Sources say bones recovered Thursday at 417 W. Chew Ave. in Olney have not been identified.

A bone in a yard is not an identification, and an open search is not a homicide charge. NBC10 and ABC News reported the medical examiner was called Thursday for bones whose origin is still unknown, while FOX 29 reported only that the office was called to examine something of interest. Eugene Horsch is in federal custody on a June case that does not charge him in the missing-women investigation, and Fox News reported that no one has been arrested in that probe.

On Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, law enforcement sources told NBC10 Philadelphia that investigators recovered bones in the backyard of 417 W. Chew Ave. in Philadelphia's Olney neighborhood, and that the medical examiner was there to determine whether the bones were animal or human. NBC10 reported that investigators have previously found animal bones at the property. ABC News, citing its sister station WPVI, reported that the Medical Examiner's Office was called Thursday to recover bones and that the condition and origin of the remains were not yet known. NBC10 reported on Friday, Oct. 16, that investigators still had not confirmed who the bones belong to. FOX 29 reported Thursday that the medical examiner was called to examine "something of interest" found while crews dug in the backyard, and that it was not clear why the office was called.

The digging was already underway before Thursday. Fox News reported Friday morning that Philadelphia police and the FBI had an excavator in the backyard, on the 400 block of West Chew Avenue, and that a Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson declined to describe any find. She told Fox News Digital, "Investigators continue to examine evidence and pursue all available leads," and said the department could not give specifics on activity at the property, any potential findings, or work to authenticate images and videos recovered earlier. NBC10 and ABC News also reported that a safe was found behind a wall inside the house. NBC10 reported it was not yet clear what, if anything, was inside.

The house belonged to Raymond "R.C." Horsch, who died in 2025 at 82, NBC10 and Fox News reported. Police and the FBI have tied it to at least seven missing women. NBC10 has reported that police believe five of the seven are dead and that their bodies have not been recovered. Fox News reported that earlier searches turned up what it called apparent "snuff" films, ash-filled urns, and evidence linked to the women. Among the women police have publicly identified are Maribel Fresses, last seen in 2018, and Gabrielle Amarando, who disappeared in 2012, NBC10 reported. Blair Tonzelli, who disappeared in 2023, is also tied to the house. NBC10 reported that a woman who was with Eugene Horsch at his June arrest was carrying Tonzelli's identification.

Eugene Horsch, 44, is in federal custody on charges from that June arrest. Those charges are not the missing-women case. NBC10 reported he was arrested on separate charges of impersonating a federal agent and remains held on federal counts involving false credentials and firearms, and that he faces no charges connected to the missing women. ABC News reported the June arrest was on federal firearms and drug charges and that he has not been charged in the missing-women investigation. Fox News reported that no arrests have been made as the investigation of the women continues. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. That presumption is about Eugene Horsch's unrelated federal charges. No one has been charged in the missing-women investigation.