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

[CuriousQuiet1]

I tried to post a Google Earth view but couldn’t get it to post.

I'm not sure why the discussion of this particular property, but happy to help with a picture. It appears the pond has an island with a foot bridge. It is a remarkable property, and available on Air BnB.



Beechdale Farms: Gorgeous Mansion on 60 Acres. - Farm stays for Rent in Bird in Hand, Pennsylvania, United States

 

[ACG2x]

FBI involvement doesn't necessarily mean foul play. The FBI was involved in Madison Bell's disappearance and she left voluntarily. That said, I'm not sure if there's any evidence at this point that would support her leaving on her own. Who would she even leave with? To believe that at this point means she'd have to have some sort of secret life and likely communicating through means the Amish typically don't utilize.

Area where she disappeared along Stumptown Rd near Beechdale is interesting as the road is narrow with houses on one side and farmland on the other. Totally random abductions by someone who doesn't know the victim are extremely rare but if it was going to happen, this would be the place to do so because of how rural it was.

In the majority here that we probably aren't looking at a good outcome but really hoping I am wrong.

 

[Kakidoll]

Pennsylvania Dutch also includes MANY that are not Amish. I grew up with it from my grandparents and still speak certain phrases today. You can use German to get to the basics of some words, but its def. not able to be used in a translation device that works well.
Growing up in South Central PA, the Amish of her age would 'sneak' over to our houses/country stores, to drink soda, make phone calls, watch TV etc. This was back in the 70s/80s. She very well could have met up with someone that she met 'online' or thru another way that wasn't what they appeared to be. Many are very naive if their parents are 'strict' and have not modernized at all. I doubt very much she would have left willingly from what i've read.

 

[Carrie Ann]

Since there has been cases on the rise of missing / assault/ murder in their community, I think that they may be allowing pictures. Maybe to help find the missing people. At some point I would believe that they had to at least take a picture just incase . We have a community not to far from where I live. They have vegetables stands in season. The last time I went I talked with the mother and she was worried about the crimes reaching their community. Their community isn't easy to find either. You have to know someone or ask a local person how to get there. Even then the paths to the areas are very slim barely room for 1 car. I was shocked to see roads and homes like those on the news. Every community is different. I really worry about her missing. The children in the community here are not socialized with people from out of their communities. I am worried that makes them easily tricked into talking or trusting someone. It's horrific that people would take advantage of a religious belief and the separation of communities. All these cases are horrific just knowing that these young people are naive about the cruel people in the world hurts my heart. Crime is in every corner of the world and if it's not it's on it's way.

 

[Rossymom]

I will not link this, as it is against our rules, but wanted to share for those who have faith and wish to join in prayer. The FB page that is set up for her search does a live prayer circle each night in her town. It was at dusk last night, at the end of their searching. On a personal note, I enjoyed joining them.

 

[Hereshecomes75]

Since there has been cases on the rise of missing / assault/ murder in their community, I think that they may be allowing pictures. Maybe to help find the missing people. At some point I would believe that they had to at least take a picture just incase . We have a community not to far from where I live. They have vegetables stands in season. The last time I went I talked with the mother and she was worried about the crimes reaching their community. Their community isn't easy to find either. You have to know someone or ask a local person how to get there. Even then the paths to the areas are very slim barely room for 1 car. I was shocked to see roads and homes like those on the news. Every community is different. I really worry about her missing. The children in the community here are not socialized with people from out of their communities. I am worried that makes them easily tricked into talking or trusting someone. It's horrific that people would take advantage of a religious belief and the separation of communities. All these cases are horrific just knowing that these young people are naive about the cruel people in the world hurts my heart. Crime is in every corner of the world and if it's not it's on it's way.

 

[Hereshecomes75]

Most Amish people in Lancaster County aren’t as cloistered as some believe. Sounds like the ones near you might be. At least in Lancaster, they don’t live in villages, as some tourist attractions may suggest. Most Amish have English neighbors and friends and shop at the same places as everyone else. We have hitching rails at Walmart and Target lol. Amish children who can’t walk to school safely are bussed by the local public schools with their students. And it appears Linda has an aunt who left the Amish, so she’s probably not really sheltered from non-Amish people.

But to your point, Carrie Ann, I’ve met some Amish teen girls who were kind of shy and socially awkward, who’d come across as very docile to someone with predatory intent. The Amish are typically neighborly and helpful, so it’s not out of character for a shy teen to at least respond politely if a driver were to ask for directions along the road or something.

