Found Deceased PA - Linda Stoltzfoos, 18, Bird-in-Hand, Lancaster County, 21 June 2020 *arrest*

New Posts

Status
Not open for further replies.
GordianKnot said:
Tracker, given your knowledge of both the area and S&R, given the scope and nature of the search efforts there since LS went missing, do you think it's safe to conclude that she did not suffer some type of medical event or have an accident on her way home and they just haven't found her yet?

Also, do you think that if she was abducted by someone and, say, tossed into the trunk of a vehicle, LE would have found signs of a struggle in/around the road the next day when they began searching, or not necessarily?

It was the middle of the day. If she was abducted on that road, that was hugely high risk behavior by the perp.

I keep wondering if she was perhaps lured into a car with the offer of a quick lift home.

JMO.
Click to expand...

Not knowing LS, I am not sure she would willingly get into a car, even if offered a ride. I would think it be much more likely she would have accepted a ride from a buggy. An abduction is possible, but it would be out of the norm for an actor to be hunting for a victim in that area, notably in the middle of the day. Possibly a victim of opportunity.

I would think a medical event would most likely be dehydration, heat stroke or exhaustion.

Having lived around and interacted with a lot of Amish in my lifetime, most are very kind and honest folk, but like every other slice of humanity, there are exceptions and even aberrations.

We are missing a part of the puzzle.
 
Gardenkeep said:
Thank you! I guess hearing about the phones had me questioning it. I live in rural upstate NY in the Finger Lakes. We have strong communities of Amish and Mennonite. The garb definitely had me thinking Amish, but the talk of phones threw me. :)
Click to expand...

Beautiful area! My family had a summer house on Keuka. No TV, some sound if you went to the 2nd floor with a tinfoil flag on the antenna. For entertainment we’d go to the auction barn in Penn Yan and catch a glimpse of TV with the Amish kids before the TVs went up for auction. Good memories.

Where are you Linda? :(
 
First responders and others have been searching the rural area where Stoltzfoos was last seen but have not found any physical evidence that can be linked to her.

"This is uncharacteristic of what we know about Linda due to the fact that she's missing with no clues, no evidence to lead us in any real direction. So, it's making it a difficult case to investigate," said Lt. Matt Hess, of the East Lampeter Township Police Department.

Police said they don't have any reason to believe foul play is involved but are not ruling it out.

POLICE LOOKING FOR MISSING 18-year-old last seen in Bird in Hand
 
no foul play believed to be involved

well do her family/friends really know her as well as they think then? she could escape/blend in....change of hairstyle and clothes and she would be largely unrecognisable within minutes of leaving that roadside....though why be so underhand about it and leave her family to worry if the community allows and gives a chance, to change her life to one she would prefer

wondering a few things here.....first,as i asked before, anyone know if she had access to cash? to leave on her own, she would need that (but not if she was being helped)

secondly, did something happen that morning at church which led to her snapping.....maybe someone was inappropriate or she was being bullied, blackmailed or something which may be nothing much to us but be a great deal to a young Amish woman. what was going on behind the scenes there.....Amish people come across as lovely quiet and law abiding.....was there a bad apple?

this is all my own thoughts and opinion but i have young adults and i work with them (not Amish) and i know sometimes things escalate quickly for them
 
MOD NOTE:

YouTube videos by random people are NOT approved sources for posting or discussion on Websleuths. Any posts that contain such will be removed. Only videos from MSM (mainstream media) or LE (law enforcement) are permitted. ANYone can make a video and post it to YouTube. There is no way to verify information there, and so it is a violation of TOS (terms of service) to post and/or discuss them here. There are only a select few individuals who are established video-bloggers on YouTube who HAVE been approved by Websleuths. Please do not post or discuss what you find on YouTube. If you have any questions, you may PM a moderator/staff member/forum coordinator.

THANK YOU for your efforts to post respectfully and responsibly on Websleuths, and WELCOME to new members who have joined us recently.

Faithfully,
CocoChanel
Moderator
 
Trackergd said:
Not knowing LS, I am not sure she would willingly get into a car, even if offered a ride. I would think it be much more likely she would have accepted a ride from a buggy. An abduction is possible, but it would be out of the norm for an actor to be hunting for a victim in that area, notably in the middle of the day. Possibly a victim of opportunity.

I would think a medical event would most likely be dehydration, heat stroke or exhaustion.
Click to expand...
Medical event seems unlikely because if you look at the road she was walking on, it’s pretty open and easy to spot someone if she had just collapsed, etc. There are also homes that line the road so she would’ve been spotted. Temp in Bird in Hand on that day was in high 70s/low 80s which isn’t too conducive to heat stroke.

I posted earlier that if she accepted a ride, could’ve been from someone who she knew from working the pretzel stand. Agree she probably wouldn’t have accepted a ride from a complete stranger, especially so close to home as Stumpton is right next to Beechline where she lives. Another possibility is she was stalked by someone with nefarious intentions that was a customer at the pretzel stand.

Her general demeanor and upbringing would lead her to likely not recognize a creeper until it was too late because of how timid and trusting she is reported to be. I doubt she’d have any idea of the imminent danger she was in until after the fact.
 
Police said they don't have any reason to believe foul play is involved but are not ruling it out.

Doesn't this just simply mean that LE doesn't have physical evidence of foul play? Choosing their words carefully of course. I am 100% going with foul play.
How low would you have to stoop to prey on someone this defenseless and innocent?

jmo
 
MontereyMama said:
Police said they don't have any reason to believe foul play is involved but are not ruling it out.

