On September 28, 2019, Kimberley Faye Gsell, a 38-year-old White woman, was last seen in the Carlisle area of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, beginning a disappearance that would leave her family searching for answers for nearly seven years. Kimberley, known to friends and family as Kim, had been staying at the Rodeway Inn Motel at 1239 Harrisburg Pike in Middlesex Township, just outside Carlisle. At the time, she was experiencing housing instability and had been moving between motels, friends' accommodations, and vehicles along the busy commercial corridor commonly known as the Miracle Mile. Although her living arrangements were unsettled, Kimberley maintained contact with people close to her, making her sudden disappearance particularly alarming. She was the mother of two young children, and her absence left her family facing an overwhelming uncertainty about her safety and whereabouts.
Her disappearance was initially recorded as September 28, although subsequent investigative records established that she was last seen during the early morning hours of September 29, 2019. What initially appeared to be the unexplained disappearance of a woman staying at a roadside motel would eventually become a homicide investigation involving someone connected to her personal life.
In the days leading up to her disappearance, Kimberley had been staying at the Rodeway Inn with a woman identified in subsequent court documents as Amanda Snyder. The two women were reportedly engaged, although Amanda remained legally married to David Allen Snyder. According to investigators, Kimberley and Amanda checked into a motel room on September 27, 2019, intending to remain there until September 29. During their stay, an altercation reportedly occurred between the women, resulting in Amanda sustaining an injury to her nose. Investigators later alleged that Kimberley had caused the injury, prompting David Snyder to come to the motel and take Amanda to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. Early accounts of the disappearance suggested that Kimberley had left the motel following an argument, and David initially maintained that he had not encountered her that night. When Amanda returned to the motel, Kimberley was reportedly gone. Her friends became concerned when they could not locate her, and Middlesex Township police received a missing-person report on the afternoon of Sunday, September 29, 2019. With no confirmed information explaining where Kimberley had gone, authorities began investigating the circumstances surrounding her sudden disappearance. What investigators did not yet know was that the accounts provided about those final hours would eventually become central to uncovering what had happened to her.
As the investigation continued, detectives worked to establish Kimberley's movements, relationships, and the circumstances surrounding her last known whereabouts. She was described as approximately five feet two inches tall, weighing between 140 and 160 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Her hairstyle was distinctive, with shoulder-length hair on one side and the other side partially shaved. She wore glasses and had a recognizable starburst tattoo on the upper portion of her shoulder containing the letters KIM. Another identifying feature was a birthmark above her belly button. Reports indicated that she had been wearing blue jeans and silver-and-blue sneakers around the time she disappeared. Investigators circulated her photograph and physical description, hoping someone might remember encountering her along Harrisburg Pike or elsewhere in Cumberland County. The area surrounding the motel presented considerable investigative difficulties because of its numerous hotels, motels, truck stops, and businesses serving travelers passing through the region. Detectives had to consider the possibility that someone visiting the area temporarily might have witnessed something important without realizing its significance. Despite extensive efforts, there were no confirmed sightings establishing Kimberley's whereabouts after she vanished, and the absence of communication with her family only deepened their concern.
By September 2020, a full year had passed without Kimberley's whereabouts being established. Middlesex Township police continued publicizing her disappearance, emphasizing that the investigation remained active. In August 2021, Cumberland County Crime Stoppers announced a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to Kimberley's location or the arrest of anyone responsible for her disappearance. Investigators continued pursuing leads, reviewing information, and encouraging potential witnesses to come forward. By the third anniversary in September 2022, Detective Jeffrey Franks publicly discussed the difficulties surrounding the case and the extensive efforts undertaken to find her. Authorities had obtained assistance from state and federal resources, and billboards featuring Kimberley's photograph were placed in the area to generate additional information. Franks expressed concern that she had not disappeared voluntarily, pointing to her established pattern of communicating with family members and the unusual circumstances surrounding her absence. He emphasized that Kimberley was not simply another missing-person report but a mother, daughter, sister, and member of the community whose disappearance deserved answers. The case remained under investigation, and those closest to her continued living without knowing what had happened during her final hours at the motel.
