PA PA - Tracy Kroh, 17, Millersburg, 5 Aug 1989 *perjury convictions*

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Bit of hope said:
Sadly, I can't read it. Could you give the main things of the content?
Click to expand...
Sure thing. Here's another link to a different story that has a bit more detail.

The investigation into the disappearance of 17-year-old Tracy Kroh in 1989 took another twist this week, when testimony at a competency hearing for an 89-year-old Jackson Township man charged with burglary indicated he is a suspect in her case.

But due in part to a judge's ruling issued Friday, Mark Warfel, 89, might never stand trial for his suspected involvement in Kroh's 33-year-old disappearance.

Warfel owns a property where investigators in the Kroh case have made a least two searches in the past.

He has been in prison since 2019, awaiting trial for burglary charges related to his alleged repeated break-ins of a woman's home.

According to Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo, a hearing was held Friday to determine whether Warfel was competent to stand trail on the burglary charge, a State Police trooper testified that not only was Warfel a suspect in the burglary case, he was also a suspect in Kroh's disappearance.

Warfel is also a suspect in the death of his wife, as well as in several alleged sexual assaults, according to testimony from Trooper Jeremiah Mistick.

But Dauphin County Common Pleas Judge Scott Evans determined at the hearing that Warfel was not competent to stand trial on the burglary charges, and there was no chance for improvement.

Therefore, Evans ruled, Warfel needed to be released from prison.

Chardo confirmed that he was deciding whether or not to appeal Evans' decision.

It was unclear on how quickly Warfel, who has been held at SCI Laurel Highlands since 2019 at request of Dauphin County authorities due to his advanced age and medical needs, would be released.

Police have searched Warfel's property on Mountain House Road in Jackson Township at least twice since 2019. The property sits just 10 miles from where Kroh was last seen on August 5, 1989, at the Alex Acres Trailer Park off Route 147 in Halifax around 10 p.m.

She was reportedly trying to visit her sister and brother-in-law who lived at the trailer park, but they were not home. Kroh dropped off items on their front steps and never arrived back at her family's home in Millersburg.


The trailer park is approximately seven miles west of her home.

Dauphin County officials said in 2014 that before Kroh disappeared, she was seen using a public telephone off of Millersburg Square. Her vehicle, a blue-striped white 1971 Mercury Comet, was located at the town square the following evening, August 6.

Officials added that her belongings weren't inside and there was no trace of Kroh.

In December 1993, parts of Kroh's wallet—including her driver's license and National Honor Society card—were found in an area along Wiconisco Creek, off Rakers Mill Rd., in Washington Township, approximately nine miles from Millersburg.

In 2018, Dauphin County woman Holly Mallett, came forward to police, telling them Matthew Webster, also of Dauphin County, admitted to her he was involved in the rape and murder of Kroh.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, Webster told Mallet, "It was supposed to be just a rape and done but then it turned out to be a lot more than that."

Police then intercepted a call between Webster and Mallett in which Webster told Mallett what to say to a grand jury.

Both were subsequently charged with perjury.

When FOX43 spoke with Warfel in July 2019, he said he wasn’t concerned about the police search.

“I said 'what are you digging for,' and they said they thought maybe the remains of Tracy Kroh might be there," Warfel said at the time. "And I said, 'well you can dig all that you want but you aren’t going to find anything.'"

Shortly after that, Warfel was arrested on the burglary charges. He was never publicly named as a suspect in Kroh's disappearance.

Until now.


 
Hoopsticks said:
Sure thing. Here's another link to a different story that has a bit more detail.

The investigation into the disappearance of 17-year-old Tracy Kroh in 1989 took another twist this week, when testimony at a competency hearing for an 89-year-old Jackson Township man charged with burglary indicated he is a suspect in her case.

But due in part to a judge's ruling issued Friday, Mark Warfel, 89, might never stand trial for his suspected involvement in Kroh's 33-year-old disappearance.

Warfel owns a property where investigators in the Kroh case have made a least two searches in the past.

He has been in prison since 2019, awaiting trial for burglary charges related to his alleged repeated break-ins of a woman's home.

According to Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo, a hearing was held Friday to determine whether Warfel was competent to stand trail on the burglary charge, a State Police trooper testified that not only was Warfel a suspect in the burglary case, he was also a suspect in Kroh's disappearance.

Warfel is also a suspect in the death of his wife, as well as in several alleged sexual assaults, according to testimony from Trooper Jeremiah Mistick.

