Book on hometown murder led cops to pastor accused of killing 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington: author
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 colꦛd 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,” .
Zandstr🅘a, 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 bi🐼ble 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 b🍌ook, however, was enough for one woman to recall an incident where a girl in her class was nearly kidnapped twice by an unknown man.
The informant, who remai💛ns anonymous, had written i♛n her journal in 1975 that she believed Zandstra was behind the attempted kidnapping, and reached out to officers investigating the cold case.
On July 17, police confronted Zandstra about his alleged involvement in the kidnappings, but he denied it. Police also pressed him on a statement from his daughter’s best friend, who told police he groped during a sleepover when she was just 10 years old.
During the interrogation, Zandstra eventually confessed to abducting Harrington and killing her when she refused to take off her clothes. He then attempted to cover up her body and fled the scene, according to the Delaware County District Attorney’s office.
“David Zandstra is a monster. He is every parent’s worst nightmare,” DA Jack Stollsteimer s🥃aid during a press conference following the arrest. “He killed this poor 8-year-old girl he knew and who trusted him.
“And then he acted as if he was a family friend, not only during her burial and the period after that, but for years.”
Sullivan said her community is now anxiously waiting for the conclusion of the case that’s haunted their town for the last 48 years.
“There’s no happy ending in this case,” Sullivan said. “But, you know, we’re relieved that justice might occur – that if he’s the killer and convicted, he will pay for the crime.”
