PA - Gretchen Harrington, 8, found murdered, Marple Twp, 15 Aug 1975 *arrest in 2023*

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rob525 said:
Hard to believe that, given folks knew he molested children back in 1975, no one put two and two together. Was he ever interviewed? I guess back then people gave priests etc. a pass, believing that being a man of god meant they were incapable of such acts. I mean if they had developed a suspect list, wouldn't this guy have been on it somewhere? And and interview of his daughter would have likely turned up the information about his activities.
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It's unclear to me that any adults knew he was a predator then. The information that led to his arrest came from one of his child victims. It also implies that his own daughter was possibly a victim. It's not clear to me if there's DNA evidence that links him to the crime; I'm surprised that he confessed if there wasn't. He references semen in his confession, but I don't know that it was collected and stored in a safe fashion.
 
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Nancy Drew RN said:
It's unclear to me that any adults knew he was a predator then. The information that led to his arrest came from one of his child victims. It also implies that his own daughter was possibly a victim. It's not clear to me if there's DNA evidence that links him to the crime; I'm surprised that he confessed if there wasn't. He references semen in his confession, but I don't know that it was collected and stored in a safe fashion.
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It just seems that, if he was part of the Bible school program that she was attending that day, had a car that matched witness statements he would have made a suspect list. Also, and maybe I am interpreting it wrong, but the statement by the daughter to the effect of " he does that sometimes" seems like she was probably a victim and would have readily related the information to the police had she been questioned.
 
Mama-dukes said:
This is sad on what is saying he did this part here

Police honed in on Zandstra as a suspect in January, when investigators interviewed an unnamed witness who was best friends with his daughter when Gretchen disappeared, according to a criminal complaint. The witness said that she often went to sleepovers at Zandstra’s home, and during one about a week before Gretchen’s disappearance, Zandstra molested her. When the witness told Zandstra’s daughter what had happened, she told her friend that Zandstra “does that sometimes,” the complaint said.

www.inquirer.com

Minister charged in 1975 killing of 8-year-old Delco girl Gretchen Harrington

David Zandstra is being charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, and other related charges, according to court records.
www.inquirer.com www.inquirer.com
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That's heartbreaking.
 
rob525 said:
Hard to believe that, given folks knew he molested children back in 1975, no one put two and two together. Was he ever interviewed? I guess back then people gave priests etc. a pass, believing that being a man of god meant they were incapable of such acts. I mean if they had developed a suspect list, wouldn't this guy have been on it somewhere? And and interview of his daughter would have likely turned up the information about his activities.
Click to expand...
I think you are right about they gave him a pass back then nobody would think a man of god would do something like this and now adays we have so much more information on everything that they just went back and looked over everything said he did it and let’s go talk 2 him and c what he says I don’t understand but that’s kind of what I’m thinking
 
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Nancy Drew RN said:
It's unclear to me that any adults knew he was a predator then. The information that led to his arrest came from one of his child victims. It also implies that his own daughter was possibly a victim. It's not clear to me if there's DNA evidence that links him to the crime; I'm surprised that he confessed if there wasn't. He references semen in his confession, but I don't know that it was collected and stored in a safe fashion.
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you said: "he references semen in his confession." Do you have a source please?
 
gregjrichards said:
<snip> Unfortunately it is unlikely that there are not other victims who he has SA’d but hopefully now he has been revealed as the perpetrator of Gretchen‘s murder and an offender who has harmed children, other victims will feel able to come forward.
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IMO, I agree that an individual such as Zandsta likely has many more victims. Unless his murder of Gretchen Harrington scared him into stopping. But I think it unlikely. I agree that his other victims will now begin to come forward.

I can't imagine how an 83-year-old man will adjust to jail/prison. No more "golden years" for this guy. He needs to spend the rest of his life in prison for what he did to Gretchen and to his other victims. IMO only.
 
Unsurprisingly for a minister, Zandstra has a wide paper trail in newspapers. Also unsurprisingly, he seems to have targeted children in his career as a minister. I will note that there are others with the same name, so please be careful when searching online.

July 3, 1970, Delaware County, Pennsylvania
1690294418237.png

March 21, 1972, Delaware County, PA

1690294350235.png
The first mention online of him in Plano occurs in April, 1978, with ads for his church in the classifieds. The last ad occurs in June, 1979. This may say more about the church's advertising strategies than the precise dates he was in Plano. The first reference in Georgia I find occurs when he buys property on December 1, 2005, which appears to be the Marietta property in which he currently resides. So where was he before 1970 in Pennsylvania, and between 1979 and 2005?