 

[Rosiebones]

Most Amish people in Lancaster County aren’t as cloistered as some believe. Sounds like the ones near you might be. At least in Lancaster, they don’t live in villages, as some tourist attractions may suggest. Most Amish have English neighbors and friends and shop at the same places as everyone else. We have hitching rails at Walmart and Target lol. Amish children who can’t walk to school safely are bussed by the local public schools with their students. And it appears Linda has an aunt who left the Amish, so she’s probably not really sheltered from non-Amish people.

But to your point, Carrie Ann, I’ve met some Amish teen girls who were kind of shy and socially awkward, who’d come across as very docile to someone with predatory intent. The Amish are typically neighborly and helpful, so it’s not out of character for a shy teen to at least respond politely if a driver were to ask for directions along the road or something.

Would she have accepted a ride from an English person that she knew?

 

[ReaderRabbit]

Just to make sure I'm understanding:
She attended church and was on her way to youth group when she disappeared? She was walking alone? The entire youth group doesnt walk together or at least in several groups or pairs of friends etc?

Does Linda not have friends to walk with to youth group? How do her peers view her? Is she well liked? Keeps to herself?

Why did her parents not call police until Monday morning? Does she usually stay out all night on Sundays after Church? Or at least, has she before? Were they unable to get ahold of any friends they thought she may have been with and just assumed she was safe at someone else's home in their community? If this is unlike her, why not "ring the alarm" sooner?

IMO good questions.

 

[Hereshecomes75]

Would she have accepted a ride from an English person that she knew?

No idea. The walk home from church that day wasn’t that long and it wasn’t raining. Maybe she’d take a ride if offered by someone she knew and believed she could trust. Hard to say.

 

[Rosiebones]

Do we know where on Stumpfield the Sunday service was held? Would she have turned left or turned right onto Beachdale on her way home? I am thinking of where a car might have been coming from if someone picked her up.

 

[am80]

If she was abducted my thoughts it would be someone local or someone familiar with the area. GPS tends to not cut down those roads, it often keeps you on major routes. Someone out of the area would not likely end up on that road.
(IMO) I work close to that area and drive around there often, my gps directs me away from that specific area.

 

[Wild Rose]

I hope that they check every hotel/motel for recent shady characters within at least a 50 mile radius.

 

[Rosiebones]

She is 5 feet 10 inches tall. She is as tall as the average man although very slender. Seems like she would be noticed more easily particularly in the company of a man. MOO MOO

 

[Hereshecomes75]

I hope that they check every hotel/motel for recent shady characters within at least a 50 mile radius.

That would be a fulltime job for several officers, unfortunately. Because it’s been a tourist area for some time, there’s an abundance of motels past their prime that are rented by the week and the month within a few miles of that area. The local police department handling Linda’s case has jurisdiction over a number of them. I’m sure they’re tuned in to looking for anything that might be related to this situation.

 

[Wild Rose]

In the case of foul play, it could be a completely random event or not random, someone relative to this area who knows her routine on church days if she walks alone there, someone who uses that road or nearby road fairly regularly to have seen her before. Can they track regular phone pings or is it heavily congested there with traffic even during covid??

 

[Wild Rose]

That would be a fulltime job for several officers, unfortunately.

I have stayed at the Best Western there on the main drag, just hoping numbers are lower because of the pandemic????

 

[Wild Rose]

I don't see anything in my local news yet in NJ. Worried that people may not know about Linda.

 

[elmomom]

I don't see anything in my local news yet in NJ. Worried that people may not know about Linda.

I live in the next county over (Chester) and have lots of friends in NJ and DE. It has been shared very extensively in both communities on FB, as well as on the local news out of Philly.

 

[Hereshecomes75]

I have stayed at the Best Western there on the main drag, just hoping numbers are lower because of the pandemic????

I think they are, because a lot of tourist attractions haven’t opened and some hotels are at minimum occupancy or have even temporarily closed. The motels that would concern me most about “shady characters” are still operating, since some people essentially live there. But tourism and traffic are nowhere near what they’d typically be at this time of the summer. Such a crapshoot—would a bad actor stand out with fewer people around, or would there be fewer people to notice him?

I just heard from an ex-Amish friend who knows Linda’s family that no one who knows Linda thinks she left voluntarily.