58 Women Linked to Philly 'House of Horrors': Police

- It's a case that is as disturbing as we've covered. Police in Philadelphia say multiple women went into the home of an infamous adult videographer and his son, but never came out. And inside the home there were more than a million images depicting scenes straight out of a horror movie. - He puts a zip tie around her neck and she becomes unconscious on that video. - The homeowner is now in custody and what truly happened in this home is still a mystery. - I'm not gonna get into exactly what I saw at Stark. It's real dark. - Investigators are now going through pictures and videos of unconscious women, urns, chemicals, and they also reportedly have a note that mentions an infamous serial killer raising even more worry about what was going on inside. We're on the case presented by Law and Crime. I'm Chris Stewart. - This week, Philadelphia police dropped multiple bombshells and an investigation that is as unique as we've covered. For the first time, police talked about the specifics of what they discovered and images uncovered from a home they say multiple women entered, but perhaps ever left. They vanished and are still missing today. - We have a duty to those families who are all concerned about whether they're loved one, lost their lives in that house or may be somewhere else. This is the head of Philadelphia police giving an update on what they're finding inside the home of a man named Eugene Horsh. He's in federal custody right now on gun and drug charges. He's not facing charges for any violent crimes like murder at this point, even though there are some major questions about women seen unconscious and possibly dead in videos allegedly found on hard drives in his house are real. Authorities are going through more than one million images found in the home. Eugene's dad is a key figure in this story as well. He died in 2025 of a heart condition, but he was infamous in the world of adult film. He was known for making a style of pornography that focused on inflicting pain and humiliation, very dark stuff. This is one of the videos police say they found involving a woman who is still missing. - At some point during this, using channel lock tool of some kind, he puts a zip tie around her neck and she becomes unconscious on that video, appear to be lifeless at that time. - Before we talk about the women who police say are still missing who had ties to this house, I want to remind you how police came upon this home in June. It was around eight in the morning on June 19th, not far from the Liberty Bell in Center City, Philadelphia when a federal park ranger heard a man and a woman fighting. The ranger said the man was Eugene Horses. They were in a BMW. The ranger allegedly heard the woman say, quote, you're going to hurt me. Inside the car, they allegedly found two illegal handguns and eight thousand dollars worth of heroin, marijuana, and crack cocaine. Horses also allegedly had a DEA badge with his name on it. Now the woman gave the ranger an ID and it had the name Blair Tonzelli. Now Blair has been missing since 2023. Here's her profile on the National Missing Person Database, Namus. Now the thing is Blair Tonzelli was not the woman in the car who handed over that ID. Blair is still missing and we don't know who the woman was, who is in the car with Eugene Horses that day. So police take Eugene into custody. Police then execute a search warrant at his house on Chiu Avenue. And this is where the story goes in a direction that no one expected. There was a homemade laboratory of some kind in the basement area. There were five urns, believed to be containing human ashes, large amount of digital evidence, which we'll talk more about as we move forward. And that includes computers, hard drives, flash drives, DVRs, cameras, phones that we are currently in the process of analyzing and we'll talk about that. Right now the FBI has only been able to analyze about 30% of the more than 1 million images they recovered. The images include videos of women who are unconscious according to police. Where we've seen a 27-year-old Gabrielle Armando and a 26-year-old Maribel Faresis who were in the house lying unconscious, they had what appeared to be injuries on them. But that's all they really had. They were just images. So at that time, we did notify family. They are still missing and haven't been seen. These images now were from computer hard drive and the metadata was dated 2017. So these were not recent, but these images were there. So their bodies and no other trace of them DNA have been recovered to this point. OK, now I'm going to give you a further update. So homicide detectives have been continued to look through these images, these videos. Maribel Faresis and Gabrielle Armarondo are still missing. Faresis was 27 when she was last seen in 2018. Armarondo was 22 when she went missing all the way back in 2012. Then you have the newest video that police talked about this week involving a woman they say was with R.C. Horses. A few videos were found that were significant. The one being the last video was viewed while the homicide detectives were viewing it. It's a video also with metadata from 2017. This video depicts a female and R.C. Horses who is the father of Eugene, as I said. They're in the video, both are not wearing clothing. There's two separate cameras, one he's controlling, and one that's a fix somewhere in the bedroom where they're at. Both videos were obtained by us. We have them all. You could see, during the course of this time, the female uses narcotics during the course of this time. She is then given money by Mr. Horses and then a fix to the bed with handcuffs by him. At some point during this, using channel lock tool of some kind, he puts a zip tie around her neck and she becomes unconscious on that video, appear to be lifeless at that time, but it's just appearing that way. Police are not identifying the woman in that video with R.C. Horses. It's obviously incredibly disturbing and they say they are not naming her out of respect for her family and their wishes. Now, another woman reportedly tied to this home who is still missing 27-year-old Nicole Fuzaro. She went missing in 2018, according to family members who have spoken to local media in Philadelphia. Part of the major challenge in this case is the fact that R.C. Horses was known for making grotesque and disturbing videos. So frankly, it's unclear if those disturbing images that look very real according to police, it's unclear whether you're looking at fiction or something far worse. - He was making movies. Some of his movies are there on just digital evidence. So that's the part where some of this is play acting and some of it we believe could be real. But we're not there yet. We don't wanna end our investigation before it even. We're not even in the middle of it. So there's a lot more to unpack. - Police say they have ID, Amarondo, Fresser and reportedly Fuzaro in the videos. They also say there's a woman they've identified, whose name they are not giving out at this point. And then there's a Jane Doe. Police say at this point, they're all still considered missing people because authorities don't have a body. A total of 58 women have been identified in the videos found in the house according to police. - So for them, as we said, that were identified appear to be lifeless. One of them, we have a video of what may have happened to her. The other one is not identified, so it's not counted here. 10, we know overdosed later on way after the video was done, but they were found somewhere else in a different residence in a different place in Philadelphia, not at Chew Street. 