Stories about the Amish as victims – or perpetrators – of crime.
I just watched a press conference on the Linda Stoltzfoos disappearance, which concluded less than an hour ago. Four people spoke – the Lancaster County DA, East Lampeter PD Chief, a PA State Trooper, and an FBI agent on the case. Lancaster County DA Karen Adams repeated that they still have reason to believe Linda was harmed. She emphasized that Justo Smoker’s car is distinct,…
News just broke this afternoon: 34-year-old Lancaster County resident Justo Smoker was arrested last night and charged with kidnapping Linda Stoltzfoos. A vehicle resembling Smoker’s was seen by multiple witnesses in the area of Gap with an Amish female in the passenger seat on the afternoon Linda went missing. Linda remains missing, and “investigators have reason to believe Stoltzfoos was harmed following her abduction,” according…
The York Daily Record has published an article providing a bit more insight on the search for Linda Stoltzfoos. We get comments from two people – Donald Kraybill, author and expert on the Amish, and Merv Fisher, Linda’s uncle. This follows Saturday’s update on FBI and local police involvement, including processing 100s of incoming tips. First, the question many have asked: did Linda disappear of her…
The FBI has now joined in on day 3 of the search for Linda Stoltzfoos. Via Lancaster Online: The FBI has joined East Lampeter Township police as the search for a missing 18-year-old woman enters day 3, according to East Lampeter Township police. Linda Stoltzfoos, of East Lampeter Township, was last seen in Bird-in-Hand wearing a tan dress, white apron and a white cape on…
18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos went missing Sunday after failing to come home after church. Police believe she “may be at risk for harm or injury.” From WGAL: BIRD IN HAND, Pa. — Police in Lancaster County are looking for a missing 18-year-old woman, who was last seen on Sunday. East Lampeter Township Police issued the following missing person advisory: “On Sunday 6/21/2020, Linda Stoltzfoos (18 year…
Members of the Lancaster County Amish community contacted police – after first meeting with church leaders – about alleged cases of sexual abuse in their midst. From Lancaster Online: In what appears to be the first such case of its kind in Lancaster County, an Amish bishop has been charged with failing to report suspected sexual abuse. Levi S. Esh Sr. 63, of Pequea, was…
Authorities in Geauga County, Ohio are filing charges after breaking up a party of over 100 people. Via FOX8: GEAUGA (WJW) – The Fox 8 I-Team has learned the Geauga County Sheriff’s office arrested one, issued a summons for another, and charged two with underage drinking, following a large Amish party this weekend. Deputies were sent to a home on Bundysburg Road in Huntsburg Township…
Penn Live reports that a Chester County, PA woman has been accused of stealing 12 puppies from two Amish couples while they were away from home at church service. Charges, filed Monday, come well over a year after the thefts were reported: MIFFLINBURG – A Chester County woman is accused of stealing 12 pug puppies valued at $14,700 that were being raised for sale by…
While preparing today’s other post on stolen Amish puppies, I stumbled across an old article on a bizarre story I’d never heard mention of before. On November 5, 1995, the New York Times reported the following: When the reports of a bank robbery in Wall Township came into the F.B.I. office in Newark on Oct. 25, agents knew it was the same two men who…
Following a motion filed last week by his attorney, beard-cutting clan leader Sam Mullet will be released early due to threat from the novel coronavirus. From the AP: Sam Mullet Sr. was moved to a halfway house in Youngstown on March 4 and was scheduled to be released in January. But his attorney argued in a filing last week that he should be sent home…