But Dauphin County Common Pleas Judge Scott Evans determined at the hearing that Warfel was not competent to stand trial on the burglary charges, and there was no chance for improvement.

Therefore, Evans ruled, Warfel needed to be released from prison.

Chardo confirmed that he was deciding whether or not to appeal Evans' decision.

It was unclear on how quickly Warfel, who has been held at SCI Laurel Highlands since 2019 at request of Dauphin County authorities due to his advanced age and medical needs, would be released.

Police have searched Warfel's property on Mountain House Road in Jackson Township at least twice since 2019. The property sits just 10 miles from where Kroh was last seen on August 5, 1989, at the Alex Acres Trailer Park off Route 147 in Halifax around 10 p.m.

She was reportedly trying to visit her sister and brother-in-law who lived at the trailer park, but they were not home. Kroh dropped off items on their front steps and never arrived back at her family's home in Millersburg.


The trailer park is approximately seven miles west of her home.

Dauphin County officials said in 2014 that before Kroh disappeared, she was seen using a public telephone off of Millersburg Square. Her vehicle, a blue-striped white 1971 Mercury Comet, was located at the town square the following evening, August 6.

Officials added that her belongings weren't inside and there was no trace of Kroh.

In December 1993, parts of Kroh's wallet—including her driver's license and National Honor Society card—were found in an area along Wiconisco Creek, off Rakers Mill Rd., in Washington Township, approximately nine miles from Millersburg.

In 2018, Dauphin County woman Holly Mallett, came forward to police, telling them Matthew Webster, also of Dauphin County, admitted to her he was involved in the rape and murder of Kroh.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, Webster told Mallet, "It was supposed to be just a rape and done but then it turned out to be a lot more than that."

Police then intercepted a call between Webster and Mallett in which Webster told Mallett what to say to a grand jury.

Both were subsequently charged with perjury.

When FOX43 spoke with Warfel in July 2019, he said he wasn’t concerned about the police search.

“I said 'what are you digging for,' and they said they thought maybe the remains of Tracy Kroh might be there," Warfel said at the time. "And I said, 'well you can dig all that you want but you aren’t going to find anything.'"

Shortly after that, Warfel was arrested on the burglary charges. He was never publicly named as a suspect in Kroh's disappearance.

Until now.
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Thank you so much. For petty sake, the guy is 89 and in bad health, about to die. Do the right thing and tell what happened and where her body is, so her family will know. What does he have to loose at this point?
 
Bit of hope said:
Thank you so much. For petty sake, the guy is 89 and in bad health, about to die. Do the right thing and tell what happened and where her body is, so her family will know. What does he have to loose at this point?
Click to expand...
Are you assuming that he's guilty? What about Webster? Isn't he still a suspect? Or is the theory that both Webster snd Warfel participated?
 
Ozoner said:
Are you assuming that he's guilty? What about Webster? Isn't he still a suspect? Or is the theory that both Webster snd Warfel participated?
Click to expand...
The story around Webster always has wondered me. Did he and his buddies raped and killed her, like he allegedly said in a conversation with a woman while being drunk? Still possible. But it's a she said, he said.... There is no proof and she later recalled the testimony. Webster persuaded this woman to recall her testimony (that conversation was recorded) and they both said in court that this conversation (he committing having a hand in Tracy's dead) never took place. Both were charged with perjury and did time. Webster is out now. As far as I now he is not (officially) named as a suspect. If I was LE I would keep a real good eye on him. I think they don't have anything factual to connect him to Tracy's case. The old man is a suspect in Tracy's case but not arrested for that. I don't know why they think he is a suspect anyways. I might hope LE has (new) evidence to connect him to Tracy's murder, but I doubt it. He is in jail since 2019 for repeated burglary so unrelated to the investigation into Tracy's disappearance. I just hope, if he knows, he will tell what he did to her and where her body is.

The rumor mill is running wild:

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Police name suspect in 1989 disappearance of Tracy Kroh, but he’ll likely never stand trial

Sorry, it's only for subscribers. I think it's essentially the same info Hoopsticks posted.

This Mark Eugene Warfel isn't an angel.....this fire was in 1980. Warfel owned the tavern, Mountain House in Jackson Township according to this clipping. Makes you wonder......?

www.newspapers.com

Mark E Warfel, disposition of the arson case

Clipping found in The Daily Item published in Sunbury, Pennsylvania on 11/20/1982. Mark E Warfel, disposition of the arson case
www.newspapers.com www.newspapers.com
 
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Updated May 2022

Details of Disappearance​

Tracy was last seen at the Alex Acres Trailer Park off Pennsylvania Route 147 at 10:00 p.m. on August 5, 1989. She was trying to visit her twenty-year-old sister and brother-in-law who resided at the park, but they were not at home. She dropped off a barbecue grill and some grocery store coupons on their front step.

