Police: Pregnant Amish woman found dead in Sparta Township Pa. home wounded in neck, head
SPARTANSBURG — An Amish man returned home from an outing early Monday afternoon to make a grisly discovery inside his Sparta Township home.
As he and a female family friend who had given him a ride started to enter the residence, they found the man's wife unresponsive a short distance inside the home, according to the Pennsylvania State Police.
Troopers who responded to the residence in the 21800 block of Fish Flats Road, west of Route 89, after the female friend called 911 found 23-year-old Rebekah A. Byler lying on her back in a pool of blood in the home's living room, state police stated in case documents.
Byler, whom authorities confirmed was pregnant, had wounds to her neck and head, according to investigators.
Two toddler-age children who were also inside the home were not injured, state police reported.
More: State police investigating death of Amish woman in Sparta Township home as a homicide
Byler was pronounced dead at the scene a little more than an hour later, the victim of what state police are investigating as a homicide. An autopsy was performed in Erie County on Tuesday, but state police and Crawford County authorities are not releasing any details on Byler's death as the investigation continues.
Crawford County Coroner Eric Coston, who pronounced Byler dead at the scene on Monday at 1:45 p.m., said Thursday he maintained custody of Byler's body until Wednesday night, when he released Byler to the Warren-Glenn Funeral Home in Union City.
Funeral details were not released.
State police had no suspects in Byler's killing Thursday.
Search for answers ongoing
State police investigators were still working on Thursday to determine what happened to Byler, why it happened, and who was responsible for her death.
Nothing has been ruled out at this point in the investigation, Lt. Mark Weindorf, crime section supervisor for state police Troop E in Lawrence Park Township, said Thursday.
"We continue to entertain multiple different theories or motivations for this crime," Weindorf said.
No information has been released indicating whether or not Byler was possibly targeted by someone or was the victim of a random incident, such as robbery or burglary. Weindorf did say on Wednesday that there was no evidence of anything taken from the Bylers' home.
Weindorf also said earlier this week that state police have investigated reported crimes in the various Amish enclaves in the Erie region, including Crawford County, in the past but had not had any prior dealings with Byler's family.
Byler was alone with her two young children at some point Monday morning. According to Weindorf, Byler's husband left the residence for an outing earlier that day and was driven by the family friend. The two returned to the Fish Flats Road residence shortly before the woman called 911 at 12:26 p.m. Monday, according to case documents.
State police would spend the remainder of Monday and much of Tuesday at the residence, searching for evidence including weapons, clothing, blood, DNA, nail clippings, electronic devices and other physical evidence, according to the documents.
It's unknown what police collected during the search of the house and other buildings on the property, including a barn across from the house, as investigators have not revealed what evidence they seized.
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The area where the Bylers live is somewhat remote. The house sits along a winding dirt road in an area south of Spartansburg and east of Centerville with a scattering of homes, both Amish and non-Amish, and farms that are spread out.
A number of Amish families live in the area, as evidenced by traffic signs along Route 89 warning motorists of buggy traffic. Signs along the roadway advertise the locations of Amish stores, saw mills and various items for sale, including quilts and firewood.
State police have been urging residents living on or around Fish Flats Road, and those who frequent the area or who might have been in the area on or before Monday, to report any suspicious people, vehicles or activity they might have seen. A $2,000 reward is offered for information that might lead to an arrest and/or the solving of the crime, according to information in a posting about the Byler investigation on the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers website.
Anyone with information is asked to call state police in Corry at 814-663-2042. Tips to Crime Stoppers can be made by calling 800-4PA-TIPS or by visiting https://www.p3tips.com/tipform.aspx?ID=107.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Pregnant Amish woman found dead in her PA home had neck, head wounds
