Marple Township police chief says "Good" prevailed, "held Evil to account" in 1975 Gretchen Harrington cold case
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A pastor and trusted family friend is behind bars, facing murder charges more than four decades after an 8-year-old Delaware County girl went missing while walking to bible school and was later found dead in a nearby state park.
While the 48-year-old murder mystery shattered the innocence of small-town Americana, Marple Township Police Chief Brandon Graeff issued a letter Wednesday on the 1975 abduction and murder of Gretchen Harrington, saying "Good" prevailed to hold "Evil to account."
Earlier this week, 83-year-old David Zandstra -- who was currently residing in Marietta, Georgia -- was arrested and charged in Harrington's murder after allegedly confessing to the killing in a recent interview.
"'Evil' doesn't adequately represent this man, and 'depraved' can't come close to describing his behavior, but it's the best I can come up with," Chief Graeff said in his message, adding that he wants to "focus on the Good (yes, the capital 'G' is intentional) that Gretchen's memory has given so much life to in the past 48 years."
At the time of Harrington's disappearance and murder, Zandstra was a reverend at the young girl's church, Trinity Chapel on Lawrence Road.
Prosecutors allege Zandstra, who was also a trusted family friend, invited Harrington into his car as she walked to bible school on the morning of August 15, 1975. He allegedly confessed to asking her to take off her clothes but when she refused, he beat her to death before dumping her remains in an area of Ridley Creek State Park.
Her body was found two months later, police said.
The case sent shockwaves throughout the community.
"On August 14, 1975, Marple Township was a suburban community not unlike so many across this great Land. A safe refuge from crime and decay, where kids played unsupervised for hours, their destinations known not even to them let alone their parents, only coming home when the proverbial streetlights came on," Chief Graeff said. "The freedoms of childhood were swiftly and noticeably curtailed. Kids were no longer allowed to stray too far from the watchful eye of a parent, and parents were much less willing to take for granted the notion of their neighborhood being a secure bubble."
Now, many years later, police said the break in the case came after a confidential informant came forward saying she saw Harrington get into a car along Lawrence Road.
"Good worked through so many people for decades and eventually brought everything together and held Evil to account," Chief Graeff said.
The chief credits two Broomall natives, journalist Mike Mathis and Joanna Falcone Sullivan, with helping revive the cold case.
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"The wheels of justice for Gretchen got a squirt of oil and began to grind a little faster. Over the next two years calls were made, meetings were held, information was exchanged, a book was published, publicity was renewed, and here we are today," he said.