Girl missing from church camp was found dead in 1975. Ex-pastor now charged in Georgia
Gretchen Harrington was found dead after she went missing in 1975, officials said.
Delaware County District Attorney’s Office
An 8-year-old girl was found dead after vanishing from a Pennsylvania church camp nearly 50 years ago, and now a former pastor faces charges in Georgia, officials said.
The case dates to August 1975, when Gretchen Harrington was attending a summer bible camp. The girl didn’t show up to one of the churches that was hosting the camp, causing her father to grow worried and report her missing, according to the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office in Pennsylvania.
Gretchen’s remains were found about two months later in Ridley Creek State Park, officials said.
Now, almost 48 years later, a man who served as pastor of one of the churches that hosted the camp is charged in the girl’s death. Prosecutors didn’t list attorney information for the man, identified in a July 24 news release as 83-year-old David Zandstra of Marietta, Georgia.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
