(NewsNation) — Jeremy Perry, a childhood friend of Eugene Horsch, says he was stunned when he saw the Horsch name surface in news reports about the investigation surrounding a Philadelphia home linked to multiple missing women.
New search of Philadelphia ‘House of Horrors’ set to begin
Perry told NewsNation’s Laura Ingle that he and Horsch were friends from elementary school through high school and that he frequently visited the Horsch family’s home in Chalfont, Pennsylvania. That property is separate from the West Chew Avenue home investigators are now searching.
Perry’s memories have taken on new significance amid the investigation into the Horsch home in Philadelphia. NewsNation reports that police are investigating missing women linked to the property and have recovered images and videos depicting women who appear unconscious or lifeless. No bodies have been recovered, and Eugene Horsch has not been charged with murder.
Childhood memories of barrels, graphic photography take on new meaning
Looking back, Perry said he remembers barrels stored in the garage and in a shed or barn on the Chalfont property. “As a kid, [it] really didn’t raise a flag,” Perry said. Because Horsch’s father worked in photography, Perry said he assumed the barrels were “probably just related back to developing.”
Perry also recalled cameras, lighting equipment and people coming and going for photography sessions. Some of what he saw was unsettling, he said, describing images as “very graphic” and recalling what “seemed to be fake blood.” Still, Perry said, “there was nothing” at the time that led him to suspect something more sinister.
Philadelphia ‘House of Horrors’ search could disrupt neighborhood
On Monday, Philadelphia’s 6abc reported that Philadelphia police and the FBI returned to the Olney property for a new, intensive phase of the investigation. Investigators are preparing to examine flooring, drywall and plaster and remove portions of the house while searching for possible DNA, blood or other physical evidence.
Horsch arrest led investigators to a vast trove of digital evidence
The investigation began after Eugene Horsch was arrested in June. According to NewsNation’s timeline of the case, investigators subsequently recovered drugs, chemicals, firearms, suspected fraudulent federal credentials and extensive digital evidence from the Philadelphia property.
Raymond Horsch visited crematorium that illegally sold body parts: Report
Authorities have recovered more than 1 million digital files from the home, and NewsNation reported that investigators were still working through much of that material. Some footage has been linked to Eugene’s late father, Raymond Horsch, as authorities work to determine what was staged and what may depict actual crimes…