Philly mom went into house of horrors and never came out — as FBI finds vats and chemicals: ‘She wouldn’t just go missing’

A Philadelphia mom went into a decrepit house of horrors 10 years ago and never came out, the missing woman’s daughter revealed — as the FBI and cops found 55-gallon drums, chemicals, weapons, and a horrifying note referencing serial killer Ted Bundy.

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“Something happened to her in that house,” Gloria McHale, whose last contact with her missing daughter, Amy McHale, was a June 13, 2016 voicemail attempting to reassure her mom she was safe and at the home of Raymond Charles “R.C.” Horsch in the city’s Olney neighborhood.

Horsch’s 44-year-old son, Eugene, was arrested June 19 after the FBI and local police searched the home and found a trove of chemicals, firearms, and drugs, Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore announced during a press conference Friday.

R.C. Horsch and Amy McHale met in the 1990s — when she was in her 20s and he was in his 50s — and later got married and divorced, but stayed close after their relationship ended, Amy’s daughter, Amanda Stofer, told CBS News.

The elder Horsch, who died in 2025 with a rap sheet including drug manufacturing and forgery, was a smut-peddler whose medium of choice was filming and photographing “scantily clad women in sadomasochistic settings.”

Stofer said her mother had grappled with drug addiction and mental health issues throughout her life, and told the outlet she was exactly the kind of woman Horsch would have preyed upon.

“My mom wouldn’t just go missing,” Stofer said, noting that she was a caring and involved parent despite her problems.

“Amy did have her issues, but I don’t think she was isolated in these situations. I think these were bad men who took advantage of women who needed help. Real help.”

Gloria McHale described Horsch as “kind of a strange dude” who “considered himself an artist, but he was really like a porn king. He made pornographic videos. He liked to pick up girls who had drug problems, and he liked to take pictures of them shooting up heroin,” she told the outlet.

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The investigation into Eugene Horsch was sparked when a US Park Ranger overheard an argument between him and his girlfriend, who were sitting in a parked car near Independence Hall June 19.

A ranger intervened when he heard the woman say “you’re going to hurt me,” at which point he notified other law enforcement agencies who came to the scene.

Upon conducting a search, authorities found Eugene was carrying a fake Drug Enforcement Administration badge, a switchblade, and two guns with “obliterated serial numbers,” Vanore told reporters.

His girlfriend had a fake ID featuring her photo — but bearing the name of a woman who had been reported missing in February 2023 from the Kensington area, sources told the Philadelphia Inquirer. She has not yet been publicly identified.

The girlfriend later told police that Horsch had given her the ID to use because she had outstanding arrest warrants. Though she didn’t know the missing woman, she thought something bad may have happened to her, the local outlet reported.

Gloria McHale and Stofer told CBS News Philadelphia that although police haven’t yet contacted them about their investigation into Horsch’s home, they are holding out hope for more answers regarding Amy’s disappearance over a decade ago.

“She was more than just an addict. She was a mother, she was human, she’s missed and she was preyed upon like so many women are when they are in those positions with drug addiction,” Stofer said.

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“I just want people to keep looking for her,” Gloria McHale told the outlet.

“Somebody knows something.”