July 7, 2025 • 46 mins
In the quiet farmlands of Pennsylvania, the Amish live by tradition - peaceful, close-knit, and untouched by much of the outside world. But when one of their own didn’t come home one Sunday, that peace was broken. What followed would draw their tight community into a search unlike anything they’d ever faced.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
We can't narrow window to hours or even a day
or two, but we can tell you that based on
the state of her body, that is very consistent with
the death that occurred ten months ago.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Tucked away in the ruling farmlands of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
lies a small picturesque village called Bird in High. It's
a place where time feels like it has paused, where
horse drawn buggies click clubbed down narrow country roads. Fields
stretch out in neat, symmetrical rows, plowed not by machines
but by teams of horses. In Bird in Hand, the
pace of life is a little slower, more deliberate, and
(01:16):
deeply rooted in tradition. The Quieton is home to one
of the most well known Amish communities in the United States.
The Amish here live much as their ancestors did, guided
by a strict interpretation of Christian doctrine and a desired
remain separate from the modern world. Electricity, cars and even
zippers are shunned. Instead. Amish families in Bird in Hand
(01:39):
rely on gas lamps, woodstows, and simple handmade garments. The Ordnung,
which is a set of unwritten but strictly followed rules
governs every aspect of their lives, from the clothes they
wear to how they worship. Faith, humility, and community are
the cornerstone of Amish life. They believe in living simply,
avoiding prize and vanity and putting the needs of the
(02:01):
group above the individual. Most speak Pennsylvanian Dutch at home,
a dialect of German, and gather each Sunday in each
other's homes for worship services that can go on for ours.
Education ends after the eighth grade, and from there children
are expected to learn through doing helping on the farm,
in the home, or within the family business. Bird in Hand
(02:22):
itself is more than just a postcard perfect town. It's
a close knit community where pretty much everybody knows one another.
Many families have lived on the same land for generations,
passing dawn not only property but values, customs in a
way of life that has remained largely unchanged for over
three hundred years. It's a place where doors are rarely locked,
(02:44):
where trust runs stape, and where crime is almost unheard of.
But even in a place as peaceful as Bird in Hand,
darkness can still find a way in, and when it does,
it shakes this quiet world to its very core. Living
(03:14):
among the carefully tended farms and winding country lanes of
bird in hand with eighteen year old Linda Stultfuss, she
lived with her parents and eight siblings in a modest
farmhouse on Beechdale Road, a narrow stretch of land that
winds through the heart of Amish country. The Stultzfoo's home,
like so many others in the area, was set back
(03:34):
from the road, surrounded by neat fields. A horse drawn
buggy was almost always parked in the driveway. The Stultsfoots
family belonged to the Old Order Amish, a more conservative
sect within the already traditional Amish community. For the Old Order,
life is centered on humility, discipline, and detachment from the
outside world. They don't use electricity from the grid and
(03:58):
they avoid personal cars. Cel phones, televisions, and computers are
unheard of. But it's not out of fear or distrust
of technology itself. For the Amish, the concern is deeper.
It's about preserving community in preventing individualism from unraveling the
close knit social fabric that binds their world together. The
(04:18):
idea is simple, but profound. Technology if it promotes vanity, laziness,
or excessive interaction with the outside world. It's better left untouched,
and Linda embodied the values of her community with grace.
She lived a simple, purposeful life. She was a soft
spoken young woman who was deeply devoted to her family
(04:39):
and her faith. She often rose before sunrise to help
with the household chores or with her younger siblings. Her
days always followed the quiet rhythms of Amish life, cooking, sewing,
reading scripture, and preparing meals from scratch. Blinda also had
a giving heart, one that extended far beyond her own home.
(05:01):
She volunteered her time trutoring children who struggled with learning disorders.
She had a gentle way with people, especially with the
young and the vulnerable. Those who knew Linda said that
she had a calming presence, someone who listened more than
she spoke, somebody who never raised her voice. When she
wasn't tutoring, Linda worked part time at a local produce
(05:21):
market not far from her home. She was always polite,
always composed, never in a rush, and Linda didn't have
many friends outside of the Amish community. In fact, she
had never had a boyfriend that wasn't unusual for a
young woman her age and burden hand, where courtship was
often slow and carefully considered, sometimes taking place during church gatherings.
(05:44):
She was active in her church and her youth group.
Friends described Linda as obedient and modest, somebody who always
followed the rules, someone who would never take unnecessary risks
or draw unwanted attention. There was a deep rooted history
to the Stultstru's name in Lancaster County. Linda was a
descendant of Christian Stultzfus, a man who immigrated from Germany
(06:06):
in the seventeen hundreds and helped to establish the Amish
settlements that still exist today. The legacy was strong generations
of farmers, craftsmen, and homemakers who had held fast to
their beliefs in the face of a changing world. Linda
was a part of that legacy, and she embraced it fully.
(06:34):
The sun rose over the fields of Bird in Hand
on the twenty first of June twenty and twenty. It
was a regular Sunday, like so many others in the
quiet Amish torn Inside the Stultsfu's home on Beechdale Road,
Linda began her morning routine. She cleaned herself up and
then dressed in her usual attire, a simple tand dress,
(06:55):
a white apron tied carefully at the waist and a
crisp white cape over her shoulders. Her hair, which was
always neatly parted in the middle and twisted into a bun,
was hidden beneath her prayer covering. After quiet breakfast with
her family, Linda stepped outside. Sunday in the Amish community
isn't just a day of rest. It's sacred. It's a
(07:19):
time for reflection, for scripture, for togetherness. Every other Sunday,
Amish families take turns hosting church services in their homes.
On this day, the service was being held in a
farmhouse along Stumptown Road, just under two miles away. It
was a familiar walk for Linda. It was peaceful and scenic,
(07:40):
with sprawling fields of corn and wild floors on either side,
and the occasional boggy rattling past. Linda arrived for the service, which,
like all Amish worship, was long and traditional, conducted in
Pennsylvanian Dutch, with men and women seated separately on backless
wooden benches. After the hymn and prayers, a communal meal
(08:01):
followed Lilian Ebersol, who was a friend of Linda's, remembered
that they stayed behind to help with the clean up,
quietly washing dishes and chatting in the kitchen, as they
had done many times before. Once the dishes were done,
the two girls stepped outside and stood near the barn.
Linda mentioned that she was heading home to change into
(08:21):
more comfortable clothing and grabbed the dessert she had baked
the night before. She wanted to bring it along to
youth group. She'd been looking forward to it. Youth group
ran from two pm until laid into the night, sometimes
until eleven pm, offering a rare space for young Amish
people to socialize, sing and share food under supervision. Lilian
(08:45):
watched as Linda said off barefoot with her shoes in
her hand, something which was a common practice among the Amish,
especially on warmer days. Linda appeared to be in good spirits.
There was no indication, none at all, that anything was wrong.
She didn't mention stopping anywhere on her way home. She
simply said goodbye and walked away. That was the last
(09:09):
time anybody ever saw Linda. Ours passed. The afternoon slipped
into evening, and the Stultschoot's family sat down to dinner
without Linda. It was expected, after all, youth group often
ran laid into the night. Still. When eleven pm came
and went and there was still no sign of her,
her parents became concerned. Her father, Lloyd, went into her bedroom.
(09:33):
It was empty. Her church clothing was nowhere to be found.
The dessert still sat in the kitchen. He knew then,
without a doubt, that Linda had never made it back
home after church. But he knew of routine. He knew
she liked to change out of her church clothing before
youth group. Without waiting, Lloyd stepped out into the darkness
(09:54):
and began retracing his daughter's route. With his flashlight in
his hand, he walked theak quiet rural roads, calling out
his daughter's name into the night. The sky was black,
it fields silent. There was no sign of Linda. No
movement in the hedgerows, no flicker over white cape in
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(11:23):
to her friends. One by one. They confirmed what he
had already feared. Linda had been at church that morning,
but she never arrived at youth group. Some assumed she'd
fallen ill and stayed home. It hadn't seemed suspicious at
the time, but now it was clear something was wrong.
(11:43):
At around two thirty a m. Lloyd made contact with
the police to report his daughter missing. Officer Nathan Westerman
responded to the Famili's home. Lloyd explained that Linda had
left church around twelve thirty PM to walk back home,
that she was supposed to go to youth group, that
she never showed, that her usual clothing was missing. The
(12:04):
search began in those early morning hours. As Westerman and
his team moved quietly to canvas the area. They spoke
to neighbors, family members, and fellow churchgoers. Lillian Ebersol told
them that she and Linda had lingered after the service
to do the dishes. She said they chatted and that
Linda had walked away barefoot, heading home as she always did.
