Mark Warfel, a longtime suspect in the disappearance of Dauphin County teenager Tracy Kroh more than 35 years ago, has died in prison, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections officials confirmed on Thursday, Sept. 25.
Warfel, 91, died at 1:40 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, at the State Correctional Institution Laurel Highlands in Somerset County. The official cause of death will be released by the county coroner, according to DOC press secretary Maria Bivens.
The case of Tracy Kroh has spanned decades and seen many developments:
- Saturday, Aug. 5, 1989, at 10 p.m. — Tracy Kroh, 17, is last seen at the Alex Acres Trailer Park in Halifax after trying to visit her sister.
- Sunday, Aug. 6, 1989, at 8 a.m. — Her 1971 Mercury Comet is found abandoned in Millersburg’s town square with her belongings missing.
- December 1993 — Parts of her wallet, including her driver’s license and National Honor Society card, are discovered along Wiconisco Creek in Washington Township.
- 2016 & May 2019 — Police search property once owned by Matthew Webster in Halifax Township, located just a quarter-mile from where Kroh was last seen.
- June 2018 — A woman tells investigators Webster admitted involvement, saying, “It was supposed to be just a rape and done, but then it turned out to be a lot more than that.”
- Tuesday, May 14, 2019 — Webster pleads no contest to felony perjury after lying to a grand jury investigating Kroh’s case. He is sentenced to four to six months in prison and released on probation.
- 2019 — Pennsylvania State Police publicly identify Warfel as a longtime suspect in Kroh’s disappearance.
- Spring 2024 — Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo directs a search of Warfel’s former Jackson Township property. Investigators find nothing.
- Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, at 1:40 p.m. — Warfel dies at SCI Laurel Highlands in Somerset County.
- Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025 — DOC officials confirm Warfel’s death.
Warfel, who had longstanding ties to the Kroh family, was never charged. He had an affair with Kroh’s mother, Ellen, fathering her youngest sister, Kim Masser. He also employed her father, Ivan, at his Millersburg auto garage and frequently visited their home…