Written by: E. George
Published August 25, 2023 @ 2:02 PM ET
COBB COUNTY, Ga. – Eight-year-old Gretchen Harrington’s remains were discovered in Delaware County, southeastern Pennsylvania, in 1975, and now, nearly 50 years later, a retired Marietta minister has been charged with her slaying. District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer called 83-year-old David Zandstra a “monster” and “every parent’s worst nightmare.”
Harrington, whose father served as a Presbyterian minister, disappeared during a walk to her Trinity Church Chapel bible camp from her Marple Township, Pennsylvania residence in August 1975. A jogger found her body two months later in Media’s Ridley Creek State Park.
She typically walked with her sisters; however, a recent birth in the family had altered their plans, and Zandstra, the father of one of her best friends, found her traveling alone. Stollsteimer said, “When he offered her a ride in his car, of course, she got in.”
He allegedly drove her to a secluded wooded area and struck her in
