State police investigating death of Amish woman in Sparta Township home as a homicide
SPARTANSBURG — Laundry still hung on the line, weighted down by a persistent and sometimes heavy rain that turned the dirt road a ribbon of brown mud, behind a small house that Pennsylvania State Police troopers scoured on Tuesday.
They were looking for clues to the horrors that took place on Monday inside the residence on Fish Flats Road in Sparta Township, where authorities said a relative and a family friend returned home to find 23-year-old Rebekah A. Byler dead.
The Pennsylvania State Police said they are investigating Byler's death as a homicide, a rarity in the Erie region's Amish enclaves.
Investigators would not comment Tuesday on how Byler possibly died. More details were expected to be released following the completion of an autopsy, which was scheduled to take place in Erie County mid-afternoon Tuesday.
State police had no suspects in the suspected crime as of Tuesday afternoon.
"We are just aggressively following up on leads," Lt. Mark Weindorf, crime section supervisor for state police Troop E in Lawrence Park Township, said Tuesday morning. "We don't have any suspects or much else at this time."
A grisly discovery
State police in Corry learned of Byler's death shortly before 12:30 p.m. Monday, when troopers were sent to a residence on Fish Flats Road, which runs from Centerville northeast to Route 89 south of Spartansburg. The house sits about a mile from Route 89 near Sportsman Road.
Troopers arrived to find Byler dead inside a residence.
Crawford County Coroner Eric Coston said he pronounced Byler dead at the scene at 1:45 p.m. Monday.
According to Weindorf, Byler was found dead in the main living area of her home when a family member and a friend of the family returned home. Byler had been home alone with two young children, he said.
The children were not reported injured in the incident.
Search for answers
State police searched the Fish Flats Road residence and its property for evidence on Monday and continued to hold it as a crime scene on Tuesday.
The property, which sits in a sparsely-populated portion of Crawford County, was ringed with yellow crime scene tape on Tuesday as investigators remained inside of the house.
To the left of the house, beyond a small barn, is a small fenced pasture with a notice posted on it warning of no hunting or trespassing on the property without the permission of the owner. To the right, in a small field, lay sections of felled trees and a pile of slab wood.
A child's scooter rested against a post by a two-car garage next to the house.
Weindorf said investigators are looking into the whereabouts and movements of Byler and her family in the 24 hours prior to her body's discovery or in the recent past. They are also asking for the public's help in providing any relevant information as the investigation continues.
State police said Monday night they are investigating all available leads, and they asked the public to report any suspicious people, vehicles or activity in the area of Fish Flats Road.
Anyone with information is asked to call state police in Corry at 814-663-2043.
A rare crime
Weindorf said that while state police have regular dealings with the Amish and investigate reported crime in their communities, they have not had any dealings with Byler's family in the past.
More: Amish woman's bid to reclaim her children opens window on community-initiated separations
The last known homicide to hit a local Amish enclave occurred in 1993, when authorities accused Ed Gingerich of killing and disemboweling his wife, Katie, inside their home in Rockdale Township, Crawford County, in the Brown Hill Amish community.
Gingerich was later found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, but mentally ill, and he served a state prison term until his release in 1998. Gingerich later lived in Michigan and Indiana, but he returned to Crawford County in 2007.
Gingerich took his own life in January 2011.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Death of Amish woman in Crawford County PA investigated as a homicide