16 of them that we've seen in various states, we found, and we interviewed, not very cooperative. They don't really wanna talk about what occurred in that house. They're not telling us a lot about what occurred, but they were there and now they were able to be interviewed. There's 25 people that we know are now alive, that we're scheduling interviews with. But again, they were seen in various states, and we're just not sure what they were doing when they were in there. So there were also three people that called, that said you're gonna see images of us, but we're not coming in to talk to you, and we're not coming back. So there's a lot going on, and we really only looked at a very small amount of video. - Two other names to remember, as this investigation goes on, one, Blair Tanzelli, that's the woman whose ID was given to the park ranger by that individual who was with Eugene Horsche on the day of his arrest. The other name is Amy McHale. She's a woman who is married to RC Horsche, and these are some images from her Facebook. Amy's been missing since 2016. In a social media post, McHale's daughter says that her mom was last seen about a mile from the Horsche house. Not only are members of law enforcement going through the hundreds of thousands of images and videos that were found in the hole. but also, there were containers of chemicals that were found in this house. And those chemicals were taken to a crime lab where the FBI is currently going through them. And on top of those chemicals, there were five urns found in the home. - One of the urns is RC. We believe one is his sister, one's a friend. The other two were still unidentified. - Also inside the home, there was reportedly a note that made mention of serial killer Ted Bundy. They're zip ties and even a drum. It talked about killings and quote, trash that needs to go. The note is unsigned so it's unclear who wrote it. The attorney though, who's representing Eugene Horst, said that he believes that his client's dead father would be the one who penned that note telling NBC 10 quote, knowing Ray for the past 50 years, it wouldn't surprise me if that's something he wrote. Right now Eugene Horst is facing federal charges of possession of a firearm by a felon and a charge for allegedly having fake law enforcement badges. In 2014, he was convicted of possession with intent to distribute. He was sentenced to two to four years in prison. At this point, he is not charged with a violent crime. Please say anyone with information can call 686334 to speak directly to a homicide detective in Philadelphia or you can leave a tip by calling 215-686-T-I-P-S. Join us now to talk more about this from Pennsylvania, criminal defense attorney Matt Mangino, always great to have you here on Law and Crime. - Thanks a lot. - Thanks a lot. - One question I have and there's a lot in this story for sure, but knowing that RC Horst did some sort of like adult filmmaking of very disturbing materials. Like how do we even know what the FBI and what police have seen in these images they've taken from the home are even real? - Well, you're right, Chris. I mean, there's over a million images and they've sifted through what I believe about 30% or more and obviously they're very disturbing videos. He had a reputation RC Horst as a pernographer of some sort. So these images would be consistent with that, but from what we've read in news reports, some of these images are very disturbing and where women appear to be unconscious and injured and there are people depicted in some of these images in videos who've been missing for extended periods of time and even some of those appear to be deceased in the videos or the images. So it's very disturbing. - Well, and when you have, so you have Eugene Horst who's facing these guns and drugs charges, but he's not facing a violent crime accusation at this point. I mean, this isn't a murder case that we're dealing with at the time we're recording this. And the fact that RC Horst, the dad is no longer here and if you don't have a body and it doesn't seem like to this point that you have evidence other than these images, which we don't even know are real but they involve people who are real in missing. It's like how do you even build a case against Eugene Horst knowing that the dad is not even alive and potentially the defense could just say, well, you have no evidence to prove that it wasn't RC. - Well, right, it would be a difficult case. Certainly, we know by high profile cases that we've even talked about before that you don't necessarily need a body to successfully prosecute a homicide case. In these situations, you have images which you don't often have in homicide cases. And you have a history here sort of a trove of videos and images that can connect RC Horst to these women. And maybe as investigators continue to go through these videos and through these images that they could connect Eugene Horst as well. I mean, obviously, he was residing there. There were women who were frequently in there who are depicted in these images and videos. So it's gonna be a difficult process but I think prosecutors right now are looking at how do they connect the dots? How do they connect Eugene Horst to these videos and to these missing women who are in this house? Because obviously his father's deceased but I believe he was 82 years old when he passed away a couple of years ago. That's a heck of a pace to keep up if you're in 81 or 80 year old person who's bringing women into your home. You know, was there some assistance here? Was there someone helping him bring women into the home for his videos and for his photography? - Well, and I just think too. I mean, if this is a case where there are charges that are eventually filed against Eugene Horst in connection to some of these women who are depicted in the images, I just think of, and that hasn't happened yet, but like the discovery process, knowing that there's more than a million images, like what would that look like? Like how long would it take to actually get to a trial considering