GUILTY PA - Linda Stoltzfoos, 18, murdered, Bird-in-Hand, Lancaster County, 21 June 2020 *arrest* #4

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I watched the 11am new conference today in it's entirety. One of the reporters made a statement that some of the people local to the area saw JS at the sight and wanted to know if he led the police to it. The DA would not comment on the statement. It also makes me wonder if the wooded area was reached from the other side of the railroad tracks. There is a road off of Gap Road called Walker Lane that appears to lead up to the woods and has a few homes along it.
 
janewall said:
Welsh Mountain sticks out like a sore thumb to me, because it seems such an unnecessary meandering around/waste of time when otherwise the timeline is so tight. Either JS was completely unglued and driving at random, maybe simply trying to calm down and think, or there was a more organized purpose to his going there.

This question leads me to the thought that JS met someone there, perhaps someone who knew how to disappear LS or her remains, and after a quick transfer JS drove away, then discovered the evidence left behind in the car and disposed of it at the Harvest Road location. Maybe he has no idea where LS' remains are.

Occam's Razor goes against the above conjecture, but we do know there was regular contact between JS and his brother in the days before and after the kidnapping. Are there any cameras on the road across Welsh Mountain that might have caught video of another car on a route that would have intersected/coincided with JS' at the same time? (Or, are there so many cars out in the preserve on a blazing summer family holiday that tracking an unknown vehicle would be akin to searching down a needle in a haystack?)

Have LE put out any information regarding the brother's vehicle, if he even has one?
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I think JS took her there where someone was waiting. Then he left.
Hereshecomes75 said:
The logistics here are puzzling me. How could he bury a body, dig it up, and move it to a deep hole presumably in a wooded area and rebury it all alone? My feeling is that someone else was involved and either turned on Justo out of a guilty conscience or had reason to make a deal to save his own butt from something else.
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I also think someone else is involved. And this fits with the idea that JS drove her to the Welsh Mountains and left her with someone - IIRC he only had two hours - and then went and cleaned up his car and all the other things. A second perpetrator (at least) is the only thing that makes sense to me.
 
sds71 said:
@GraceGriffaton
Yesterday, on the 10-month anniversary of Linda's disappearance, law enforcement discovered human remains behind Justo Smoker's workplace, Dutchland Inc. They feel confident the remains are that of Linda's. They were in a grave, wrapped in a tarp. She was moved here several days after homicide.
Investigators believe Smoker moved Linda's body from a site off Harvest Drive in Ronks to the grave he made behind Dutchland Inc. in Gap, where he worked.
Body had a bonnet and clothing matching Linda’s. autopsy on Friday
DA Adams says she is ethically restrained from telling us more on how they were able to find the remains.
@Lancaster_DA
says they searched the area before but notes that the body was buried and was not on business property. Said it took tools to get to the remains.
Authorities can’t comment on if Justo Smoker has been cooperative throughout the investigation

@fox43
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[bbm]
he moved her!!!
 
Niner said:
I'm going to let a Mod know that she was found - as I see this thread is still in the "Missing" forum....
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Thanks and this is fine as i see the Information is not formally confirmed, however there are strong indications.

sds71 said:
The scene was forensically processed, and the remains were released to the Lancaster County Coroner for official identification and determination of cause and manner of death. An autopsy has been scheduled for Friday, however, a preliminary review of the body by the Coroner’s Office indicates that the body was consistent with that of a female of relevant age and was found with a dress, bonnet and shoes consistent with clothing worn by Linda on the day of her disappearance.
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I think the next formal information (maybe even today) will contain the official confirmation and then we will go with the process.
 
“The dress, bonnet, and shoes [were] consistent with what Linda was wearing on the date of her disappearance,” Adams said.

Investigators discovered the remains wrapped in tarp that was buried up to 42 inches below ground.

The autopsy to determine cause and manner of death is scheduled for April 23. Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said he expected the cause and manner of death to be determined quickly—likely within a day. Definitive DNA identification of the body could take longer.

Because of decomposition any clues left would likely be left on the bones, according to forensic experts.

“You could get some marks from a bullet, you could get marks from a knife, you could get marks from compression, from thumps. These are the things that they’re probably looking at at this point,” said Robert Furey, a forensic entomologist and Dauphin County deputy coroner, as well as a professor of integrative sciences at Harrisburg University.

