The Missing Tracy Kroh

The Missing
Tracy Kroh
Halifax, Pennsylvania

Tracy Kroh was 17 years old when she was last seen in the Alex Acres Trailer Park off of Route 147 in Halifax, Pennsylvania on August 5, 1989 at around 10:00 p.m. She was trying to visit her older sister and brother in law, but they were not home when she arrived. She dropped off a few items on their front step, including a BBQ grill and a few grocery store coupons, and left in her white 1971 Mercury Comet with a blue stripe. She never returned back to the family home in Millersburg. Tracy has not been heard from since. She was not reported missing until the next day, August 6th, because her parents assumed she was spending the night at her sister’s house, as she often did.
After police were notified, Tracy’s vehicle was located the same day, parked in the Millersburg town square. Her belongings were not in the vehicle. This area is a local gathering spot and she may have been seen sitting on the steps of a store across the street from the square on the night she disappeared.
Over four years later, parts of her wallet, including part of her drivers license and her National Honor Society card were found by a farmer in December of 193 along the Wiconisco Creek in Washington Township, PA, which is 9 miles from Millersburg. Police searched the area but nothing else was found.
Tracy is described as a white female with brown curly hair and green eyes, standing at 4’10” and weighing only 85 lbs. She was wearing a blue and white floral shirt, blue and white shorts, white sneakers size 4.5 or 5, a silver timex watch, a white gold Halifax High School Class of 1990 ring with a white diamond, and a small purse with a thin strap and the image of a unicorn on the side with a Roger Rabbit key ring attached to it. Both of her ears are pierced, she previously had braces, and she has a small mole in the center of her chin.
Investigators believe that Tracy was abducted. She left $300 cash in her bedroom and she had around $400 in her bank account, indicating she did not leave of her own accord. There is a theory that Tracy went to see her boyfriend that night, a guy named Matthew Webster. His parents lived a short distance away from the town square.
In 2016, he allegedly admitted to a witness named Holly Mallett that he was involved. He said that he and some friends were intoxicated and encountered Tracy in the town square. “It was supposed to be just a rape and done but then it turned out to be a lot more than that,” He was quoted as saying. On the stand in front of a grand jury however, Matthew denied ever having spoken to the witness. In 2018, a court ordered wiretap of the phone lines recorded Holly and Matthew talking about how she would deny her earlier statements to police. Holly claimed the police coerced her into making those statements. She also described herself as mentally handicapped. Matthew forgave her and promised to help her pay for an attorney for her.
In December of 2019, Matthew pleaded no contest to felony perjury and was sentenced to 6 months in prison, but he was given credit for time served and he was released immediately. In July of 2020, Holly was also charged with felony perjury and was sentenced to 23 months in prison. Neither of the two were ever charged for Tracy’s actual disappearance, they were just charged for lying about it.
Mark Eugene Warfel was named a suspect in May of 2022. One source states he is the biological father of Tracy’s younger sister. In 1989 he was 56 years old and was friends with Tracy’s parents. He is also a suspect in the death of his wife and multiple sexual assaults on women. Police have searched his property several times for evidence with no results. Tracy’s sister Kim decided to pay Mark a visit while he was in the hospital. Mark was unaware that Kim was recording their conversation. During their talk, Mark was the first to bring Tracy up. He claimed to know Tracy was killed and who did it. He says it was a man he knew by the nickname “Big Goofus.” He said he thinks Goofus talked Tracy into letting him drive her car, and that Goofus strangled her to death. He also suspected that Goofus put Tracy’s body in a mine shaft in Loyalton. He explained that Goofus kept some of her clothing as a souvenir. Unfortunately a judge determined he was not competent to stand trial due to medical issues. The DA claimed that some of Mark’s statements were “very significant.”
Mark maintains his innocence.

Tracy has no history of running away from home. She was excited about her senior year of high school. Her principal described her as extremely responsible. She was a member of the National Honor Society, an artist on the school newspaper, the editor of the school yearbook, and a member of the Future Business Leaders of America club.
To this day, she has never been found and her case remains unsolved.

If you have any further information, please contact the Pennsylvania State Police at 717-362-9544.

Sources:

https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/730293/1

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap/missing-persons/tracy-marie-kroh

https://www.fox43.com/article/news/crime/cold-cases/state-police-renew-call-information-surrounding-1989-disappearance-17-year-old-tracy-kroh/521-3e80b757-39e6-4b59-a18b-a5f077fd0fa9

https://local21news.com/news/local/mark-warfel-unconscious-tracy-kroh-suspect-disappearance-hearing-property-dauphin-county-pennsylvania