  • January 30, 1979, February 6, 1979. A Philadelphia, PA, paper references David Zandstra as the executor of an estate, with a personal address in Plano, TX.
  • March 3, 1984. A Barstow, CA, newspaper mentions David Zandstra as a guest minister at the local Christian Reformed church, with a home congregation in San Diego.
  • October 24, 1984. Obituary with David Zandstra carrying out the service, pastor in San Diego.
  • April 3, 2003. Obituary with David Zandstra carrying out the service, pastor in Fairfield, CA
So, again, more gaps from 1984-2003.
 
Trebor5591 said:
you said: "he references semen in his confession." Do you have a source please?
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I believe it was originally reported by more sources, with some later changing the phrasing to "committed sexual acts," but several articles still say that he confessed that he "ejaculated in front of her."

www.nbcphiladelphia.com

Officials arrest and charge retired pastor in 1975 cold case murder of Delco 8-year-old

Law enforcement officials have arrested a Georgia man -- a former pastor -- for the murder of Gretchen Harrington, an 8-year-old who was murdered in 1975.
www.nbcphiladelphia.com www.nbcphiladelphia.com

Zandstra has given police a statement in which he allegedly admitted that he took her to a secluded place, told her to remove her clothes then, when she refused, he ejaculated in front of her before he beat her to death with his fists.
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I wonder if he committed other crimes. I find it unlikely that a 35-year-old man would kill once and then not murder again in 48 years, even if he spent that time abusing children instead of killing them.
He was mentioned to have worked in Fairfield, California, between 1990 and 2005. Amanda Campbell, 4, disappeared on December 27th 1991 from Fairfield.
But something really interesting is the disappearance of 15-year-old Wendy Eaton, who went missing from Media, a short way away from Broomall, just a few months before Gretchen died. Wendy was planning on attending a singing group at her local church when she vanished, although I am not sure what the name was.

David G. Zandstra

The Christian Reformed Church is a diverse family of healthy congregations, assemblies, and ministries expressing the good news of God’s kingdom that transforms lives and communities worldwide.
www.crcna.org www.crcna.org

 
Earth said:
I wonder if he committed other crimes. I find it unlikely that a 35-year-old man would kill once and then not murder again in 48 years, even if he spent that time abusing children instead of killing them.
He was mentioned to have worked in Fairfield, California, between 1990 and 2005. Amanda Campbell, 4, disappeared on December 27th 1991 from Fairfield.
But something really interesting is the disappearance of 15-year-old Wendy Eaton, who went missing from Media, a short way away from Broomall, just a few months before Gretchen died. Wendy was planning on attending a singing group at her local church when she vanished, although I am not sure what the name was.

David G. Zandstra

The Christian Reformed Church is a diverse family of healthy congregations, assemblies, and ministries expressing the good news of God’s kingdom that transforms lives and communities worldwide.
www.crcna.org www.crcna.org

Click to expand...
I wouldn’t doubt that
 
Earth said:
I wonder if he committed other crimes. I find it unlikely that a 35-year-old man would kill once and then not murder again in 48 years, even if he spent that time abusing children instead of killing them.
He was mentioned to have worked in Fairfield, California, between 1990 and 2005. Amanda Campbell, 4, disappeared on December 27th 1991 from Fairfield.
But something really interesting is the disappearance of 15-year-old Wendy Eaton, who went missing from Media, a short way away from Broomall, just a few months before Gretchen died. Wendy was planning on attending a singing group at her local church when she vanished, although I am not sure what the name was.

David G. Zandstra

The Christian Reformed Church is a diverse family of healthy congregations, assemblies, and ministries expressing the good news of God’s kingdom that transforms lives and communities worldwide.
www.crcna.org www.crcna.org

Click to expand...
I wouldn’t doubt that
 
DZ's bio/list of churches served (Christian Reformed Church):

David G. Zandstra

The Christian Reformed Church is a diverse family of healthy congregations, assemblies, and ministries expressing the good news of God’s kingdom that transforms lives and communities worldwide.
www.crcna.org www.crcna.org

I wonder how many children, especially at these locations, were molested or worse by him? MOO.

Eta: posting a screen capture in case the page disappears for some reason.
 

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www.inquirer.com

Suspect arrested in 1975 killing of Delco girl: What we know

The suspect, David G. Zandstra, is fighting extradition to Pennsylvania, and the process could take months.
www.inquirer.com www.inquirer.com

Article has lots of info.

"The suspect, David G. Zandstra, is fighting extradition to Pennsylvania, and the process could take months."

and

"Zandstra is being held in jail in Cobb County, Ga., and has been denied bail. He has refused to waive extradition to Pennsylvania to face charges, authorities said Monday."
 
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