The bizarre case of the Olney house

In June, a federal park ranger came upon a suspicious car parked near Independence Hall. An interaction with the people inside led to the arrest of the driver, 44-year-old Eugene Horsch, on drug and weapons charges.  

A subsequent search of his house in Olney yielded a vast array of disturbing contents including drugs, chemicals, fake law enforcement credentials, urns, and a trove of digital media — some of which depicted women who had gone missing.

Over the last several months, the investigation has focused on Eugene Horsch’s late father, Raymond “RC” Horsch, a pornographer who died last year. Police have now found links to seven missing women, five of whom are presumed dead. The police have not recovered any bodies or filed homicide charges. 

On this edition of Studio 2, we unpack the case with two of the reporters who have been following it closely and broken many of the major updates. We also check in with WHYY’s Peter Crimmins, who interviewed Raymond Horsch in 2014 ahead of a screening of his 1973 film “Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig.”

Guests: 

• Ellie Rushing, criminal justice reporter at the Philadelphia Inquirer 
• Ryan Briggs, investigative reporter at the Philadelphia Inquirer 
• Peter Crimmins, WHYY arts and culture reporter