(12:27):
She'd seemed perfectly fine, normal, happy, but somewhere along that familiar,
well trodden path between Stumptown Road and Beach Deeal, Linda vanished.
By sunrise the next morning, the rolling farmland of Bird
(12:49):
in Hand was transformed into a search grid. Word had
spread like wildfire. One of their own was missing, and
in the Amish community where everyone knows each other and
the pace of life is slow and intentional. A disappearance
like this felt almost unimaginable. The response was immediate and overwhelming.
The Amish, the Mennonites, and even those outside of the
(13:11):
plain communities gathered in droves, united by a single mission
to find Linda. The narrow roads were on Stumpton and
Beach deal swelled with volunteers. The searchers walked in lines
through the endless rows of corn, their voices calling out
Linda's name again and again. The terrain was vast and varied.
(13:31):
Fields stretched on for miles, dotted with patches of thick
brush and small winding streams. Every waterway and hedgerow was checked.
They scarred barns, sheds and overgrown trails. Nothing was too
remote and nothing was overlooked. As the day wore, all
law enforcement escalated their efforts. Police closed off stretches of
(13:54):
road and upper Leacock Township by six thirteen. By six
thirty pm, fifteen horseesders were dispatched to reach areas that
were too difficult to access. On fifth, tracking dogs were
then brought in. Noses loaded the ground, sniffing through grass
and gravel, looking for the faintest trace But as the
(14:14):
sun dipped low in the sky, no sign of Linda
had surfaced, not a scrap of clothing, not a footprint,
nothing that could indicate where she had gone. At round
eight pm, the community gathered once more, not to search,
but to pray. The vigil was held along North Ronx Road,
the same road that Linda would have walked. One man
(14:37):
stood to speak and said, you know what is going
on today? We declare your good and your God. Another
looked out at the horizon where the sun was setting
in vibrant streaks of crimson and gold, and quietly said
that it was a sign from God. Meanwhile, Linda's family
set up a Facebook page to coordinate efforts and share updates,
(14:59):
then encourage compassion in calm, welcoming thoughts and prayer, but
asked people to avoid speculation. Their pain was raw and
the rumors only made it worse. From the very beginning,
the theory was grim. Something bad had happened to Linda.
She hadn't simply wandered off. People in the Amish community
sometimes do leave. They might feel pulled by the outside
(15:22):
world by freedom, technology, romance, but those departures aren't usually silent.
There are often signs, but Linda had shown none of them.
Shouldn't have a cell phone, no computer, no boyfriend, shouldn't
even have friends outside of the Amish community, and she
had no secret life, at least none that anybody knew of.
(15:43):
Her world was small by design, but it was one
that made her deeply happy. One family friend said she
was a sweet, quiet girl who never put herself in
a troublesome situation. Were shocked her even leaving without informing
anybody where she was going as out of character. This
is all out of character, the police agreed. Officer Matt
(16:06):
Hess addressed the public steering shouldn't indicate to anybody that
she wanted to go and take a trip. So it's
very out of character for Linda to do this. So
it changed the circumstances in the sense that there was
no pre planned events or reasons for her not to
come back home. By the next day, the FBI had
joined the search. Whatever had happened to Linda, it was
(16:29):
no longer just a local mystery. It had become something
much bigger and much darker. The days passed achingly slow
for Linda's family. Each morning brought new hope, and each
(16:50):
night now dread awake could slip by and still there
was no sign of Linda. Tips came in steadily. People
thought that they'd seen Linda, or maybe a car that
didn't belong in that part of town. Investigators followed every
lead with urgency, but each one only led to the
same place, a dead end. In the second week of
(17:13):
the investigation, detective shifted focus. They released a request to
the public. If you were in the area of Mill
Creek Road, Stumptown, Gibbons Beach Deal or Mill Creek Roads
on the day that Linda disappeared, sometime between eight am
and four pm, they needed to hear from you. The
goal was to narrow down Linda's movements to find somebody
(17:35):
who may have seen something, anything that could break the
case open. Meanwhile, the emotional toll on the community deepened.
Each night people gathered to pray, and it wasn't just
the Amish men and night families and even those without
faith showed up with candles and heavy hearts. Linda's uncle, MERVH.
(17:56):
Fisher put it best when he said, it's more than
I've seen in my forty years. It's brought the outside
English and Mennonite and Amish communities together in a way
I've never seen. As part of the evolving investigation, the
FBI created a composite image showing what Linda might look
like with her haird on and dressed in modern clothing.
(18:17):
It was a heartbreaking glimpse into another version of Linda,
one her community had never seen, but one the outside
world might recognize. To generate more leads, the FBI offered
a ten thousand dollar reward not just for information leading
to Linda's recovery, but for any information that could lead
to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible, because
(18:39):
by now they were certain Linda had been abducted. And
then a tip came in. Isaac Ash, a local man
who lived on Stumptown Road, recalled something odd around twelve
thirty p m. Just after Linda would have left the church.
He was sitting on his front porch when a red
Sadam passed by, heading east. The car had come from
(19:01):
the direction of the church, and strangely, it turned around
a red lane. The car paused just for a moment
before heading back. The wet came now driving west back
towards the church. Isaac described the driver as a white
man with dark hair, but he noticed that the man's
skin was darker in tone. He was maybe Hispanic. He
(19:24):
thought the driver's behavior was odd. Isaac thought the way
he turned around like he'd seen something or someone. Could
he have spotted Linda walking alone? Investigators thought so. Then
came another sighting, this time on Amish Road and Gap
around one p m on the day that Linda vanished.
(19:47):
Sarah and Isaac Sutzfuz were walking together when they noticed
a red car driving north. On the passenger side was
a young Amish woman. She was wearing a white apron
and a black black head covering traditional church attire. Sarah
instinctively waved, as was custom, but the woman didn't wave back. Instead,
(20:09):
she looked at Sarah. Her expression haunted her. She looked
at me with pleading eyes. Sarah recalled at the time,
she thought that it was strange. After seeing photographs of Linda,
she was convinced that the woman in the car was her.
Other members of the Amish community came forward with similar sightings.
(20:30):
A red car, an Amish girl, a man white or
possibly Hispanic, behind the wheel. The girl always in church
clothing and always something felt off. The detail that bothered
many was that it was highly unusual to see an
Amish woman in a car while dressed in her Sunday best.
Something about it felt wrong. Detectives combed through surveillance footage
(20:54):
from the area, and at one pm they found it.
They saw a red sedan driving south on Beechdale Road,
coming from the direction of Stumptown. The footage was grainy,
but when the FBI enhanced it, they noticed something chilling,
A pale object in the front passenger seat. It was
shaped like a person. Detectives believed that it was Linda.
(21:19):
They analyzed every single frame. The vehicle was identified as
a second generation Kie Rio. It had a distinctive spoiler
and several stickers on the truck. It was the wreck
that they needed when they ran the license plate. The
search led to a man, Justo Smoker. Justo Smoker was
(21:45):
a thirty four year old Hispanic man with black hair,
a mustache and beard. His early years had been marked
by tragedy. As a child, he was found on the
streets of Costa Rica. His biological parents would leave him
and his brother alone for weeks at a time. The
young boys often stole food as a means to survive.
(22:06):
He was placed in an orphanage, where he suffered horrific abuse,
both physical and sexual. While there, his biological mother died. Eventually,
he and his brother were adopted by a couple in
the United States in hopes of a new beginning. At first,
it seemed like he might overcome his traumatic start. Smoker
excelled at restling in high school. He earned a three
(22:29):
point zero GPA and even secured a spot on the
Lancaster Lebanon Wrestling All Stars team in two thousand and three,
but the promise didn't last. By two thousand and five,
he had turned to a life of crime. In two
thousand and six, he and his brother Victor went on
a violent spray, committing a string of armed robberies, using
a bb gun to hold up four different businesses. Smoker
(22:53):
was sentenced to twelve and a half to thirty years
in prison. During the trial, his attorney spoke of his
troubled childhood the abuse he injured. Smoker himself said to
the judge, they raised me better than this. I'm sorry
for what I did, and the people I heard, including
my family. His adoptive father, was less forgiving. He said
(23:14):
that Smoker had been trouble from the very start. After
serving nearly the minimum of his sentence, Smoker was released
on February twenty eighth, twenty nineteen, but freedom brought no redemption.
