The confessed child killer had ties to Plano, police say
FLOOR – Plano Police are looking for information on an alleged killer who once lived in North Texas.
David Zandstra, a former pastor who lived in Georgia, is accused of kidnapping and killing 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington in 1975.
Her body was found in a state park in Pennsylvania months after she disappeared from a church Bible camp.
Last week, police said Zandstra, 83, confessed to the murder.
He told investigators he saw the little girl walking alone and offered her a ride.
Detectives said Zandstra drove Harrington into a wooded area and killed her after she refused to undress.
“This man is evil. He killed this poor 8-year-old girl that he knew and trusted him. And then he acted like he was a friend of the family not only during her burial and afterward, but for years,” said Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer. “He IS every parent’s worst nightmare. This is a man who is a ruthless predator of children who acted as if he were a friend, a neighbor and a man of God.”
Police later discovered that Zandstra lived in Plano for a while before moving to Georgia.
The Plano Police Department would like to speak to anyone with information about his whereabouts in North Texas.
Online records show he may have worked at a Christian Reform church in North Texas between 1976 and 1983.
