Investigators searching rural Lancaster County have found human remains in the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos, authorities announced Wednesday.
Stoltzfoos was reported missing on June 21, 2020, and 34-year-old Justo Smoker was charged with her kidnapping and death last year.
The Lancaster District Attorney’s Office said the coroner’s officer has been called to the scene, which they say is in a rural area in the eastern part of the county. The FBI, East Lampeter Township police and state police were all a part of the search.
Man Charged with Kidnapping Linda Stoltzfoos Now Charged with Her Murder https://t.co/9vTl3lmsS8
— Lancaster DA (@Lancaster_DA) December 21, 2020
The DA’s office said the Stoltzfoos family has been notified of the update and is “still processing this information.”
The scene needs to be “forensically processed,” according to the DA’s office before the remains will be released to the coroner for official identification and death investigation.
Smoker is being held at Lancaster County Prison awaiting trial on the homicide charge, according to the DA’s office.
On Wednesday, members of the FBI, East Lampeter Township Police and Pennsylvania State Police announced they recovered human remains, a possible development in the Linda Stoltzfoos investigation.https://t.co/mg9VdcjxLG
— abc27 News (@abc27News) April 21, 2021
“Law enforcement and other community groups have searched extensively since June to bring Linda Stoltzfoos home,” the DA’s office said, adding that there were more than 15,000 man-hours attributed to the case and that Wednesday marks the 10-month anniversary of her disappearance.
Investigators believe Stoltzfoos was kidnapped on Beechdale Road in Bird-In-Hand, East Lampeter Township while she was walking home from church.
Originally, Smoker was charged just in her kidnapping, after witnesses helped lead investigators to his vehicle, which was in the area at the time of the kidnapping. In December, a charge of homicide was added under the belief that too much time had passed for Stoltzfoos to be alive.
The Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office is working with members of the recovery team and will provide more details later.