Smoker struggled to stay sober. His sister died shortly after
he was released, sending him into spiral. He drank heavily,
(23:36):
sometimes to the point of blacking out, waking up at
home with no memory of how he'd gotten there. It
was in this fractured state of existence that Smoker came
on to law enforcement's radar after identifying the red Carey.
When the surveillance footage, detectives tracked the vehicle the dutch
Land Incorporated, a business in Gap, Pennsylvania, where Smoker worked.
(23:59):
In the parking lot, they observed the car closely. It
matched the description exactly, a second generation Kia Rio missing
its front passenger hub cab with the visible damage to
the passenger side panel, but they didn't have enough evidence
for a search warrant, so they watched. When Smoker left work,
(24:19):
detectives followed. He drove north on SR. Forty one, then
west onto Lincoln Highway, pulling briefly into the parking lot
of a Bird in Hand window showroom. Then he headed
towards a cluster of apartments near three two five O
Lincoln Highway. Detectives learned that this was where he lived.
(24:39):
The next day they knocked on his door. Smoker let
them in. He said he didn't know anybody named Blinda.
He claimed he hadn't been anywhere near Beech Steel Road
the day she vanished, but detectives knew that he was lying.
They had surveillance footage that placed him on Beech Steel Road,
the very area Linda was last seen around the the
(25:00):
same times she vanished. But with no body, no physical evidence,
and only a vague siding from grainy footage, they couldn't
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Soon they came across some new evidence footage from a
resident named Scott Bociane who lived along Beachdale Road. The
(26:30):
video was timestamped twelve thirty six pm. It showed Smoker's
red Kia turning off Beachdale Road and pulling to the
west side, just out of camera view. Minutes earlier, at
twelve thirty pm, a woman who was believed to be Linda,
was captured walking south on Beachdale Road. Then another figure
(26:52):
entered the frame. It was a man, and detectives believed
it was just a Smoker. He walked directly towards Linda.
Then there was movement sudden and quick. It looked as
though he placed something over her head and grabbed her.
The two figures then moved off camera towards the west
(27:13):
side of the road, right where Smoker's vehicle had just parked.
Moments later, the Kia rail was seen driving away. While
the footage was blurry, there was a pale shape in
the passenger seat, something white. It was Linda. Detectives continued
(27:39):
to investigate Justo Smoker as a person of interest in
Linda's disappearance. Their minds turned back to a tip they
had received just two days after she vanished, a report
of a suspicious red vehicle parked behind a business at
three one oh four Harvest Drive in Ronks. It was
a red Kia and it had the same license plate
(28:00):
as Justo Smoker's car. According to the tipster, a hispanic
Meal had exited the car, looked into the building's windows
and doors, and then drove off. But he wasn't gone
for long. He came back. This time he backed the
Kia into a space beside the railroad tracks that bordered
a wooded area. It was secluded, isolated, the perfect place
(28:21):
to hide something or someone. Detectives now believed that Justo
Smoker had returned to Harvest Drive to dispose of Linda's body.
They launched a search of the area, sailing it off
with crime scene tape and beginning a slow, methodical sweep
of the woods behind the building. It didn't take long
before they spotted something. About forty yards into the trees.
(28:44):
They noticed disturbed soil hidden in the thick vegetation, as
though somebody had tried to camouflage it carefully. They began
to dig. Just sixty eight inches beneath the surface, detectives
unearthed women's clothing, a white bra, and a pair of
dark colored footstockings knodded together. Linda's family confirmed the items
(29:07):
likely belonged to her. The bra was her size and style.
As for the stockings, Linda had a habit of tying
them together and carrying them barefoot as she walked home.
Not far from the makeshift burial site, two logs had
been arranged in a V shape. When detectives rolled them over,
they made another disturbing discovery. A white plastic siptie that
(29:29):
had been cut. The evidence was growing, and with it
the urgency detectives brought in a cadaver dog to search
the area, but the dog didn't pick up any scent
of human remains. Still, the presence of Linda's clothing, deliberately
hidden and buried was enough. Later that day, just so
Smoker was arrested. He was charged with felony kidnapping and
(29:51):
misdemeanor false imprisonment. The judge ordered that he beheld without bail.
With smokering custody, detectives turned their attent to his digital footprint.
They had now secured a warrant for his phone records.
They founded between one pm and three pm on the
day that Linda disappeared, Smoker had exchanged fifteen messages with
(30:12):
his brother Victor, text and multimedia messages, many of them
sent while he was in the area where Linda had
last been seen. Cell tower data also placed his phone
in the vicinity of the abduction. Then it showed movement.
Smoker drove into the dense, isolated Welsh Mountain area, a
place full of herveins, thick underbrush, and little foot traffic.
(30:37):
After that, he headed to harvest drive. The evidence was pointing
to a chilling conclusion. Just A Smoker hadn't been in
the wrong place at the wrong time. He'd been stalking
the Amish community. As the investigation continued, more Amish women
came forward. They told detectives about a man in a
red car, a Kia with a missing hub and dented rufe,
(31:01):
who had followed them as they walked along rural roads.
He would slow down, circle back linger. It appeared that
Smoker had been hunting for a victim, and on that
summer afternoon, he found one. Detectives now strongly believed that
(31:26):
Linda was no longer alive. The case had shifted from
a desperate search for a missing person to a recovery mission.
At a press conference held alongside the FBI and Pennsylvania
State Police, Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams confirmed the
community's worst fears. She had told reporters that they had
(31:47):
no reason to believe that Linda had entered Justo Smoker's
vehicle willingly. She said that Linda had most likely suffered harm.
Her words devastated the community, especially the Amash. They were peaceful,
private and law abiding people. The Amish were known for
living simple, quiet lives, largely untouched by the violence of
(32:09):
the outside world. Now that innocence had been shattered, Lieutenant
Matt Hess voiced what many were thinking when he said,
I mean, what have the Amish ever done to anyone?
Violent crime in Lancaster County's Amish population was rare, but
it wasn't unheard of. Mark Ludan, a professor at the
(32:30):
University of Wisconsin Madison who studied the Amish, explained that
while internal Amish disputes occasionally arise, violence from outsiders, who
are referred to as the English, was uncommon, although not unprecedented.
Most incidents involving the Amish and outsiders tend to be
pranks or property crimes pumpkins thrown at buggy's, theft, buggy
(32:53):
vehicle accidents, that this was something far more sinister. Mark
de Wall, a professor specialized saying in Amish education, noted
that most crimes against the Amish were non violent. Linda's
disappearance and presumed murder was a dark exception. The fallout
was immediate. In the quiet village of Bird in Hand,
(33:14):
fear took root. Amish families stopped walking alone. They implemented
a body system trust in the outside world. The English
was shaken. Local residents Scott Pokey and put it plainly,
a lot of people take advantage of the Amish from
what I see. Another neighbor, Susan Stauffer added, it grips
(33:36):
your heart because it's right in my neighborhood. To think
an eighteen year old girl was missing from here was
very emotional. This search was just different because it was
so close to home and because of the community. It
hit The Amish lay of a very upright life. I
think a lot of them don't know what goes on
in the world. But even in the face of such darkness,
there was light. In a show of solidarity and lafe
(34:00):
of thousands gathered for a prayer ride to honor Linda
and support her grieving family, who were asked to where
her favorite color. Yellow Cars and motorcycles adorned with yellow
bandanas and flags filled the lot at Ephrata Community Church.
There were people from all across the country, strangers united
by sorrow, compassion and hope. A moment of silence was
(34:24):
held before the event began. Then a thirty mile caravan
wound its way through Lancaster County, ending in Bird in Hand,
the very community Linda had called home. Brandon Vale, one
of the organizers of the event, stood in awe. He said,
I had no idea it would grow this big at all.
