right now, it looks like soil samples,’ he said, explaining that investigators would collect material from different areas and depths for testing.
Forensic analysis will be needed to establish whether the latest discoveries are connected to the missing women.
The excavation is only the latest development in a case that has grown increasingly unsettling since Eugene Horsch’s arrest in June.
Authorities have recovered containers holding unidentified substances, illegal weapons, fraudulent law-enforcement credentials and five urns believed to contain cremated remains from the property.
Investigators are also examining a vast digital archive that police say includes hundreds of thousands of images, tens of thousands of videos and thousands of pages of writings, manuscripts and drawings.
Among the most disturbing material are alleged ‘snuff films’, including one reportedly showing the perpetual sex pest strangling a woman.
Police have not established that the woman depicted was one of those who disappeared or that the footage conclusively documents an actual killing.
Police and FBI investigators excavated Eugene Horsch’s Philadelphia home for a second time on July 23. Then, on Thursday, October 15, investigators recovered bones from the backyard, prompting the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office to be called to the scene, according to NBC10
Eugene Albert Horsch, Horsch's 44-year-old son, remains in federal custody on a firearms charge and was found with a black BMW accompanied by a woman who presented officers with a fraudulent identification card bearing missing woman Blair Tonzelli’s name. He has not been charged with harming any of the missing women
Amy McHale, Horsch's former wife and film collaborator, was last seen at the Olney property in 2016 and remains missing
Gabrielle Amarando, who disappeared in 2012 aged 22, allegedly appeared alive and later seemingly dead in footage recovered from the home, police said
During an August briefing, Philadelphia Police Inspector Raymond Evers said investigators had recovered approximately 600,000 images, 70,000 videos and more than 10,000 pages of written material.
Detectives had reviewed only around five to seven per cent of the material at that stage, Evers said, describing it as ‘graphic and dark’.
The staggering volume of evidence has left investigators with the painstaking task of sifting through years of photographs, recordings and documents in search of anything that could establish what happened inside the house.
Among the most significant discoveries are images and videos that police say appear to show two missing women alive inside the property and later apparently dead.
They were identified as Gabrielle Amarando, who disappeared in September 2012 aged 22, and Maribel Fresses, who was last seen in February 2018 aged 27.
Police believe both women are dead, yet neither body has been found.
Without their remains, the medical examiner has been unable to establish when, where or how they died. Authorities have not publicly determined whether they were killed, died from overdoses or met some other fate.
No one has been charged in connection with their disappearances or suspected deaths.
Maribel Fresses, who vanished in 2018 aged 27, was also allegedly shown alive and later seemingly dead in material recovered by investigators
Detectives are also investigating the disappearance of Amy McHale, Horsch’s former wife and a onetime collaborator in his films and photography.
McHale was last seen at the Olney property in 2016. Her family has said the house was her last known location.
Another woman whose disappearance has drawn renewed attention is Blair Tonzelli, who vanished in 2022 and was reported missing in February 2023.
Questions surrounding Tonzelli surfaced after a disturbing photograph of her allegedly remained on Horsch’s erotic website months after she was reported missing.
The image appeared to show the 35-year-old nude, with what looked like a black eye and blood running from her lower lip.
Archived records reviewed by The Philadelphia Inquirer reportedly showed the photograph was still displayed on the website in September 2023 – seven months after Tonzelli’s disappearance was reported.
The sex maniac is said to have uploaded the image around 2020, after meeting Tonzelli who struggled with addiction in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood when she was living at a known drug house.
The sadistic predator openly acknowledged recruiting women struggling with addiction by offering them drugs or money to participate in his productions.
Blair Tonzelli was reported missing in February 2023 after friends said she was last seen at Raymond Horsch’s Philadelphia home the previous summer
His work frequently depicted graphic violence against women, although he maintained that the scenes were staged and consensual.
The website has since been taken offline.
Horsch, who died in May 2025 aged 82, was known in erotic art and pornography circles for his photographs, films, novels and more than a dozen photo books.
An extensive investigation by the Inquirer found that his work ranged from conventional erotic portraits to deeply disturbing imagery, often featuring violent themes.
Archived website material reportedly documented thousands of images spanning over several decades, with at least three dozen women appearing in his work.
Horsch also wrote about a serial killer who murdered people struggling with addiction, raising further questions about how investigators should interpret the writings and fictional material recovered from his home.
Several women who lived at or passed through the property later died from overdoses, including Horsch’s longtime companion Krista Killen, who appeared in some of his productions and died in 2025.
The investigation swiftly gathered momentum after Eugene Albert Horsch, 44, was arrested near Independence Hall on June 19.
According to police records cited by the Inquirer, Eugene was found inside a black BMW with a woman who presented officers with a fraudulent identification card bearing Tonzelli’s name.
The woman later told investigators that Eugene had created the identification and instructed her to use it if she got into trouble, the newspaper reported.
Police said officers recovered two illegal handguns, knives, drugs and a fraudulent Drug Enforcement Administration badge bearing Eugene’s photograph.
The encounter prompted investigators to return to the family home, where they reportedly discovered additional fake identification documents bearing Tonzelli’s name and one of her bank cards.
Subsequent searches uncovered more material requiring forensic examination, including the unidentified substances, the five urns and a section of pipe removed from the property for testing.
Police and FBI investigators excavated portions of the site in July, with the latest search producing the discovery of the bones and hidden safe.
Some of the substances recovered from the home were sent to laboratories for analysis, but authorities have not announced that any have been conclusively linked to the missing women.
Eugene remains in federal custody on an illegal firearms possession charge. He has not been charged with harming any of the women, and investigators have not publicly underscored whether he participated in his father’s pornography business.