Arrest made in kidnapping of 18-year-old Amish woman Linda Stoltzfoos
On July 11, the East Lampeter Township Police Department reported that a man from Paradise, Pennsylvania, was arrested and charged with the kidnapping of an 18-year-old Amish woman who has been missing since June 21, when she was last seen walking home from church in the Bird-in-Hand area. Police charged 34-year-old Justo Smoker on Friday, July 10, with felony kidnapping and misdemeanor false imprisonment.
Unfortunately, the whereabouts of Linda Stoltzfoos still remain unknown. Investigators are actively searching and working to determine what happened to her after she was taken and believe that Stoltzfoos was harmed after she was kidnapped.
According to the FBI, Linda is described as a white female, 18 years of age, approximately 5’10” and 125 pounds. She is a member of the Amish community and was last seen wearing a tan dress, white apron, and black head covering.
Linda’s accused abductor was arrested Friday night at his place of employment. Smoker, of 3200 block of Lincoln Highway East, was arraigned Saturday morning on the two charges.
District Judge Joshua Keller, at arraignment, made Smoker ineligible for bail, citing the nature of the charges and the ongoing investigation. Local police are being assisted by multiple agencies, including the FBI, Pennsylvania State Police and Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office. Investigators are asking anyone who might have seen Smoker – or his red Kia Rio sedan – around the time Stoltzfoos was abducted, and in the days after, to contact police at 717-291-4676.
Photos of Smoker and the vehicle – with a distinct spoiler and “LCM” sticker on the trunk – are included below. The Kia’s Pennsylvania registration is KYB-9713. On Friday evening, investigators searched a rural location in Ronks, where they believed Stoltzfoos might have been taken after being kidnapped.
Smoker’s vehicle was seen parked at that location on June 23. Investigators found buried in a wooded area articles of clothing believed to belong to Stoltzfoos.
Smoker became a person of interest in the kidnapping after police received information about a red/orange vehicle seen in the Gap area on the afternoon of the abduction. Multiple witnesses in that area reported seeing an Amish female in the passenger seat of a vehicle driven by a male. Witness descriptions of the driver and vehicle are consistent with Smoker and his vehicle.
Smoker was a high school wrestling star who spent the majority of his adult life in prison following a string of robberies when he was 21. He pleaded guilty to robbing four businesses in a six-day period. Smoker was adopted at age 7, and his adopted parents told a judge at his sentencing that they would support him after he was released from prison. ~ Heavy.com
Police also obtained and viewed surveillance video – enhanced by FBI forensic technicians – that depicts the abduction of Linda Stoltzfoos on Beechdale Road. That video shows a red Kia Rio involved in the abduction. Beechdale Road would have been part of Stoltzfoos’ walking route back home after church. Her father reported her missing when she did not return from a youth group (she was to attend) late into the night of June 21.
Investigators confirmed she did not make it to that social gathering. Police found nothing indicating Stoltzfoos was unhappy and wanted to leave her community.
You can download Linda Stoltzfoos’ Missing Poster by clicking on the image below.
Please submit any and all tips and information to the East Lampeter Township Police Department here.
For more on Stoltzfoos’ disappearance and Smoker’s arrest, see the video accompanying this article.
(Source: East Lampeter Township Police Department)
~ Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter
