Homicide charge for suspect in case of missing Amish teen
A man accused of abducting an Amish teen girl in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country has been hit with a homicide charge.
In addition to false imprisonment and kidnapping charges, Justo Smoker was charged with criminal homicide in the disappearance of 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos, reported Penn Live.
“In consideration of the evidence collected over the past six months, our office has approved the filing of a charge alleging Smoker killed Stoltzfoos after kidnapping her while she walked home from church . . . in Upper Leacock Township, Pa.,” stated the Lancaster Count District Attorney’s office.
The victim’s body has yet to be discovered.
Smoker, 34, has been jailed since July 11, according to Penn Live.
A witness was able to identify Stoltzfoos inside Smoker’s vehicle, noting she was wearing a black head covering, according to a warrant, reported the York Daily Record.
“Given the circumstances of Linda’s disappearance, specifically that she was forcefully abducted by a stranger, we always feared she suffered a tragic fate,” stated Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams. “After careful consideration of all of the facts uncovered by the investigation as a whole, we are now in a position — legally — to charge Smoker with murder.”
Investigators assert that Stoltzfoos was active in her church and community at the time of her June 21 disappearance and had no reason to abandon her life.
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Witnesses told cops at the time they noticed an Amish woman getting into a red Kia, which was ultimately linked to Smoker.
Also leading to the homicide charge was Stoltzfoos’ stockings and bra being found buried in an area where the vehicle had been spotted by another witness, said cops.
