The author of a book recapping the 1975 disappearance and murder of an 8-year-old Pennsylvania girl credited her writings for helping police arrest
a former pastor who confessed to the crime.
Last October, Joanna Sullivan co-authored “Marple’s Gretchen Harrington Tragedy” — a story surrounding the death of Gretchen Harrington, who disappeared on her way to Bible school, and its impact on her hometown.
After the book was published, Sullivan said an informant who read it reached out to police, believing that one of the interviewees, David Zandstra, 83, was behind two kidnapping attempts in Marple and could be a person of interest in the cold case.
“The book was published, and we started hearing a couple of months later that they were actively looking at a suspect. And lo and behold, it was someone she knew,”
Sulivan told Fox News.
Zandstra, a former pastor at the Trinity Church Chapel Christian Reformed Church, was arrested in July after he confessed to abducting Harrington and beating her to death, with her remains discovered in Ridley Creek State Park.
Sullivan, who is now editor-in-chief of the Baltimore Business Journal, spoke to Zandstra about the case given that he was in charge of helping transport children to the bible camp.
Zandstra, a husband and father-of-three, gave a short interview to Sullivan and co-author Mike Mathis, and he initially didn’t seem to remember the incident very well.
“I was running a Volkswagen bus with a certain amount of children to bring them to the church building, and when I got there, I think one of the teachers from Gretchen’s class asked me if I had seen Gretchen,” Zandstra is quoted saying in the book.
“She said, ‘I thought Gretchen might be with you,’ and I said no. She said, ‘She’s not here,'” he added. “Either I called, or I went to Pastor Harrington’s house, and they confirmed that she had left to walk up the street.
“And I said she’s not here. I must have at that point called the police.”
His brief appearance in the book, however, was enough for one woman to recall an incident where a girl in her class was nearly kidnapped twice by an unknown man.
You must be logged in to see or use the Shoutbox. Besides, if you haven't registered, you really should. It's quick and it will make your life a little better. Trust me. So just register and make yourself at home with like-minded individuals who share either your morbid curiousity or sense of gallows humor.
nypost.com
www.mcall.com