Doesn't this just simply mean that LE doesn't have physical evidence of foul play? Choosing their words carefully of course. I am 100% going with foul play.
How low would you have to stoop to prey on someone this defenseless and innocent?

jmo
Click to expand...
That’s correct imo. They have no current evidence that would indicate foul play but also have no evidence saying it isn’t. Tough spot for LE to be in as I am sure they have their hunches like we all do, but have to go where the evidence leads.

If they say there is foul play, then it turns out she just ran away, it’d be a PR nightmare. Likewise with the opposite. LE cannot operate publicly in theories. Must be based in actual evidence.

I’ve gotten some insight into how LE operates behind the scenes when discussing cases like these and it’s pretty much what we do. They look at the evidence presented and throw theories back and forth. Someone brings up a theory or lead and another will challenge it or agree, etc. It’s like a version of WS however when reporting back to the public, extreme caution has to be used because they walk a tightrope with what to release, keeping public interest high, informing but not overinforming the press, etc. I have friends who are cops and have said the media/PR game is sometimes way tougher than actually solving the crime.

We as the general public can speculate and theorize until our hearts content which would be a big reason why WS and other sites exist. :)
 
The medical events I noted would be the most probable for someone walking a distance on a warm day, where no underlying condition is suspected. I agree that if Linda simply passed out due to a medical condition, she would have been seen very quickly.

Some things are sticking in my mind this morning:
  • Did LE ping Linda's cell phone and pull all recent tower data to triangulate last known position? Can they still ping the phone or is it not responding?
  • Was Linda tech savvy enough to remove the sim card?
  • Did LE and SAR check inside all the drainage pipes under the surrounding roads near where she went missing? These often get missed. There are at least two near where she went missing.
  • I have to admit she could have gotten into a vehicle with someone she knew from the area or a customer from the stand.
  • The lack of reported scent trail from dog handlers would seem to support the vehicle theory, unless LE is keeping the scent trail close to the vest.
  • I really, really hate this one.... It is uncommon but still happens that one or more bored young "English" men drive around in their pickups looking for fun or mischief. Sometimes they bash mailboxes, sometimes they pick on the young Amish walking along the road, and sometimes worse, but you don't hear much about it due to the closed nature of the community. Those who are local or have lived in the area know what I am talking about.
 
Criminals aren’t all stupid.... I think by now majority of people will know that mobile phones will catch you out very quickly

have police appealed for anyone’s dashcam footage? Are they searching farms? Obtaining any warrants?
 
Trackergd said:
The medical events I noted would be the most probable for someone walking a distance on a warm day, where no underlying condition is suspected. I agree that if Linda simply passed out due to a medical condition, she would have been seen very quickly.

Some things are sticking in my mind this morning:
  • Did LE ping Linda's cell phone and pull all recent tower data to triangulate last known position? Can they still ping the phone or is it not responding?
  • Was Linda tech savvy enough to remove the sim card?
  • Did LE and SAR check inside all the drainage pipes under the surrounding roads near where she went missing? These often get missed. There are at least two near where she went missing.
  • I have to admit she could have gotten into a vehicle with someone she knew from the area or a customer from the stand.
  • The lack of reported scent trail from dog handlers would seem to support the vehicle theory, unless LE is keeping the scent trail close to the vest.
  • I really, really hate this one.... It is uncommon but still happens that one or more bored young "English" men drive around in their pickups looking for fun or mischief. Sometimes they bash mailboxes, sometimes they pick on the young Amish walking along the road, and sometimes worse, but you don't hear much about it due to the closed nature of the community. Those who are local or have lived in the area know what I am talking about.
Click to expand...


*bolded by me
This is my fear also.
 
Things to keep in mind:
• the cornfields aren’t fully grown yet so you can still see in them.
• Lanc Co was in “yellow phase” so ALOT of places are closed or have limited hours.(especially Sunday) Traffic has picked up but Sunday's are still slow. Many folks aren’t Amish but still have the traditional Anabaptist ways. (No Sunday Sales)
• Someone would need insider info to know when and where church would be. It’s not hard to figure out when you see all the buggies heading in a certain direction . The Amish have a bench wagon that moves all the church benches and tables around from house to house. (Used for church and large events) if you see the wagon you know they have church
•Church is every other Sunday
• Youth “hang out” (youth group) on Sunday.
• Amish in this area do NOT ride in motorized cars on Sunday’s (unless it’s an emergency)
• Our area has been targeted because people assume naïveté but we all watch out for each other.
• a lot of people here are related or know each other. When something happens the Amish often know before it hits the paper.
• Amish don’t get “authorities” involved unless they are concerned for the very worst. (The bishop handles criminal matters within the church)

locals: please correct me if you see things differently
 
belleyes said:
*bolded by me
This is my fear also.
Click to expand...
Add me to that group. Some people hold strange ideas and prejudices about the Amish that might cause them to want to victimize them. As a local resident, as I’ve mentioned here, there are occasional “crime waves” directed at the Amish. One was home burglary while they held church elsewhere.

Would Linda have been the first back to the house after church? I wonder if she could have been taken not from the road but from her family’s own property.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 86 more.
Total: 4,309 (members: 87, guests: 4,222)

Online statistics

Members online
87
Guests online
4,222
Total visitors
4,309
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
592,400
Messages
17,968,413
Members
228,767
Latest member
Mona Lisa
Back
Top