BARBARA: INVESTIGATORS WOULD NOT SAY WHETHER THE ACCUSED, JUSTO SMOKER, LED THEM TO A REMOTE AREA BEHIND THE DUTCHLAND COMPANY WHERE HE WORKED AT THE TIME, BUT THEY ARE CONFIDENT THE REMAINS BELONG TO LINDA. >> WHILE SHOCKING TO SOME, IN AN ODD WAY, IT WAS A GOOD DAY. BARBARA: GOOD, ONLY BECAUSE LAW ENFORCEMENT CAN NOW GIVE LINDA STOLTZFOOS’ FAMILY SOME CLOSURE. >> OUR HEARTS GO OUT TO THE FAMILY. BARBARA: TEN MONTHS TO THE DAY SINCE THE 18-YEAR-OLD WAS LAST SEEN ALIVE, INVESTIGATORS DUG UP THE REAMINS. THEY WERE BURIED, WRAPPED IN A TARP BEHIND JUSTO SMOKER’S FORMER EMPLOYER, DUTCHLAND INC. IN GAP, AN AREA DISTRICT ATTORNEY HEATHER ADAMS SAYS INVESTIGATORS HAD COVERED BEFORE. >> THERE IS SIMPLY NO ROOM FOR CRITICIZING THE EFFORTS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT IN THIS CASE. THE BURIAL SITE ITSELF IS NOT ON THE BUSINESS PROPERTY AND NOT IS — IS NOT EASILY ACCESSIBLE. BARBARA: THE DA SAYS MORE THAN 15,000 HOURS WERE SPENT LOOKING FOR LINDA. THEY BELIEVE HE KILLED HER IN THE HOURS AFTER HE ALLEGEDLY ABUDUCTED HER INTIALLY, BURIED HER IN RONKS, WHERE SOME OF HER CLOTHING WAS FOUND, THEN MOVED HER. FINDING A BODY BOLSTERS THE PROSECUTION’S CASE. >> NO-BODY PROSECUTIONS CAN BE DIFFICULT. IT IS OFTEN THE RECOVERY OF THE BODY THAT ANSWERS MANY OF THE QUESTIONS AS FAR AS HOW THE VICTIM DIED. BARBARA: THE DA WOULDN’T SAY HOW LINDA WAS KILLED. AN AUTOPSY WILL BE CONDUCTED TOMORROW. SMOKER’S ATTOR
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Human stays believed to be these of lacking Amish teen, district legal professional says
Up to date: 6:01 PM CDT Apr 22, 2023
Lancaster County District Legal professional Heather Adams mentioned Thursday that human stays discovered within the jap a part of the county are believed to be these of Linda Stoltzfoos, 18, an Amish woman who disappeared greater than 10 months in the past.”Whereas the coroner’s workplace has not but made a constructive forensic identification, primarily based on all the data at present identified and out there to us, we strongly imagine and are snug saying, that the stays are these of 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos,” Adams mentioned.In response to Adams:The stays had been recovered Wednesday in Hole behind the earlier place of employment of Justo Smoker, the person charged together with her murder and kidnapping.An post-mortem is scheduled for Friday to assist affirm the identification and decide the trigger and method of loss of life, however a preliminary overview signifies the stays are these of a feminine of a related age.Investigators additionally discovered a costume, bonnet and footwear per the clothes worn by Stoltzfoos on the day she disappeared.Police imagine Smoker killed Stoltzfoos inside hours of allegedly kidnapping her on June 21 and buried her behind a enterprise on Harvest Drive in Ronks, the place investigators discovered her stockings and bra. It’s believed that Smoker then moved the physique a number of days later.The district legal professional talked in regards to the significance of discovering the stays.”Definitely, no physique prosecutions are tough. It is usually the restoration of the physique that solutions lots of the questions, so far as how the sufferer died. The situation of the physique may also inform us many issues. Regardless, I am very assured in our skill to safe justice for Linda and her household,” Adams mentioned.Adams did not say what led investigators to the search space.You possibly can watch clips from the information convention within the video gamers beneath.
Lancaster County District Legal professional Heather Adams mentioned Thursday that human remains discovered within the jap a part of the county are believed to be these of Linda Stoltzfoos, 18, an Amish woman who disappeared greater than 10 months in the past.
“Whereas the coroner’s workplace has not but made a constructive forensic identification, primarily based on all the data at present identified and out there to us, we strongly imagine and are snug saying, that the stays are these of 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos,” Adams mentioned.
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In response to Adams:
- The stays had been recovered Wednesday in Hole behind the earlier place of employment of Justo Smoker, the person charged together with her murder and kidnapping.
- An post-mortem is scheduled for Friday to assist affirm the identification and decide the trigger and method of loss of life, however a preliminary overview signifies the stays are these of a feminine of a related age.
- Investigators additionally discovered a costume, bonnet and footwear per the clothes worn by Stoltzfoos on the day she disappeared.
- Police imagine Smoker killed Stoltzfoos inside hours of allegedly kidnapping her on June 21 and buried her behind a enterprise on Harvest Drive in Ronks, the place investigators discovered her stockings and bra. It’s believed that Smoker then moved the physique a number of days later.
The district legal professional talked in regards to the significance of discovering the stays.
“Definitely, no physique prosecutions are tough. It is usually the restoration of the physique that solutions lots of the questions, so far as how the sufferer died. The situation of the physique may also inform us many issues. Regardless, I am very assured in our skill to safe justice for Linda and her household,” Adams mentioned.
Adams did not say what led investigators to the search space.
You possibly can watch clips from the information convention within the video gamers beneath.