A significant breakthrough emerged in 2026, when investigators from the Middlesex Township Police Department and the Cumberland County District Attorney's Office intensified their examination of the case. Detectives revisited earlier statements, reviewed investigative records, and identified inconsistencies in accounts provided by David and Amanda Snyder concerning Kimberley's disappearance. On September 25 and 26, 2026, investigators interviewed David Snyder and confronted him with discrepancies in his previous statements. According to the subsequent criminal complaint, Snyder admitted that he had returned to the Rodeway Inn while Amanda was receiving medical treatment at the hospital. He allegedly told Kimberley that Amanda wanted to see her and persuaded her to enter his van under the pretense of taking her to the hospital. Once Kimberley was seated in the front passenger seat, Snyder allegedly placed her in a chokehold, using the vehicle's seat for leverage, and strangled her. According to investigators, Snyder claimed that Kimberley appeared intoxicated and did not physically resist during the attack. He reportedly moved her body into the rear passenger area of the van, covered it with a blanket, and returned to the hospital to collect Amanda. Investigators alleged that Snyder subsequently transported Kimberley's body to a secluded location near New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, where he buried her along the bank of Yellow Breeches Creek. These details, contained in the criminal allegations, dramatically changed the understanding of a disappearance that had remained unexplained for nearly seven years.
The information provided during Snyder's interviews led investigators to the area where he claimed to have concealed Kimberley's remains. On September 25, 2026, authorities recovered skeletal remains along Yellow Breeches Creek near New Cumberland. Investigators initially located an object resembling a human bone and requested assistance from the Pennsylvania State Police, including a specially trained human-remains detection dog. Additional searches of the creek bank led to the recovery of skeletal remains and clothing consistent with the information Snyder had provided. Forensic anthropology specialists from Mercyhurst University assisted investigators during the recovery process. The Cumberland County District Attorney's Forensic Laboratory subsequently used rapid DNA technology to establish a high probability that the remains belonged to Kimberley, and comparisons with dental records provided positive identification. On September 28, 2026, Cumberland County District Attorney Seán M. McCormack publicly announced that Kimberley's remains had been recovered, bringing an end to the seven-year uncertainty surrounding her physical whereabouts. Although the discovery provided her family with long-awaited answers, it also confirmed the devastating reality that Kimberley had died around the time she disappeared in September 2019. Officials acknowledged that investigators had hoped throughout the search to find her alive, but the evidence had ultimately revealed a far more tragic outcome.
David Allen Snyder, 39, of Hanover, Pennsylvania, was arrested on September 26, 2026, and charged with first-degree murder and strangulation in connection with Kimberley's death. He was arraigned and remanded to Cumberland County Prison without bail. Prosecutors alleged that Snyder deliberately killed Kimberley on September 29, 2019, before concealing her remains and participating in accounts that initially portrayed her disappearance as unexplained. At the time the charges were announced, authorities had not publicly established a definitive motive, and the criminal complaint did not determine whether Amanda Snyder had any knowledge of Kimberley's death. No charges against Amanda were reported. Snyder was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on October 7, 2026, although a subsequent judicial outcome could not be reliably confirmed from the available reporting. The allegations against him remain subject to the legal process, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. The discovery of Kimberley's remains was the culmination of years of investigative work involving local detectives, county prosecutors, forensic specialists, Pennsylvania State Police personnel, and other agencies that continued pursuing answers despite the passage of time. For Kimberley's children, relatives, and friends, the identification brought painful confirmation of a loss they had endured without certainty for seven years. While the recovery of her remains ended the search for her whereabouts, the pursuit of accountability for her death continued through the criminal justice system. Kimberley Faye Gsell's case began with the disappearance of a 38-year-old mother from a Carlisle-area motel in September 2019, developed into a prolonged investigation marked by unanswered questions and sustained efforts to locate her, and ultimately resulted in the recovery of her remains and murder charges against a man connected to her final known movements. Her story serves as a reminder of the importance of continued investigative persistence and of the lasting impact that a missing person's disappearance can have on the family and loved ones left searching for answers.Last Seen: Sep 28, 2019
