Nearly five decades after the murder of 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington, a retired pastor has confessed to the crime and has been arrested. David Zandstra, 83-year-old former pastor of Trinity Church Chapel Christian Reformed Church in Marple, Pennsylvania, is being held without bond.
The daughter of a pastor herself, Harrington went missing on Aug. 15, 1975, while walking to a summer Bible camp. The Bible camp utilized the facilities of Trinity Church Chapel, as well as the nearby Reformed Presbyterian Church, where Harrington’s father was pastor. The two churches and the Harrington’s home were all on the same road in the small township west of Philadelphia.
According to police, Harrington left her home on the day of her disappearance at 9:30 a.m., setting out toward Trinity Church Chapel.
Zandstra had been tasked with leading the earlier morning portion of the Bible camp programming before transporting the children to the facility of Reformed Presbyterian Church. When Harrington did not appear at Reformed Presbyterian Church, her father grew concerned. At 11:23 a.m., Zandstra himself contacted the Marple Police Department to report her disappearance.
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In October 1975, skeletal remains were discovered at the nearby Ridley Creek State Park. Police later confirmed that the remains were that of Harrington.
At the time, a witness reported to police that she had seen Harrington on the day of her disappearance speaking to the driver of a vehicle similar to Zandstra’s. When questioned by police, Zandstra denied having seen Harrington on the day of her disappearance.
Soon the case went cold.
However, in January of this year, investigators conducted an interview with a sexual abuse survivor who identified Zandstra as her abuser. The survivor, who said she was best friends with Zandstra’s daughter and would often attend sleepovers at the family’s home, recounted to police an incident when she was 10 years old and awoke to find Zandstra groping her groin area.
The survivor also recalled that another child in her class at school was nearly kidnapped twice, and she had expressed in her diary in 1975 that she believed Zandstra was the culprit.
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Last week, investigators interviewed Zandstra, who had since moved to Marietta, Georgia, regarding these allegations. When presented with the testimony of the sexual abuse survivor, Zandstra admitted to seeing Harrington walking alone on the morning of her disappearance.