(34:53):
At the start of August, a preliminary hearing was held
to determine whether there was enough evidence to send Justo
Smoker to trial. His defense attorney, Christopher Talrico, tried to
poke holes in the prosecution's case. He argued that the
surveillance footage showing Linda's abduction was essentially meaningless, just pixels,
he said. He insisted that there was no way to
(35:14):
prove that the figures in the video were Linda and Smoker,
but detectives had more than just pixels. Detective Christopher Jones
testified that everything had pointed to one tragic conclusion. Linda
was dead. There'd be no activity on her bank account
and no travel records, and Linda, he pointed out, didn't
(35:35):
even have an idea. She wouldn't have been able to
use mass transit or check into a hotel. She had
simply vanished. He spoke gently about Linda's life. She was nice, caring,
and always wanted to know about other people. He told
the court everybody close to her said the same thing.
She was happy, She had no problems at home, no
(35:56):
reason to run away. After the hearing, the job ruled
that Justo Smoker would stand trial. Then, on the twentieth
of August, attention turned to the rugged, wooded terrain of
Welsh Mountain. Justice. Smoker's cell phone data had placed him
in the area after Linda's abduction, and it now became
the focus of an intensive search. Hundreds of volunteer showed up.
(36:19):
Some brought macheres to cut through the thick summer brush.
The sun was brutal, temperatures meares, but the community was determined.
Search teams were assigned gread patterns mapped with special software.
They used surveyor's tape to mark areas and log their
progress in meticulous detail. Those who could enjoin the search
(36:40):
helped in other ways. They made sandwiches, handed out bottles
of water, and served hot meals at Ridgeview men a
night church, which had become the command center. But after
two full days, the forest had given up no answers.
I was hoping for today, I really was, said searcher
Bill Hamburger. Even as the search dragged on Justo Smoker
(37:02):
made his next move. He waved his arrayment and pleaded
not guilty to kidnapping and false imprisonment. Then in December,
the case took another sharp turn. Smoker was officially charged
with Linda's murder. More evidence against him had been uncovered
to warrant the charge. His DNA had been found on
(37:22):
Linda's stockings, the same ones buried in the woods near
Harvest Drive, and cel phone records revealed something else. In
the days following the abduction, Smucker had returned to that
same spot multiple times. District Attorney Heather Adams announced the
new charges and said, given the circumstances of Linda's disappearance,
(37:44):
specifically a forceful abduction by a stranger, we always feared
the worst. But the search for Linda's body was not
yet over. Behind the scenes, a plea deal was being discussed.
(38:04):
Justo Smoker agreed to lead investigators to Linda's body on
one condition, the death penalty would be taken off the table.
In late April, he made good on that deal. With
the detectives at his side, he led them to a
wooded area off Route forty one, land that is owned
by Dutchland Incorporated, where he had once worked, just beyond
(38:26):
the railroad tracks. He pointed to a mound of dirt.
Detectives began to dig about forty two inches down. Something
shiny caught the light. It was a torp. They carefully
peeled it back, and inside they found the badly decomposed
body of Linda. She was still wearing the same dress
(38:46):
and bonnet she had on the day she vanished. Her
hands and fate had been bound. Her sash and apron
were wrapped tightly around her neck. A strip of dark
tape stretched across her mouth from cheek to chain. Smoker
admitted that he had originally buried Linda closer to her home,
near where her bra and stockings were found, but moved
(39:08):
her after her disappearance had made the news. Linda had
been strangled. She had also been stobbed in the neck
while she was still alive. The wound had caused her
to bleed into her suffolcus. There were also injuries that
were consistent with sexual assault. The pathologist said, we can't.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
Narrow window to hours or even a day or two,
but we can tell you that based on the state
of her body, that is very consistent with the death
that occurred ten months ago.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
For Linda's family, it was the final confirmation of a
horror they had long feared. Her uncle Mervin said, all
of us have been hoping for closure. It's not the
news we wanted. Progress is moving forward to bring Linda
to rest. That afternoon, the district Attorney held a press conference.
Speaker 3 (39:57):
Investigators have reason to believe that Smoker originally killed Linda
within hours of her kidnapping on June twenty first, and
buried her behind the business on Harvest Drive in Ronx,
where Linda's stockings and bras had previously been discovered and
where Smoker's car had been seen.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
On April twenty sixth, ten months after Linda was taken,
she was finally relaid to rest. Sixty nine horse drawn
buggies formed a solemn procession to Myers Cemetery on East
Ebey Road, not far from where Linda had been kidnapped.
A few SUVs followed behind. Police had closed the road
(40:37):
to make way. It was a private ceremony, symbol and serene.
Much like Linda, Amish funerals are quiet, under stated affairs.
There's no flowers, no eulogies, no long sermons. There's just hymned.
In scripture, death is accepted as part of God's will,
but that didn't make it any easier. Linda was then
(41:00):
buried by hand in a pine coffin made without nails.
Her community broken but together, stood silently watching as the
earth was returned to the grave. Linda Stulfuz was finally home.
(41:26):
On the twenty third of July twenty twenty one, JUSTO
Smoker stood before the court one last time. He pleaded
guilty to third degree murder, kidnapping, and several other offenses.
In a quiet, emotionless voice, he admitted that he had
strangled Linda, first with his arm, then with his shoelaces,
before stabbing her once in the neck. Although Linda's injuries
(41:49):
were consistent with the sexual assault, Smoker denied that he
had raped there. Judge David Ashworth accepted the plea. He
acknowledged that it was not justice in its fullest form,
but it was something. Without the plea dea, Linda's body
may have never been recovered. Without it, there would be
no certainty, no resolution. With it. Smoker would be held accountable,
(42:12):
the community would be protected, and Linda's loved ones would
be given a measure of peace. He looked directly at
Smoker and stated, you are a predator of the worst kind,
an extreme danger to the community. Then Samuel Blank stepped
forward to deliver a victim impact statement on behalf of
Linda's family and the wider Amish community. He spoke with grace,
(42:36):
but there was no mistaking the weight of grief in
his voice. He said that Linda's murder had shaken their
peaceful world. It had introduced fear, suspicion, and sorrow into
a community where those things had never belonged. I believe
we were all Stoltzfooses that day, he said. He spoke
about Linda's role as the firstborn, the one who should
(42:59):
have been courted, married, become a mother, at grandmother. Those
chapters of her life would now remain unwritten. Then he
spoke of forgiveness, not as a failing, but as a choice,
as something rooted in their Christian faith. He stated, the
family and the community can and will forgive you justo
(43:21):
For some, it will come easy. For others, it will
take time and work. That his family had not come
to court not because they were unwilling to forgive, but
because the pain was still too raw. Smoger's defense attorney,
Christopher Tallerichoo, addressed the court. Next. He painted a portrait
of a man that was broken long before the crime.
(43:42):
He spoke of Smoker's childhood trauma, abuse, the loss of
his mother and sister, and a long battle with alcoholism.
He said that Smoker had been drinking heavily the weekend
he abducted Linda. He had brought there in a convenience
store just before he took her. Said that there is
no logical explanation for what he did. Next to this day,
(44:05):
he wishes he could take it all back. Smoker was
then given the chance to speak. He stood in silence
for several seconds, his head bowed. He finally said, I
thought I would know what to say. But what words
can I say? Other than I am sorry? To Linda's family,
(44:25):
to the community, to my supporters. I am sorry. I
robbed the family of time and memories. All I can
say is I'm sorry. He called Linda a light and
said that because of him, the world was now dimmer.
He then turned to his adoptive father and biological brother
and said, I was raised better than this, I am
(44:48):
better than this. I was loved better than this. I'm sorry.
The judge then handed down the sentence thirty five and
a half to seventy one years in prison. An additional
seventeen years were tacked on for violating his parole outside
the courtroom. District Attorney Heather Adams called it what it was.
(45:11):
This is effectively a life sentence for Smoker. Well, Bessie's
(45:38):
That is it for this episode of Morbidology. As always,
thank you so much for listening, and I'd like to
say a massive thank you to my new supporters up
on Patreon, Phoenix, Bred, Lisa, Laura and Whitney. Your support
seriously goes such a long way, and I am eternally grateful.
The link to Paedreon is in the show notes if
you'd like to join us up on there. In exchange
for your support, I upload adfree in early release episode.
(46:00):
It's behind the scenes, and there's also a bunch of
bonus episodes of Morbidology plus that aren't on the regular
podcast platforms. I'm hoping to get some more bonus episodes
writtenam recorded over the next six months, but I'm still
playing catch up from Eternity Leaf. But keep your eyes
peeled for those of your upper patron Morbidology is now
up on YouTube. If you'd like to go and hit
(46:21):
that subscribe button, I would be eternally grateful. Remember to
checks out at morbidology dot com for more information about
this episode and to read some Trick Grim articles. Until
next time, take care of yourselves, stay safe, and have
an amazing week.
