A retired Georgia pastor has confessed to kidnapping and killing 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington while she was walking to Bible camp in Pennsylvania one morning in August 1975.
David Zandstra, 83, of Marietta, Georgia, was charged with criminal homicide; first, second, and third-degree murder; kidnapping; and possession of an instrument of crime, according to the Delaware County District Attorney’s office.
“The murder of Gretchen Harrington has haunted members of law enforcement since that terrible day in August 1975. The families of victims often say that their lives are forever altered into the ‘before’ time and the ‘after’ time,” District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said in a Monday statement. “Gretchen’s murder created a ‘before’ time and an ‘after’ time for an entire community – and for an entire county. This heinous act left a family and a community forever changed.”
Stollsteimer added that Zandstra — a husband and father of three — admitted to the crime after nearly 50 years.
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“Justice has been a long time coming, but we are proud and grateful to finally be able to give the community an answer,” Stollsteimer said.
On the morning of Aug. 15, 1975, Gretchen was walking to summer Bible camp along Lawrence Road in Marple, Pennsylvania. The camp took place at two neighboring churches — Trinity Church Chapel Christian Reformed Church and The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Marple. Camp attendees began each day of camp at Trinity.
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Zandstra was a pastor at Trinity at the time and was in charge of helping transport campers from Trinity to Reformed in either a blue and white Volkswagen bus or in his green Rambler station wagon, the DA’s office said.
Gretchen’s father was a pastor at Reformed and expressed concern about her whereabouts that morning when she did not show up at the church…
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