It took half a century but now the murder mystery of Gretchen Harrington's death has been resolved.
The killer of the 8-year-old girl who disappeared in 1975 while participating in a Bible study group in Pennsylvania, and found dead two months later, was the former pastor of a Presbyterian church, David Zandstra, 83, who he had also celebrated the funeral.
According to what was reconstructed by the investigators, the man kidnapped the little girl and after taking her by car to an isolated location, he tried to take her clothes off. Gretchen refused and was beaten to death. Then Zandstra disposed of the body.
Back at church, he and his wife helped the parents of the little girl report her missing.
The investigation took a turn at the beginning of this year thanks to the statement of a witness according to which Zandstra would have touched her private parts during a night in which she had stopped to sleep at their home. He was 10 at the time and told his parents about the incident.
The pastor later moved to Texas. The witness also kept a diary. "I can't tell anyone - he wrote on September 15, 1975 - but I think it's the person (referring to the priest) who kidnapped Gretchen". Police went to the former priest's home last week to question him about the Harrington case. At that point he confessed to having kidnapped and killed her.
(Unioneonline/ss)