We can't narrow window to hours or even a day
or two, but we can tell you that based on
the state of her body, that is very consistent with
the death that occurred ten months ago.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Tucked away in the ruling farmlands of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
lies a small picturesque village called Bird in High. It's
a place where time feels like it has paused, where
horse drawn buggies click clubbed down narrow country roads. Fields
stretch out in neat, symmetrical rows, plowed not by machines
but by teams of horses. In Bird in Hand, the
pace of life is a little slower, more deliberate, and
(01:16):
deeply rooted in tradition. The Quieton is home to one
of the most well known Amish communities in the United States.
The Amish here live much as their ancestors did, guided
by a strict interpretation of Christian doctrine and a desired
remain separate from the modern world. Electricity, cars and even
zippers are shunned. Instead. Amish families in Bird in Hand
(01:39):
rely on gas lamps, woodstows, and simple handmade garments. The Ordnung,
which is a set of unwritten but strictly followed rules
governs every aspect of their lives, from the clothes they
wear to how they worship. Faith, humility, and community are
the cornerstone of Amish life. They believe in living simply,
avoiding prize and vanity and putting the needs of the
(02:01):
group above the individual. Most speak Pennsylvanian Dutch at home,
a dialect of German, and gather each Sunday in each
other's homes for worship services that can go on for ours.
Education ends after the eighth grade, and from there children
are expected to learn through doing helping on the farm,
in the home, or within the family business. Bird in Hand
(02:22):
itself is more than just a postcard perfect town. It's
a close knit community where pretty much everybody knows one another.
Many families have lived on the same land for generations,
passing dawn not only property but values, customs in a
way of life that has remained largely unchanged for over
three hundred years. It's a place where doors are rarely locked,
(02:44):
where trust runs stape, and where crime is almost unheard of.
But even in a place as peaceful as Bird in Hand,
darkness can still find a way in, and when it does,
it shakes this quiet world to its very core. Living
(03:14):
among the carefully tended farms and winding country lanes of
bird in hand with eighteen year old Linda Stultfuss, she
lived with her parents and eight siblings in a modest
farmhouse on Beechdale Road, a narrow stretch of land that
winds through the heart of Amish country. The Stultzfoo's home,
like so many others in the area, was set back
(03:34):
from the road, surrounded by neat fields. A horse drawn
buggy was almost always parked in the driveway. The Stultsfoots
family belonged to the Old Order Amish, a more conservative
sect within the already traditional Amish community. For the Old Order,
life is centered on humility, discipline, and detachment from the
outside world. They don't use electricity from the grid and
(03:58):
they avoid personal cars. Cel phones, televisions, and computers are
unheard of. But it's not out of fear or distrust
of technology itself. For the Amish, the concern is deeper.
It's about preserving community in preventing individualism from unraveling the
close knit social fabric that binds their world together. The
(04:18):
idea is simple, but profound. Technology if it promotes vanity, laziness,
or excessive interaction with the outside world. It's better left untouched,
and Linda embodied the values of her community with grace.
She lived a simple, purposeful life. She was a soft
spoken young woman who was deeply devoted to her family
(04:39):
and her faith. She often rose before sunrise to help
with the household chores or with her younger siblings. Her
days always followed the quiet rhythms of Amish life, cooking, sewing,
reading scripture, and preparing meals from scratch. Blinda also had
a giving heart, one that extended far beyond her own home.
(05:01):
She volunteered her time trutoring children who struggled with learning disorders.
She had a gentle way with people, especially with the
young and the vulnerable. Those who knew Linda said that
she had a calming presence, someone who listened more than
she spoke, somebody who never raised her voice. When she
wasn't tutoring, Linda worked part time at a local produce
(05:21):
market not far from her home. She was always polite,
always composed, never in a rush, and Linda didn't have
many friends outside of the Amish community. In fact, she
had never had a boyfriend that wasn't unusual for a
young woman her age and burden hand, where courtship was
often slow and carefully considered, sometimes taking place during church gatherings.
(05:44):
She was active in her church and her youth group.
Friends described Linda as obedient and modest, somebody who always
followed the rules, someone who would never take unnecessary risks
or draw unwanted attention. There was a deep rooted history
to the Stultstru's name in Lancaster County. Linda was a
descendant of Christian Stultzfus, a man who immigrated from Germany
(06:06):
in the seventeen hundreds and helped to establish the Amish
settlements that still exist today. The legacy was strong generations
of farmers, craftsmen, and homemakers who had held fast to
their beliefs in the face of a changing world. Linda
was a part of that legacy, and she embraced it fully.
(06:34):
The sun rose over the fields of Bird in Hand
on the twenty first of June twenty and twenty. It
was a regular Sunday, like so many others in the
quiet Amish torn Inside the Stultsfu's home on Beechdale Road,
Linda began her morning routine. She cleaned herself up and
then dressed in her usual attire, a simple tand dress,
(06:55):
a white apron tied carefully at the waist and a
crisp white cape over her shoulders. Her hair, which was
always neatly parted in the middle and twisted into a bun,
was hidden beneath her prayer covering. After quiet breakfast with
her family, Linda stepped outside. Sunday in the Amish community
isn't just a day of rest. It's sacred. It's a
(07:19):
time for reflection, for scripture, for togetherness. Every other Sunday,
Amish families take turns hosting church services in their homes.
On this day, the service was being held in a
farmhouse along Stumptown Road, just under two miles away. It
was a familiar walk for Linda. It was peaceful and scenic,
(07:40):
with sprawling fields of corn and wild floors on either side,
and the occasional boggy rattling past. Linda arrived for the service, which,
like all Amish worship, was long and traditional, conducted in
Pennsylvanian Dutch, with men and women seated separately on backless
wooden benches. After the hymn and prayers, a communal meal
(08:01):
followed Lilian Ebersol, who was a friend of Linda's, remembered
that they stayed behind to help with the clean up,
quietly washing dishes and chatting in the kitchen, as they
had done many times before. Once the dishes were done,
the two girls stepped outside and stood near the barn.
Linda mentioned that she was heading home to change into
(08:21):
more comfortable clothing and grabbed the dessert she had baked
the night before. She wanted to bring it along to
youth group. She'd been looking forward to it. Youth group
ran from two pm until laid into the night, sometimes
until eleven pm, offering a rare space for young Amish
people to socialize, sing and share food under supervision. Lilian
(08:45):
watched as Linda said off barefoot with her shoes in
her hand, something which was a common practice among the Amish,
especially on warmer days. Linda appeared to be in good spirits.
There was no indication, none at all, that anything was wrong.
She didn't mention stopping anywhere on her way home. She
simply said goodbye and walked away. That was the last
(09:09):
time anybody ever saw Linda. Ours passed. The afternoon slipped
into evening, and the Stultschoot's family sat down to dinner
without Linda. It was expected, after all, youth group often
ran laid into the night. Still. When eleven pm came
and went and there was still no sign of her,
her parents became concerned. Her father, Lloyd, went into her bedroom.
(09:33):
It was empty. Her church clothing was nowhere to be found.
The dessert still sat in the kitchen. He knew then,
without a doubt, that Linda had never made it back
home after church. But he knew of routine. He knew
she liked to change out of her church clothing before
youth group. Without waiting, Lloyd stepped out into the darkness
(09:54):
and began retracing his daughter's route. With his flashlight in
his hand, he walked theak quiet rural roads, calling out
his daughter's name into the night. The sky was black,
it fields silent. There was no sign of Linda. No
movement in the hedgerows, no flicker over white cape in
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(11:23):
to her friends. One by one. They confirmed what he
had already feared. Linda had been at church that morning,
but she never arrived at youth group. Some assumed she'd
fallen ill and stayed home. It hadn't seemed suspicious at
the time, but now it was clear something was wrong.
(11:43):
At around two thirty a m. Lloyd made contact with
the police to report his daughter missing. Officer Nathan Westerman
responded to the Famili's home. Lloyd explained that Linda had
left church around twelve thirty PM to walk back home,
that she was supposed to go to youth group, that
she never showed, that her usual clothing was missing. The
(12:04):
search began in those early morning hours. As Westerman and
his team moved quietly to canvas the area. They spoke
to neighbors, family members, and fellow churchgoers. Lillian Ebersol told
them that she and Linda had lingered after the service
to do the dishes. She said they chatted and that
Linda had walked away barefoot, heading home as she always did.
