Found Deceased PA - Linda Stoltzfoos, 18, Bird-in-Hand, Lancaster County, 21 June 2020 *arrest*

[JerseyGirl]

The search and rescue for Linda has been suspended for tonight. They will resume searching at 7:30 AM tomorrow at a much more reduced rate with trained personnel.

Amish Girl Missing - Linda Stoltzfoos

 

[Wild Rose]

I used to go to the horse auctions there years ago when I was little. We could not sleep at night, the entire night, in our parked camper in a shopping lot for all the carriage noise until dawn. At her age, the Amish have very relaxed rules to let them enjoy outings at all hours. This may help explain the later reporting of her missing. Her family may have hoped that she was at an event with friends. I am very worried about her as to the time when she was last seen,

 

[Hereshecomes75]

is it normal to launch a "manhunt" for a missing persons? maybe the journalist used the wrong word. or?

That word choice struck me as odd, too. I think it’s a misuse of the word—technically correct but without awareness of the implication that they’re usually looking for a criminal when they say “manhunt.”

The original call for the county emergency responders was labeled a “search detail.” It was the local fire company aided by members of the community on foot, ATV, and horseback, as well as search dogs and possibly divers. It surely was being handled as a search and rescue for a lost person, not as a hunt for a perpetrator.

 

[scaredtopost]

(Slightly OT but relevant to my personal observation of Amish teens.) Over 20 years ago, we visited PA Amish Country and toured their community. I was young and my only memory is of an Amish teenage boy playing on a Nintendo Gameboy. It stunned my naive little self because I assumed electronics were forbidden. It also compelled me to relate more to their culture and I was grateful they were allowed to advance technologically, while staying devoted to their traditions. I'll never forget the smile I shared with that young man. I'm not sure what could've happened to this beautiful young girl, but hoping she's safely found soon! Xoxo
JMO, MOO, etc

 

[JerseyGirl]

Linda Stoltzfoos was last seen on Sunday at church. She never returned to her home on Beach Dale Road. Police say she could be at risk for harm or injury.

Searchers are meeting at the Bird in Hand Fire Department using trained personnel today.

Officers say to keep a look out for Stotlzfoos as well as unusual behavior in your neighborhood.

"Obviously, if you see suspicious vehicles in and around your area or neighborhood that aren't normal or acting differently, to contact us as well,” said East Lampeter Township Police Officer Matt Hess.

Stoltzfoos did not leave a note or make any indication that she wanted to take a trip.

Her disappearance is being treated as a missing persons case.

POLICE LOOKING FOR MISSING 18-year-old last seen in Bird in Hand

Search information: Amish Girl Missing - Linda Stoltzfoos
Linda Stoltzfoos, age 18. Daughter of Lloyd and Susie Stoltzfoos of Beechdale Road. Last seen walking home from church on Sunday in the Beechdale Road and Stumptown Road Bird in Hand Pa area. Last seen around noon and Sunday, June 21, 2020.

this moring's FB post:
The sun is rising, the promise of a new day. The community is starting to gather in continuation of searching for Linda.

 

[Rosiebones]

This has such overtones of Sasha Krause. Pray the outcome is different.

 

[Hereshecomes75]

Ugh. I’m Mennonite but hadn’t heard about Sasha Krause. What a terrible end for someone so caring and accomplished. I hope Linda is found unharmed.

 

[modesty blaise]

How far was the farm/church from her home? Very concerned for this young lady.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Search Update:

Thank you to everyone who is willing and asking to help today. At this point, today's search plans will be on a smaller scale with more oversight and will be carried out by dedicated trained search teams only.

If the need for community volunteers changes, a request for help will be posted.

Please continue to pray and intercede for the family, the search teams, and especially for Linda.

Amish Girl Missing - Linda Stoltzfoos

 

[Rosiebones]

I just did a Google walk down Beachdale Road and Stumpfield Road and there is very little to no shade up and down those roads. If she was walking home after church in the very high heat that was present that day, I wonder if she suffered heat stroke and stumbled off the road.
That may be the basis for the concern about "harm or injury". I also noticed that the corn is only about knee high so searching the cornfields won't be quite as difficult as a month from now. MOO

 

[JerseyGirl]

Township police Lt. Matthew Hess said investigators haven’t determined the circumstances of her disappearance, but they’re running down every lead.

Because the search party is only taking trained volunteers, Hess said there’s not much the public can do other than offer their thoughts and prayers.