Tracy never arrived back at her family's house in Millersburg, Pennsylvania and has not been seen again. The trailer park is approximately seven miles west of her own home. She was not reported missing until the next day because her parents thought she had spent the night at her sister's home, as she often did. They called police after finding out Tracy was not at her sister's house.

Tracy's blue-striped white 1971 Mercury Comet was located at the town square in Millersburg the following evening, August 6, 1989. A photo of Tracy's car is posted below this case summary. Her belongings were not inside the vehicle and there was no trace of Tracy. The town square was a local gathering spot, and she may have been seen sitting on the steps of a store across from the street from the square earlier on the evening of her disappearance.

Parts of her wallet, including her driver's license and National Honor Society card, were found in December 1993, over four years after Tracy initially vanished. The wallet located in an area along Wiconisco Creek, off Rakers Mill Road in Washington Township, nine miles from Millersburg.

Authorities believe Tracy may have been on her way to see her boyfriend when she disappeared; his parents lived a short distance away from the Millersburg town square. Police have focused the investigation on Tracy's boyfriend and his family over the years. Tracy's boyfriend's brother stated his family had been cooperative with the investigation and were innocent of involvement in Tracy's disappearance, and that the investigation has been mishandled.

In August 2019, after testifying before a grand jury about Tracy's disappearance, Matthew Webster was charged with perjury in her case. He had allegedly admitted to a key witness, Holly Mallett, that he was involved in Tracy's disappearance.

He said he and some friends encountered her on the Millersburg square and that he had been drinking alcohol that night. He supposedly added, "It was supposed to be just a rape and done but then it turned out to be a lot more than that." On the stand, however, Webster denied having ever spoken to the witness.

Mallett was interviewed by police in 2018 and told them that, in 2016, Webster had told her he was involved in Tracy's rape and murder. A court-ordered wiretap recorded the pair talking about how she would deny earlier statements to the police. On tape, Mallett claimed the police had coerced her into making those statements, and described herself as mentally handicapped. Webster said he forgave her for her statements and promised to help pay for an attorney for her.

A photo of Webster is posted with this case summary. In December 2019, he pleaded no contest to felony perjury and was sentenced to four to six months in prison. Given credit for time served, he was released from custody immediately.

After Webster's plea, Mallett was also charged with felony perjury in Tracy's case. She had testified before a grand jury investigating Tracy's disappearance in June 2019, and admitted she had spoken to the police, but claimed she couldn't remember what she'd said to them. Police believe she lied when she claimed she had not previously discussed what she would tell the grand jury prior to her testimony.

A photo of Mallett is posted with this case summary. In July 2020, she pleaded guilty to perjury. She was sentenced to six to 23 months in prison. Neither she nor Webster have been charged in connection with Tracy's actual disappearance, only with lying in their testimony about it.

Mark Warfel was publicly named as a suspect in Tracy's disappearance in May 2022, by which time he was 89 years old. He would have been about 56 in 1989, the year Tracy disappeared, and police have searched his property for evidence in her case at least twice. Warfel is also a suspect in the death of his wife and several sexual assaults.

He was named as a suspect in Tracy's case at a competency hearing, as he is awaiting trial on unrelated burglary charges. At the hearing, the judge determined he was not competent to stand trial and the situation would not improve. Unless the prosection appeals the judge's decision, Warfel will never stand trial for the burglaries and will be released from prison.

Tracy does not have a history of running away from home. She left $300 behind in her bedroom and $400 in her bank account. She is described as a shy, studious teenager with no enemies. She was about to start her senior year at Halifax High School, whose principal described her as "an extremely responsible student." She was a member of the National Honor Society, an artist on the school newspaper, the yearbook editor, and a member of the Future Business Leaders of America.

Authorities believe that she was abducted, probably by someone she knew. Tracy's case remains unsolved.
 