“More often than not there will be forensic evidence with that body and through that autopsy, which will be and should be used against the criminal defendant at a criminal homicide prosecution,” said Chris Ferro, criminal defense attorney at York-based Ferro Law Firm.
Stoltzfoos autopsy could bolster or hurt case against Justo Smoker | fox43.com


According to Adams:

  • The remains were recovered Wednesday in Gap behind the previous place of employment of Justo Smoker, the man charged with her homicide and kidnapping.
  • An autopsy is scheduled for Friday to help confirm the identity and determine the cause and manner of death, but a preliminary review indicates the remains are those of a female of a relevant age.
  • Investigators also found a dress, bonnet and shoes consistent with the clothing worn by Stoltzfoos on the day she disappeared.
  • Police believe Smoker killed Stoltzfoos within hours of allegedly kidnapping her on June 21 and buried her behind a business on Harvest Drive in Ronks, where investigators found her stockings and bra. It’s believed that Smoker then moved the body several days later.
The Stoltzfoos family was notified and taken to the scene of the discovery, Adams said, in an effort to grant some closure.
DA holds news conference about missing Amish teen in Pennsylvania
 
Hoping for more details not only the exact location, but an analysis of how she was buried well enough and deep enough to avoid detection. I am wondering if JS prepared the burial site in advance, possibly working at lunch time or after work for days, then moving and covering the remains. The one long period at Harvest Road must have been the digging for the initial burial site.
 
Trackergd said:
Hoping for more details not only the exact location, but an analysis of how she was buried well enough and deep enough to avoid detection. I am wondering if JS prepared the burial site in advance, possibly working at lunch time or after work for days, then moving and covering the remains. The one long period at Harvest Road must have been the digging for the initial burial site.
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If he did spend a good deal of time preparing a burial site deep enough to escape detection why didn't he put her there from the beginning? If it was prepared in advance, why put her somewhere else and then move her to this place? Seems to me that doing it that way increases the likelihood of discovery. MOO MOO MOO
 
I'm relieved Linda Stoltzfoos was recovered and will be returned to her family. I have followed this case, but never commented on it. It's horrifying when you think of how scared she must have been.

IMO, I don't think the suspect had this kidnapping & murder carefully planned. He left evidence of her personal belongings buried at one location, moved and buried her body to a secondary location. To me this appears to be panic. I think he acted alone. This was his own demented actions.

Court documents: Justo Smoker was at Linda Stoltzfoos' original burial location multiple times

Police said video surveillance and cellphone records show Smoker at the Ronks location seven times between June 22 and June 27. Three of those times were on June 23, police said, which was two days after Stoltzfoos was last seen.
 
Lancaster County coroner confirms the remains found in eastern Lancaster County are those of Linda Stoltzfoos, 18. The coroner said the cause of death was asphyxia caused by strangulation with a knife wound to the neck as a contributing factor

The coroner was able to identify the remains as that of Stoltzfoos via dental records, and noted that the cause and manner of death were difficult to determine because of the effects of decomposition over time.

Lancaster County Coroner rules asphyxia, strangulation as cause of death for Linda Stoltzfoos | fox43.com
 
Maryland Oracle said:
Linda was tall, 5'10" if memory serves which is 4" taller than Smoker.

How is it possible for him to move her body to a location that's really difficult to access without help?
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IMO, determination and being motivated by not getting caught. I imagine he had to stomach through what he saw when he came back to move her. IIRC she was recovered in a tarp, he probably got his car as close as possible, then dragged her in the tarp.

Although she was taller, I imagine she still weighed considerably less than him. She probably wasn't any match to his strength when he kidnapped her. Although I do acknowledge it's not easy to handle 100 + pounds of dead weight (absolutely no pun intended). IMO
 
Maryland Oracle said:
Linda was tall, 5'10" if memory serves which is 4" taller than Smoker.

How is it possible for him to move her body to a location that's really difficult to access without help?
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She was tall, but JS is strong, muscular in appearance, worked in heavy industry, and through his wrestling experience has rather precise knowledge of how the human body can be manipulated/handled.

I agree that it would have been difficult, but I think he has the physical ability to manage a large inert bundle, even through challenging terrain.
 
KathiK said:
I watched the 11am new conference today in it's entirety. One of the reporters made a statement that some of the people local to the area saw JS at the sight and wanted to know if he led the police to it. The DA would not comment on the statement. It also makes me wonder if the wooded area was reached from the other side of the railroad tracks. There is a road off of Gap Road called Walker Lane that appears to lead up to the woods and has a few homes along it.
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I mentioned Walker lane further back I. The thread. The google earth aerial view I have shows grassland from the end of that lane right to the edge of the railroad track, has tracks.... it leads nowhere so why would anyone drive over to that point? It’s also on the edge of the woodland and near the square box areas ( also discussed upthread) which look like culverts but can’t actually see what they are

google brought up ‘ash pits’ but railroad looks too modern to have those. There’s one box like , square area further up but the one I initially saw is just down from his workplace perimeter and there’s one on each side of the tracks
 
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