how much evidence both the prosecution and defense would have to go through? - Well, yeah, I mean, that's quite a task. If you think about it, just for a moment, I mean, a million images. I mean, that's pretty prolific photography or videography to accumulate a million images. Now, not all of these persons who are depicted in these videos are missing or deceased. In fact, as I understand it, the authorities have reached out to a number of people who they have identified in these videos and some have been willing to talk. So that's gonna be extremely important in this case, you know, how did you end up in these videos, who was present, who was there? Were there other women that you knew or saw who were there? Are there women that you knew who are missing who may have been there? So there's a lot to work with here because you have the huge amount of videos and huge amount of photographs that the police can go through, try to identify, reach out to those persons and talk with them. - Yeah, I mean, I think two of the backgrounds of a lot of the women who have been tied to this house and it's a sad reality that a lot of them dealt with substance abuse issues. Some are tied to the Kensington area Philadelphia, which is notorious for drug use. And even though there are, you know, several women who apparently have been identified in the videos and are still alive, there are others who have passed away from drug overdoses. You know, the fact that the people you're looking for are people who may not still be in connection with family members and they've been gone for so long. I mean, one woman has been missing since 2012 and she's seen in this video in 2017, based on the metadata. What type of challenge is that for investigators, knowing that you're looking for people that are off the grid and have been, in some cases for almost 15 years? - Well, yeah, there's no question 'cause that that makes things difficult for prosecutors and for investigators. You know, these people, unfortunately, whether it is drug abuse or mental health issues or some dual diagnosed problem that puts them in a situation like this, where they're being taken advantage of, where they're being, you know, used for whatever purpose or gratification that R.C. Horsh and possibly his son were involved. And so, you know, it makes for a difficult investigation and of course, these people would have to be witnesses in cases and at times they have, you know, histories, whether it's criminal conduct or other things that can be used to impeach them when they testify, you know, as to their truthfulness. So, it makes for a difficult prosecution. But, you know, I think you have to look, is that glass half empty or half full? Because you have so many videos, so many photographs, so many opportunities to reach out to people to investigate this case. You don't have that in a lot of situations. You know, you don't have the ability to say, hey, let's recreate what was going on in this home. And here, I think you have the opportunity to do it. So, while these witnesses may have somewhat of a tarnished past, at least you have something that you can pull together in order to build a case if in fact there is one. Yeah and I mean you do think of the you know I think it's more than two dozen people they have been able to get in touch with and talk to so like they have made inroads there and then there are these you know roughly seven women tied to the house who they haven't been able to find at this point and in the videos are really disturbing but we don't know if because there's nobody like what what you know where they are and and what happened to them Eugene horse right now is facing federal charges because where he had this altercation with the woman in the car and where there was allegedly drugs in the car and guns and he's a felon so he can't have that it's federal property so he's in federal custody right now like what does that mean to the investigation knowing that he's facing federal charges as you have local police in Philadelphia trying to figure out what other charges he potentially could face. Well I think it really doesn't have a significant impact on on the investigation obviously a local and federal authorities are going to cooperate in this matter what it does is you know on a federal level you know you have what are called detention hearings where we're a magistrate or district judge will decide whether to retain to detain somebody you know pending the resolution of their case and here you know so it's not like Bell that he would be entitled to in a in a state case and if he posted that Bell he'd be able to walk out the federal authorities can hold him and that's what's what's happening at this point so in a sense you know that's a good thing you know the the federal charges you know we'll sit there that process will move forward well local authorities investigate whether or not there's criminal activity linking him to any of these missing women or presumed deceased women yeah and and we'll see what happens next in this case I mean just for you and I know you used to work as a prosecutor as well because each time there's been an update in this case it's just I it's horrific to think of what has been found thus far in evidence whether it's real or not but then at the same time just like each of the new details have you ever seen anything like this well this is a horrific case you know it's a house of horrors I mean these these women are are you know being brought in there you know they're being taken advantage of they're they're being you know physically harmed and videotaped you know this case reminds me of a case actually in Philadelphia in the 1990s Gary Hydnick who had women trapped in his basement where he would sexually assault him repeatedly he ultimately was convicted of murdering two of those women and was one of the only three people executed in Pennsylvania in the modern era of the death penalty so you know this this idea of a house of horrors you know is this sort of like a torture chamber where you where you bring these women in and take advantage of them you know for drugs or whatever else it might be it's it's really a shocking case yeah it's it's incredibly disturbing and a lot of work ahead I mean to think that this was discovered I think like June is when Eugene Horst was arrested then they serve a search warrant and like we're only at 30% of the amount of images and videos that the FBI says they are going through in connection to this house I mean it's we'll we'll see what else is found but each time they give an update and describe what they're seeing it's it's just really really tough to think about criminal defense attorney Matt Mangino always great to have you on Longcrime thanks to rean with us thank you Chris that we'll do it for on the case presented by Longcrime I'm Chris Stewart see you next time