Tracy Marie Kroh was a 17-year-old honors student just weeks away from starting her senior year at Halifax High School in the summer of 1989. On the evening of August 5th, she left her family's home in Enterline, Pennsylvania, to drop off a barbecue grill and some coupons at her older sister's residence in the Alex Acres Trailer Park, about seven miles away. When she arrived, her sister and brother-in-law were not home, so she left the items on their porch.
Tracy, a petite teenager at 4 feet 10 inches and 85 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes, was never seen again. She was last seen around 10:00 p.m. in the vicinity of the Millersburg town square. Her parents didn't immediately worry, as she often stayed the night with her sister. The following day, after learning she never arrived, her family reported her missing. Her locked 1971 Mercury Comet was found parked in the town square later that evening, but there was no sign of Tracy.
The investigation into Tracy's disappearance began immediately, with her family and friends canvassing the area and distributing her picture. Despite these efforts and a growing reward fund, few leads emerged. The case took a significant turn in December 1993, when parts of her wallet, including her driver's license and National Honor Society card, were discovered by a farmer along Wiconisco Creek in Washington Township, nine miles from where her car was found. This discovery confirmed the family's fears of foul play, as Tracy was a responsible and studious teenager with no history of running away. She had left behind $300 in her room and had $400 in her bank account. Authorities came to believe she was likely abducted by someone she knew, as an abduction by a stranger in the small town's center seemed improbable.
Over the years, the investigation has seen periods of intense activity and frustrating silence. The case is being treated as a homicide. Several individuals have come under scrutiny. Her boyfriend at the time, Matthew Webster, was a person of interest, and years later, a woman named Holly Mallett came forward claiming Webster had confessed to her his involvement in Tracy's rape and murder. Both Webster and Mallett were later convicted of perjury for lying to a grand jury, though neither has been charged in connection with her disappearance. In 2022, another man, Mark Warfel, was publicly named as a suspect. Warfel, who was in his 50s when Tracy vanished and was the biological father of her younger sister, had been a person of interest for some time, with police searching his property on multiple occasions. Warfel, who passed away in prison while serving time for unrelated charges, made some statements to Tracy's sister implicating another man but was deemed not competent to stand trial due to dementia. The disappearance of Tracy Kroh remains an active investigation, a painful mystery that has haunted her family and the small Pennsylvania community for decades.Last Seen: Aug 5, 1989