‘Dedicated trained’ teams resume search for Amish teen missing since Sunday: police

 

[Hereshecomes75]

I just did a Google walk down Beachdale Road and Stumpfield Road and there is very little to no shade up and down those roads. If she was walking home after church in the very high heat that was present that day, I wonder if she suffered heat stroke and stumbled off the road.
That may be the basis for the concern about "harm or injury". I also noticed that the corn is only about knee high so searching the cornfields won't be quite as difficult as a month from now. MOO

We had a picnic about that time on Sunday less than five miles from the area. It was humid but not extremely awful. Amish people are used to walking and working in the extreme heat and sun, so I think she probably would have been ok, barring some preexisting medical issue.

Were you able to determine the appropriate length she would have walked to get home? I’m not intimately familiar with the back roads over that way, so I’m not sure what buildings and landscape is around there.

 

[Rosiebones]

خرائط ‪Google‬‏‏
I don't know where she lived on Beachdale Road or where she was coming from on Stumfield so I can't answer your question as to distance. But, if you go down to street level, or even from this view that there isn't much shade or place to stop or rest.
Just click and drag to see the whole distance of Beachdale Road. And hit the plus sign to move into street view.

 

[Wild Rose]

Thank you Rosoebones for the link. there is so much flat looking fields surrounding her walk home. If she had any type of disorientation from a sudden onset illness, I would think she could be found. This is very worrisome. Saying prayers for her right now.

 

[Jo in Calif]

LE said they think she is at risk for harm or injury. IMO I don't think it means self harm or medical, I think it means foul play.
No public needed foe searches today, unfortunately I don't think they will find her alive.

 

[moonriverfarm]

My money is on foul play, and maybe she never left the church. Is it usual for girls to walk home alone? What about the bars she made for youth group that were still at her house - why did she not take them with her to church, if they were for a meeting there? Hinky meter is leaning.

 

[GordianKnot]

Township police Lt. Matthew Hess said investigators haven’t determined the circumstances of her disappearance, but they’re running down every lead.

Because the search party is only taking trained volunteers, Hess said there’s not much the public can do other than offer their thoughts and prayers.

‘Dedicated trained’ teams resume search for Amish teen missing since Sunday: police

SABBM:

This statement is concerning to me.

What time on Sunday did she leave the farm where she was purportedly last seen?

Have dogs been able to pick up LS's scent at all on the route she would have taken to get from there to her house?

LE is going to be at something of a disadvantage d/t the likely absence of home security cameras, cell phone pings, and other digital data that might have assisted them in tracking her via electronic footprints.

JMO.

 

[adot0902]

To the best of my knowledge Linda works at the Broad Street Market in Harrisburg. From what I understand Linda works with her family at a stand in the farmers market. The Broad Street Market is open 3 or 4 days per week. It's a great place to shop. Linda could have run into anybody there.

This is my farmers Market. I go to it about once a month. If Linda was talking to someone at the Broad Street Market other Amish people would have taken notice and brought that back to her family and we would never have heard about this story. The Amish do not involve outside help unless it is an outsider they believe committed the crime, they are not going to go to the police because they think she ran away. I have to say MOO but you have to understand the Amish culture is so far removed from what you and I are use to that you have to approach this completely differently.

 

[Hereshecomes75]

LE said they think she is at risk for harm or injury. IMO I don't think it means self harm or or medical, I think it means foul play.

I tend to think the same way, unfortunately. While this area is very lovely and generally safe for residents, there is an undercurrent of ugliness not far from where they are searching. As a tourist area, we have a number of motels well past their former glory. A lot of the rooms are rented month-to-month by families who’d otherwise be homeless, but there are nefarious characters living there as well.

The seedy motels on the Lincoln Highway area, in the middle of tourist attractions and outlet malls, have had some arrests for prostitution and drugs that sound like they could be just the tip of an iceberg of human trafficking. My point is that there are potential bad actors not far from the bucolic area being searched. I sincerely hope Linda has not fallen victim to anything like that. Our highways join up easily with major arteries that are supposedly used to transport drugs around the country, so after two days, a person taken from here could be states away. The East Lampeter police in charge of Linda’s search are also the law enforcement for the areas containing these motels, so I assume they are considering any connections.

There was also a string of home burglaries a few years ago committed while Amish families were away at church. So it doesn’t surprise me that criminals would see the Amish as easy marks.

 

[Rosegold68]

Does Linda have siblings? Or is she an only child?

Any lakes/rivers nearby??