(12:27):
She'd seemed perfectly fine, normal, happy, but somewhere along that familiar,
well trodden path between Stumptown Road and Beach Deeal, Linda vanished.
By sunrise the next morning, the rolling farmland of Bird
(12:49):
in Hand was transformed into a search grid. Word had
spread like wildfire. One of their own was missing, and
in the Amish community where everyone knows each other and
the pace of life is slow and intentional. A disappearance
like this felt almost unimaginable. The response was immediate and overwhelming.
The Amish, the Mennonites, and even those outside of the
(13:11):
plain communities gathered in droves, united by a single mission
to find Linda. The narrow roads were on Stumpton and
Beach deal swelled with volunteers. The searchers walked in lines
through the endless rows of corn, their voices calling out
Linda's name again and again. The terrain was vast and varied.
(13:31):
Fields stretched on for miles, dotted with patches of thick
brush and small winding streams. Every waterway and hedgerow was checked.
They scarred barns, sheds and overgrown trails. Nothing was too
remote and nothing was overlooked. As the day wore, all
law enforcement escalated their efforts. Police closed off stretches of
(13:54):
road and upper Leacock Township by six thirteen. By six
thirty pm, fifteen horseesders were dispatched to reach areas that
were too difficult to access. On fifth, tracking dogs were
then brought in. Noses loaded the ground, sniffing through grass
and gravel, looking for the faintest trace But as the
(14:14):
sun dipped low in the sky, no sign of Linda
had surfaced, not a scrap of clothing, not a footprint,
nothing that could indicate where she had gone. At round
eight pm, the community gathered once more, not to search,
but to pray. The vigil was held along North Ronx Road,
the same road that Linda would have walked. One man
(14:37):
stood to speak and said, you know what is going
on today? We declare your good and your God. Another
looked out at the horizon where the sun was setting
in vibrant streaks of crimson and gold, and quietly said
that it was a sign from God. Meanwhile, Linda's family
set up a Facebook page to coordinate efforts and share updates,
(14:59):
then encourage compassion in calm, welcoming thoughts and prayer, but
asked people to avoid speculation. Their pain was raw and
the rumors only made it worse. From the very beginning,
the theory was grim. Something bad had happened to Linda.
She hadn't simply wandered off. People in the Amish community
sometimes do leave. They might feel pulled by the outside
(15:22):
world by freedom, technology, romance, but those departures aren't usually silent.
There are often signs, but Linda had shown none of them.
Shouldn't have a cell phone, no computer, no boyfriend, shouldn't
even have friends outside of the Amish community, and she
had no secret life, at least none that anybody knew of.
(15:43):
Her world was small by design, but it was one
that made her deeply happy. One family friend said she
was a sweet, quiet girl who never put herself in
a troublesome situation. Were shocked her even leaving without informing
anybody where she was going as out of character. This
is all out of character, the police agreed. Officer Matt
(16:06):
Hess addressed the public steering shouldn't indicate to anybody that
she wanted to go and take a trip. So it's
very out of character for Linda to do this. So
it changed the circumstances in the sense that there was
no pre planned events or reasons for her not to
come back home. By the next day, the FBI had
joined the search. Whatever had happened to Linda, it was
(16:29):
no longer just a local mystery. It had become something
much bigger and much darker. The days passed achingly slow
for Linda's family. Each morning brought new hope, and each
(16:50):
night now dread awake could slip by and still there
was no sign of Linda. Tips came in steadily. People
thought that they'd seen Linda, or maybe a car that
didn't belong in that part of town. Investigators followed every
lead with urgency, but each one only led to the
same place, a dead end. In the second week of
(17:13):
the investigation, detective shifted focus. They released a request to
the public. If you were in the area of Mill
Creek Road, Stumptown, Gibbons Beach Deal or Mill Creek Roads
on the day that Linda disappeared, sometime between eight am
and four pm, they needed to hear from you. The
goal was to narrow down Linda's movements to find somebody
(17:35):
who may have seen something, anything that could break the
case open. Meanwhile, the emotional toll on the community deepened.
Each night people gathered to pray, and it wasn't just
the Amish men and night families and even those without
faith showed up with candles and heavy hearts. Linda's uncle, MERVH.
(17:56):
Fisher put it best when he said, it's more than
I've seen in my forty years. It's brought the outside
English and Mennonite and Amish communities together in a way
I've never seen. As part of the evolving investigation, the
FBI created a composite image showing what Linda might look
like with her haird on and dressed in modern clothing.
(18:17):
It was a heartbreaking glimpse into another version of Linda,
one her community had never seen, but one the outside
world might recognize. To generate more leads, the FBI offered
a ten thousand dollar reward not just for information leading
to Linda's recovery, but for any information that could lead
to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible, because
(18:39):
by now they were certain Linda had been abducted. And
then a tip came in. Isaac Ash, a local man
who lived on Stumptown Road, recalled something odd around twelve
thirty p m. Just after Linda would have left the church.
He was sitting on his front porch when a red
Sadam passed by, heading east. The car had come from
(19:01):
the direction of the church, and strangely, it turned around
a red lane. The car paused just for a moment
before heading back. The wet came now driving west back
towards the church. Isaac described the driver as a white
man with dark hair, but he noticed that the man's
skin was darker in tone. He was maybe Hispanic. He
(19:24):
thought the driver's behavior was odd. Isaac thought the way
he turned around like he'd seen something or someone. Could
he have spotted Linda walking alone? Investigators thought so. Then
came another sighting, this time on Amish Road and Gap
around one p m on the day that Linda vanished.
(19:47):
Sarah and Isaac Sutzfuz were walking together when they noticed
a red car driving north. On the passenger side was
a young Amish woman. She was wearing a white apron
and a black black head covering traditional church attire. Sarah
instinctively waved, as was custom, but the woman didn't wave back. Instead,
(20:09):
she looked at Sarah. Her expression haunted her. She looked
at me with pleading eyes. Sarah recalled at the time,
she thought that it was strange. After seeing photographs of Linda,
she was convinced that the woman in the car was her.
Other members of the Amish community came forward with similar sightings.
(20:30):
A red car, an Amish girl, a man white or
possibly Hispanic, behind the wheel. The girl always in church
clothing and always something felt off. The detail that bothered
many was that it was highly unusual to see an
Amish woman in a car while dressed in her Sunday best.
Something about it felt wrong. Detectives combed through surveillance footage
(20:54):
from the area, and at one pm they found it.
They saw a red sedan driving south on Beechdale Road,
coming from the direction of Stumptown. The footage was grainy,
but when the FBI enhanced it, they noticed something chilling,
A pale object in the front passenger seat. It was
shaped like a person. Detectives believed that it was Linda.
(21:19):
They analyzed every single frame. The vehicle was identified as
a second generation Kie Rio. It had a distinctive spoiler
and several stickers on the truck. It was the wreck
that they needed when they ran the license plate. The
search led to a man, Justo Smoker. Justo Smoker was
(21:45):
a thirty four year old Hispanic man with black hair,
a mustache and beard. His early years had been marked
by tragedy. As a child, he was found on the
streets of Costa Rica. His biological parents would leave him
and his brother alone for weeks at a time. The
young boys often stole food as a means to survive.
(22:06):
He was placed in an orphanage, where he suffered horrific abuse,
both physical and sexual. While there, his biological mother died. Eventually,
he and his brother were adopted by a couple in
the United States in hopes of a new beginning. At first,
it seemed like he might overcome his traumatic start. Smoker
excelled at restling in high school. He earned a three
(22:29):
point zero GPA and even secured a spot on the
Lancaster Lebanon Wrestling All Stars team in two thousand and three,
but the promise didn't last. By two thousand and five,
he had turned to a life of crime. In two
thousand and six, he and his brother Victor went on
a violent spray, committing a string of armed robberies, using
a bb gun to hold up four different businesses. Smoker
(22:53):
was sentenced to twelve and a half to thirty years
in prison. During the trial, his attorney spoke of his
troubled childhood the abuse he injured. Smoker himself said to
the judge, they raised me better than this. I'm sorry
for what I did, and the people I heard, including
my family. His adoptive father, was less forgiving. He said
(23:14):
that Smoker had been trouble from the very start. After
serving nearly the minimum of his sentence, Smoker was released
on February twenty eighth, twenty nineteen, but freedom brought no redemption.