Richrd said:
.
28 November (Lower) Court Date:

2022 Misdemeanor-Grade Defendant:
Mark Eugene Warfel, 89

Penn Live - 14 July 2022:​
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www.pennlive.com

‘Incompetent’ suspect in Tracy Kroh’s 1989 disappearance faces assault charges weeks after leaving jail

The attacks against hospital nurses have landed Mark Warfel, 89, back in prison, but civil liberty advocates say it's unconstitutional since he has been deemed incompetent.
www.pennlive.com www.pennlive.com

Richrd said:
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Richrd said:
Pre-Trial Confinement​
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In Lieu of $5,000 Bail

Google™ Supplements & Updates:
Richrd said:

​

.
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There have been clues since Tracy vanished, among them her abandoned Mercury Comet in the Millersburg town square, part of her wallet and even her driver's license found in the Wiconisco Creek several miles away. There are theories and suspicions, but so far, no solid answers.

Today, WGAL is looking back at the case, nearly 33 years after Tracy was last seen.

New developments​

Wednesday on News 8 at 5 p.m., WGAL's Anne Shannon revisits the case, talking to people who knew Tracy, going back to the last place she was seen and interviewing investigators about what they've learned over the years and the man now under investigation.
www.wgal.com

Disappearance of 17-year-old girl in Dauphin County remains unsolved

The disappearance of Tracy Kroh from a small Dauphin County town in 1989 remains a mystery to this day.
www.wgal.com www.wgal.com
 
Geez, there is a HUGE bombshell in that article, if it is true!

So Mark Warfel is supposedly Tracy’s younger sister’s father? Was this based on what Warfel told PA state troopers or was it proven with DNA testing?

If Warfel is the father of Tracy’s sister (half sister), why would he want to harm Tracy? Wouldn’t that be a little close to home?
 
cutter99 said:
Geez, there is a HUGE bombshell in that article, if it is true!

So Mark Warfel is supposedly Tracy’s younger sister’s father? Was this based on what Warfel told PA state troopers or was it proven with DNA testing?

If Warfel is the father of Tracy’s sister (half sister), why would he want to harm Tracy? Wouldn’t that be a little close to home?
Click to expand...

I don't know how a state trooper would know for sure Warfel is Tracy's sister biological father. I guess he wasn't there as a witness. From Facebook posts I understood this was a rumor/fact? for a long time, but because it was not in MSM it couldn't be communicated here. So now, if we choose, we can talk about it. Mr. Warfel isn't a very good man, to say the least IMO.

State police also named Warfel as a suspect in his wife’s death and in other assaults on women.

And also this:

In a brief interview with PennLive, Mrs. Kroh denied Warfel is the father of her youngest daughter. And she expressed concerns that rumors were replacing hard evidence in the long-running investigation.

“I don’t know who started that rumor, but it’s really beginning to tick me off,” Mrs. Kroh said of the assertion that Warfel fathered her daughter, Kim, who was 12 at the time of Tracy’s disappearance.

“He was a friend of the family,” Ellen Kroh said of Warfel.

My question would be...is it relevant for solving Tracy's case. I don't think so. Say he is the biological father...he wouldn't be the first father laying hands on a daughter, let alone another young girl being around.
 
So since Warfel was a “family friend”, there is a very realistic possibility that if Tracy saw him in town the day she disappeared, she would have felt comfortable being approached by him, talking to him or even possibly going somewhere with him.

Am very curious to know what lead the state trooper to the conclusion that Warfel is the father of Tracy’s sister. Is this a claim that came from Warfel? Because he had dementia, he cannot be considered a reliable source. Tracy’s mother denies it.

Warfel’s history with women is particularly appalling. I wonder how long he has been on LE’s radar concerning Tracy, considering he was a “family friend”. I also wonder how Tracy’s father felt about him.
 
cutter99 said:
So since Warfel was a “family friend”, there is a very realistic possibility that if Tracy saw him in town the day she disappeared, she would have felt comfortable being approached by him, talking to him or even possibly going somewhere with him.

Am very curious to know what lead the state trooper to the conclusion that Warfel is the father of Tracy’s sister. Is this a claim that came from Warfel? Because he had dementia, he cannot be considered a reliable source. Tracy’s mother denies it.

Warfel’s history with women is particularly appalling. I wonder how long he has been on LE’s radar concerning Tracy, considering he was a “family friend”. I also wonder how Tracy’s father felt about him.
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Does it bear keeping in mind that the state trooper was speaking under oath and Tracy's mother is not?
 
loveplace said:
Does it bear keeping in mind that the state trooper was speaking under oath and Tracy's mother is not?
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So this was under oath testimony?

One thing to remember is the state trooper is testifying to what Warfel told him. Warfel’s history in itself does not lend to him being an exactly honest person.

Unless there has been a DNA test, it is hearsay.

If it were me in Tracy’s mother’s position, I would be asking for DNA to support my position.
 
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