Federal Judge Unseals Records on 2009 Case Tied to Missing Women

A federal judge unsealed court transcripts Tuesday related to a 2009 marijuana-growing case involving Raymond R.C. Horsch, an erotic filmmaker who died in 2025 at age 82. The release of documents, requested by The Philadelphia Inquirer, provides new details about Horsch's legal strategy and his relationship with at least seven missing women.

In 2009, police searched Horsch's home in Chalfont and discovered a sophisticated marijuana-growing operation. Authorities recovered 455 marijuana plants, processed marijuana, and three firearms, including two sawed-off shotguns. Horsch pleaded guilty, admitting the guns were possessed to further his distribution operation. These charges carried a combined mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

Horsch avoided the full term by cooperating with authorities. Prosecutors described his information as credible and reliable, covering crimes against minors, marijuana and cocaine trafficking, and fraud. A supplemental sentencing memorandum filed by his attorneys noted that some cooperation occurred while he was incarcerated, where he obtained information from cellmates at a great degree of danger.

Amy McHale, Horsch's ex-wife and one of the missing women, testified in the 2009 hearings that she met him around 1999 while living on the street and using drugs. She told the judge that Horsch took her in, encouraged her to seek help for addiction, and helped her attend college. McHale stated she saw him help other women in similar circumstances.

McHale testified that girls would come to the home to stay while she and Horsch were together. She supported his assistance to these women because of the help he had provided her, yet she also told the court she did not know what happened to many of the other girls. The transcripts do not identify those women or confirm whether any are among those currently under investigation.

Police and the FBI are investigating the disappearances of at least seven women connected to Horsch and his former home at 417 W. Chew Ave. in Kensington. Some of the women appear in movies or digital evidence seized from the property. Cassandra Barone, who first spoke with investigators in September, began working with Horsch in 2013 after he approached her in Kensington and lived with him for several years.

Jerome Brown, Horsch's attorney, told the judge that his client had worked on a project examining prostitution, heroin addiction, and their effects on women. Brown said Horsch would go into Kensington to speak with women on the streets. Brown represents Horsch's son, Eugene, in a separate federal case involving false credentials and firearms, where Eugene has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial in March.

The unsealed records clarify the timeline of Horsch's legal proceedings and his interactions with the women who disappeared. The documents serve as the primary source for the current federal investigation into the Chew Avenue property and the circumstances surrounding the missing persons.