Smoker struggled to stay sober. His sister died shortly after
he was released, sending him into spiral. He drank heavily,
(23:36):
sometimes to the point of blacking out, waking up at
home with no memory of how he'd gotten there. It
was in this fractured state of existence that Smoker came
on to law enforcement's radar after identifying the red Carey.
When the surveillance footage, detectives tracked the vehicle the dutch
Land Incorporated, a business in Gap, Pennsylvania, where Smoker worked.
(23:59):
In the parking lot, they observed the car closely. It
matched the description exactly, a second generation Kia Rio missing
its front passenger hub cab with the visible damage to
the passenger side panel, but they didn't have enough evidence
for a search warrant, so they watched. When Smoker left work,
(24:19):
detectives followed. He drove north on SR. Forty one, then
west onto Lincoln Highway, pulling briefly into the parking lot
of a Bird in Hand window showroom. Then he headed
towards a cluster of apartments near three two five O
Lincoln Highway. Detectives learned that this was where he lived.
(24:39):
The next day they knocked on his door. Smoker let
them in. He said he didn't know anybody named Blinda.
He claimed he hadn't been anywhere near Beech Steel Road
the day she vanished, but detectives knew that he was lying.
They had surveillance footage that placed him on Beech Steel Road,
the very area Linda was last seen around the the
(25:00):
same times she vanished. But with no body, no physical evidence,
and only a vague siding from grainy footage, they couldn't
arrest him, so they kept digging. You might be surprised
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Soon they came across some new evidence footage from a
resident named Scott Bociane who lived along Beachdale Road. The
(26:30):
video was timestamped twelve thirty six pm. It showed Smoker's
red Kia turning off Beachdale Road and pulling to the
west side, just out of camera view. Minutes earlier, at
twelve thirty pm, a woman who was believed to be Linda,
was captured walking south on Beachdale Road. Then another figure
(26:52):
entered the frame. It was a man, and detectives believed
it was just a Smoker. He walked directly towards Linda.
Then there was movement sudden and quick. It looked as
though he placed something over her head and grabbed her.
The two figures then moved off camera towards the west
(27:13):
side of the road, right where Smoker's vehicle had just parked.
Moments later, the Kia rail was seen driving away. While
the footage was blurry, there was a pale shape in
the passenger seat, something white. It was Linda. Detectives continued
(27:39):
to investigate Justo Smoker as a person of interest in
Linda's disappearance. Their minds turned back to a tip they
had received just two days after she vanished, a report
of a suspicious red vehicle parked behind a business at
three one oh four Harvest Drive in Ronks. It was
a red Kia and it had the same license plate
(28:00):
as Justo Smoker's car. According to the tipster, a hispanic
Meal had exited the car, looked into the building's windows
and doors, and then drove off. But he wasn't gone
for long. He came back. This time he backed the
Kia into a space beside the railroad tracks that bordered
a wooded area. It was secluded, isolated, the perfect place
(28:21):
to hide something or someone. Detectives now believed that Justo
Smoker had returned to Harvest Drive to dispose of Linda's body.
They launched a search of the area, sailing it off
with crime scene tape and beginning a slow, methodical sweep
of the woods behind the building. It didn't take long
before they spotted something. About forty yards into the trees.
(28:44):
They noticed disturbed soil hidden in the thick vegetation, as
though somebody had tried to camouflage it carefully. They began
to dig. Just sixty eight inches beneath the surface, detectives
unearthed women's clothing, a white bra, and a pair of
dark colored footstockings knodded together. Linda's family confirmed the items
(29:07):
likely belonged to her. The bra was her size and style.
As for the stockings, Linda had a habit of tying
them together and carrying them barefoot as she walked home.
Not far from the makeshift burial site, two logs had
been arranged in a V shape. When detectives rolled them over,
they made another disturbing discovery. A white plastic siptie that
(29:29):
had been cut. The evidence was growing, and with it
the urgency detectives brought in a cadaver dog to search
the area, but the dog didn't pick up any scent
of human remains. Still, the presence of Linda's clothing, deliberately
hidden and buried was enough. Later that day, just so
Smoker was arrested. He was charged with felony kidnapping and
(29:51):
misdemeanor false imprisonment. The judge ordered that he beheld without bail.
With smokering custody, detectives turned their attent to his digital footprint.
They had now secured a warrant for his phone records.
They founded between one pm and three pm on the
day that Linda disappeared, Smoker had exchanged fifteen messages with
(30:12):
his brother Victor, text and multimedia messages, many of them
sent while he was in the area where Linda had
last been seen. Cell tower data also placed his phone
in the vicinity of the abduction. Then it showed movement.
Smoker drove into the dense, isolated Welsh Mountain area, a
place full of herveins, thick underbrush, and little foot traffic.
(30:37):
After that, he headed to harvest drive. The evidence was pointing
to a chilling conclusion. Just A Smoker hadn't been in
the wrong place at the wrong time. He'd been stalking
the Amish community. As the investigation continued, more Amish women
came forward. They told detectives about a man in a
red car, a Kia with a missing hub and dented rufe,
(31:01):
who had followed them as they walked along rural roads.
He would slow down, circle back linger. It appeared that
Smoker had been hunting for a victim, and on that
summer afternoon, he found one. Detectives now strongly believed that
(31:26):
Linda was no longer alive. The case had shifted from
a desperate search for a missing person to a recovery mission.
At a press conference held alongside the FBI and Pennsylvania
State Police, Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams confirmed the
community's worst fears. She had told reporters that they had
(31:47):
no reason to believe that Linda had entered Justo Smoker's
vehicle willingly. She said that Linda had most likely suffered harm.
Her words devastated the community, especially the Amash. They were peaceful,
private and law abiding people. The Amish were known for
living simple, quiet lives, largely untouched by the violence of
(32:09):
the outside world. Now that innocence had been shattered, Lieutenant
Matt Hess voiced what many were thinking when he said,
I mean, what have the Amish ever done to anyone?
Violent crime in Lancaster County's Amish population was rare, but
it wasn't unheard of. Mark Ludan, a professor at the
(32:30):
University of Wisconsin Madison who studied the Amish, explained that
while internal Amish disputes occasionally arise, violence from outsiders, who
are referred to as the English, was uncommon, although not unprecedented.
Most incidents involving the Amish and outsiders tend to be
pranks or property crimes pumpkins thrown at buggy's, theft, buggy
(32:53):
vehicle accidents, that this was something far more sinister. Mark
de Wall, a professor specialized saying in Amish education, noted
that most crimes against the Amish were non violent. Linda's
disappearance and presumed murder was a dark exception. The fallout
was immediate. In the quiet village of Bird in Hand,
(33:14):
fear took root. Amish families stopped walking alone. They implemented
a body system trust in the outside world. The English
was shaken. Local residents Scott Pokey and put it plainly,
a lot of people take advantage of the Amish from
what I see. Another neighbor, Susan Stauffer added, it grips
(33:36):
your heart because it's right in my neighborhood. To think
an eighteen year old girl was missing from here was
very emotional. This search was just different because it was
so close to home and because of the community. It
hit The Amish lay of a very upright life. I
think a lot of them don't know what goes on
in the world. But even in the face of such darkness,
there was light. In a show of solidarity and lafe
(34:00):
of thousands gathered for a prayer ride to honor Linda
and support her grieving family, who were asked to where
her favorite color. Yellow Cars and motorcycles adorned with yellow
bandanas and flags filled the lot at Ephrata Community Church.
There were people from all across the country, strangers united
by sorrow, compassion and hope. A moment of silence was
(34:24):
held before the event began. Then a thirty mile caravan
wound its way through Lancaster County, ending in Bird in Hand,
the very community Linda had called home. Brandon Vale, one
of the organizers of the event, stood in awe. He said,
I had no idea it would grow this big at all.
(34:53):
At the start of August, a preliminary hearing was held
to determine whether there was enough evidence to send Justo
Smoker to trial. His defense attorney, Christopher Talrico, tried to
poke holes in the prosecution's case. He argued that the
surveillance footage showing Linda's abduction was essentially meaningless, just pixels,
he said. He insisted that there was no way to
(35:14):
prove that the figures in the video were Linda and Smoker,
but detectives had more than just pixels. Detective Christopher Jones
testified that everything had pointed to one tragic conclusion. Linda
was dead. There'd be no activity on her bank account
and no travel records, and Linda, he pointed out, didn't
(35:35):
even have an idea. She wouldn't have been able to
use mass transit or check into a hotel. She had
simply vanished. He spoke gently about Linda's life. She was nice, caring,
and always wanted to know about other people. He told
the court everybody close to her said the same thing.
