Ex-Pastor Confesses To Kidnapping, Murdering 8-Year-Old Girl Over 40 Years Ago

83-year-old David Zandstra, a former pastor, was apprehended after confessing to killing an 8-year-old girl in Pennsylvania as she was walking to Bible camp decades ago.

Zandstra is said to have pulled up next to Gretchen Harrington in a green station wagon on Aug. 15, 1975, and asked if she wanted a ride.

The pastor told detectives that he transported the girl to a remote location, demanded that she take off her clothes, then fatally beat her when she wouldn’t.

Zandstra was familiar with the girl’s family and stated that he went back to church after the murder.

“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, but for years,” said the Delco District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer.

Gretchen’s remains were found weeks later in Ridley Creek State Park, over seven miles away from her residence.

Detectives interviewed a woman in January who said that she was best friends with Zandstra’s daughter. She stated that Zandstra groped her as a sleepover took place at his residence when she was 10.

After detectives questioned the pastor with the sexual assault allegations, he confessed to kidnapping and murdering Gretchen.

Zandstra now resides in Georgia and has been charged with criminal homicide, and murder in the first, second, and third-degree. He is also facing charges of kidnapping of a minor and the possession of an instrument of crime.

“Gretchen was only 8 years old when she was suddenly taken away from us on her way to church on Friday, Aug. 15, 1975. If you met Gretchen, you were instantly her friend. She exuded kindness to all and was sweet and gentle,” her family noted through a statement.