Ex-police chief recalls 2009 arrest of man linked to Philadelphia so-called house of horrors investigation

CHALFONT, Pa. -- A former Bucks County, Pennsylvania police chief is shedding new light on one of the men at the center of a Philadelphia investigation involving several missing and unidentified women.

For months, investigators have been reviewing a massive collection of evidence recovered from a home on West Chew Avenue in Philadelphia's Olney neighborhood. Police have said seven women have now been linked to the property, including five women who appeared injured, lifeless or possibly deceased in images and videos recovered from the home.

The property belongs to Eugene Horsch, 44, who was arrested in June on charges unrelated to the missing women investigation.

Since then, his father, Raymond "RC" Horsch, who died in 2025, has also become a significant focus of the case.

Robert Scafidi, the former police chief of New Britain Township, said he arrested Raymond Horsch at his Chalfont home in 2009.

"A woman who called police said she heard noises," Scafidi recalled.

According to Scafidi, investigators discovered a marijuana-growing operation at the home. After obtaining a search warrant, police seized nearly 200 marijuana plants, but that's not all.

"As part of the investigation, firearms were found," he said. "There were also IDs of various females. There were a few of them. The DA's office took them and were going to follow up. I really don't know what happened after that."

Raymond Horsch was taken into federal custody. According to court documents, Raymond Horsch received a 54-month federal prison sentence but received credit for time served in Bucks County jail.

"He always got light sentences for some reason," Scafidi said. "He was a person who worked at being evil. That was his nature."

One of the women connected to the current investigation is Amy McHale, who was 44 years old when she was last seen in 2016. Her family told ABC Philadelphia affiliate WPVI she was last seen at the home. McHale had previously been married to Raymond Horsch.

Neighbors in Bucks County said they also remembered seeing McHale in Chalfont.

"You didn't see much of her; she didn't say much," neighbor Emily DiDomenico said. "Just saw her one day and suddenly you didn't see her. That was that."

Philadelphia police said Wednesday that investigators have not searched the Chalfont property.

"I do question why they haven't looked at the Chalfont house honestly; that's his origin story," said DiDomenico.

The current homeowners, who did not want to go on camera, took WPVI down into the basement of the Chalfont. It's been entirely redone. Behind the drywall, there's reportedly a very large safe built into the foundation that previous owners say dates back to when Horsch lived here. It has since been sealed off.

In June, a search of the Olney residence uncovered what authorities described as fake law enforcement credentials, drugs, a firearm, hundreds of thousands of photographs and videos, writings, manuscripts and numerous unidentified chemicals.

Detectives are investigating whether the chemicals could have been used to destroy or conceal evidence related to potential victims.

Authorities said they plan to return to the Olney property later this month with an additional search warrant as the investigation continues.

No charges related to the missing women have been filed, and authorities have not recovered any bodies connected to the case.