She was happy, She had no problems at home, no
(35:56):
reason to run away. After the hearing, the job ruled
that Justo Smoker would stand trial. Then, on the twentieth
of August, attention turned to the rugged, wooded terrain of
Welsh Mountain. Justice. Smoker's cell phone data had placed him
in the area after Linda's abduction, and it now became
the focus of an intensive search. Hundreds of volunteer showed up.
(36:19):
Some brought macheres to cut through the thick summer brush.
The sun was brutal, temperatures meares, but the community was determined.
Search teams were assigned gread patterns mapped with special software.
They used surveyor's tape to mark areas and log their
progress in meticulous detail. Those who could enjoin the search
(36:40):
helped in other ways. They made sandwiches, handed out bottles
of water, and served hot meals at Ridgeview men a
night church, which had become the command center. But after
two full days, the forest had given up no answers.
I was hoping for today, I really was, said searcher
Bill Hamburger. Even as the search dragged on Justo Smoker
(37:02):
made his next move. He waved his arrayment and pleaded
not guilty to kidnapping and false imprisonment. Then in December,
the case took another sharp turn. Smoker was officially charged
with Linda's murder. More evidence against him had been uncovered
to warrant the charge. His DNA had been found on
(37:22):
Linda's stockings, the same ones buried in the woods near
Harvest Drive, and cel phone records revealed something else. In
the days following the abduction, Smucker had returned to that
same spot multiple times. District Attorney Heather Adams announced the
new charges and said, given the circumstances of Linda's disappearance,
(37:44):
specifically a forceful abduction by a stranger, we always feared
the worst. But the search for Linda's body was not
yet over. Behind the scenes, a plea deal was being discussed.
(38:04):
Justo Smoker agreed to lead investigators to Linda's body on
one condition, the death penalty would be taken off the table.
In late April, he made good on that deal. With
the detectives at his side, he led them to a
wooded area off Route forty one, land that is owned
by Dutchland Incorporated, where he had once worked, just beyond
(38:26):
the railroad tracks. He pointed to a mound of dirt.
Detectives began to dig about forty two inches down. Something
shiny caught the light. It was a torp. They carefully
peeled it back, and inside they found the badly decomposed
body of Linda. She was still wearing the same dress
(38:46):
and bonnet she had on the day she vanished. Her
hands and fate had been bound. Her sash and apron
were wrapped tightly around her neck. A strip of dark
tape stretched across her mouth from cheek to chain. Smoker
admitted that he had originally buried Linda closer to her home,
near where her bra and stockings were found, but moved
(39:08):
her after her disappearance had made the news. Linda had
been strangled. She had also been stobbed in the neck
while she was still alive. The wound had caused her
to bleed into her suffolcus. There were also injuries that
were consistent with sexual assault. The pathologist said, we can't.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
Narrow window to hours or even a day or two,
but we can tell you that based on the state
of her body, that is very consistent with the death
that occurred ten months ago.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
For Linda's family, it was the final confirmation of a
horror they had long feared. Her uncle Mervin said, all
of us have been hoping for closure. It's not the
news we wanted. Progress is moving forward to bring Linda
to rest. That afternoon, the district Attorney held a press conference.
Speaker 3 (39:57):
Investigators have reason to believe that Smoker originally killed Linda
within hours of her kidnapping on June twenty first, and
buried her behind the business on Harvest Drive in Ronx,
where Linda's stockings and bras had previously been discovered and
where Smoker's car had been seen.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
On April twenty sixth, ten months after Linda was taken,
she was finally relaid to rest. Sixty nine horse drawn
buggies formed a solemn procession to Myers Cemetery on East
Ebey Road, not far from where Linda had been kidnapped.
A few SUVs followed behind. Police had closed the road
(40:37):
to make way. It was a private ceremony, symbol and serene.
Much like Linda, Amish funerals are quiet, under stated affairs.
There's no flowers, no eulogies, no long sermons. There's just hymned.
In scripture, death is accepted as part of God's will,
but that didn't make it any easier. Linda was then
(41:00):
buried by hand in a pine coffin made without nails.
Her community broken but together, stood silently watching as the
earth was returned to the grave. Linda Stulfuz was finally home.
(41:26):
On the twenty third of July twenty twenty one, JUSTO
Smoker stood before the court one last time. He pleaded
guilty to third degree murder, kidnapping, and several other offenses.
In a quiet, emotionless voice, he admitted that he had
strangled Linda, first with his arm, then with his shoelaces,
before stabbing her once in the neck. Although Linda's injuries
(41:49):
were consistent with the sexual assault, Smoker denied that he
had raped there. Judge David Ashworth accepted the plea. He
acknowledged that it was not justice in its fullest form,
but it was something. Without the plea dea, Linda's body
may have never been recovered. Without it, there would be
no certainty, no resolution. With it. Smoker would be held accountable,
(42:12):
the community would be protected, and Linda's loved ones would
be given a measure of peace. He looked directly at
Smoker and stated, you are a predator of the worst kind,
an extreme danger to the community. Then Samuel Blank stepped
forward to deliver a victim impact statement on behalf of
Linda's family and the wider Amish community. He spoke with grace,
(42:36):
but there was no mistaking the weight of grief in
his voice. He said that Linda's murder had shaken their
peaceful world. It had introduced fear, suspicion, and sorrow into
a community where those things had never belonged. I believe
we were all Stoltzfooses that day, he said. He spoke
about Linda's role as the firstborn, the one who should
(42:59):
have been courted, married, become a mother, at grandmother. Those
chapters of her life would now remain unwritten. Then he
spoke of forgiveness, not as a failing, but as a choice,
as something rooted in their Christian faith. He stated, the
family and the community can and will forgive you justo
(43:21):
For some, it will come easy. For others, it will
take time and work. That his family had not come
to court not because they were unwilling to forgive, but
because the pain was still too raw. Smoger's defense attorney,
Christopher Tallerichoo, addressed the court. Next. He painted a portrait
of a man that was broken long before the crime.
(43:42):
He spoke of Smoker's childhood trauma, abuse, the loss of
his mother and sister, and a long battle with alcoholism.
He said that Smoker had been drinking heavily the weekend
he abducted Linda. He had brought there in a convenience
store just before he took her. Said that there is
no logical explanation for what he did. Next to this day,
(44:05):
he wishes he could take it all back. Smoker was
then given the chance to speak. He stood in silence
for several seconds, his head bowed. He finally said, I
thought I would know what to say. But what words
can I say? Other than I am sorry? To Linda's family,
(44:25):
to the community, to my supporters. I am sorry. I
robbed the family of time and memories. All I can
say is I'm sorry. He called Linda a light and
said that because of him, the world was now dimmer.
He then turned to his adoptive father and biological brother
and said, I was raised better than this, I am
(44:48):
better than this. I was loved better than this. I'm sorry.
The judge then handed down the sentence thirty five and
a half to seventy one years in prison. An additional
seventeen years were tacked on for violating his parole outside
the courtroom. District Attorney Heather Adams called it what it was.
(45:11):
This is effectively a life sentence for Smoker. Well, Bessie's
(45:38):
That is it for this episode of Morbidology. As always,
thank you so much for listening, and I'd like to
say a massive thank you to my new supporters up
on Patreon, Phoenix, Bred, Lisa, Laura and Whitney. Your support
seriously goes such a long way, and I am eternally grateful.
The link to Paedreon is in the show notes if
you'd like to join us up on there. In exchange
for your support, I upload adfree in early release episode.
(46:00):
It's behind the scenes, and there's also a bunch of
bonus episodes of Morbidology plus that aren't on the regular
podcast platforms. I'm hoping to get some more bonus episodes
writtenam recorded over the next six months, but I'm still
playing catch up from Eternity Leaf. But keep your eyes
peeled for those of your upper patron Morbidology is now
up on YouTube. If you'd like to go and hit
(46:21):
that subscribe button, I would be eternally grateful. Remember to
checks out at morbidology dot com for more information about
this episode and to read some Trick Grim articles. Until
next time, take care of yourselves, stay safe, and have
an amazing week.
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