The search for a missing Pennsylvania woman ended gruesomely when her body was discovered in a metal box on her husband’s former property.
Vincent Harp, 37, was charged with criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence on Sunday, after his wife Katlyn Harp, 33, was discovered dead that day.
According to a criminal complaint reviewed by Law&Crime, Katlyn Harp was reported missing on June 20 after her sister informed police that she hadn’t heard from her, which was “not like her.”
Police interviewed Vincent Harp, who admitted that he had argued with his wife after dinner on June 19, but when he awoke at 5:00 a.m. the next morning, she had left.
Katlyn Harp’s sister informed police that the Life360 app she used stopped updating on the night she went missing.
After Katlyn Harp went missing, local communities and law enforcement agencies worked together to locate her. Meanwhile, police maintained contact with Vincent Harp, who allegedly provided “inconsistent” accounts of his movements “before, during, and after” his wife’s disappearance.
The discrepancies included conversations he had or did not have with a counsellor, as well as whether or not he had his phone with him at certain times.
According to the criminal complaint, the investigation turned up a witness at a gas station where Vincent Harp stopped on June 20 to enquire “if the store sold gloves.” When the witness, a cashier, told him they didn’t, Vincent Harp asked if he could get a pair from a petrol station employee.
The cashier handed Vincent Harp a pair of gloves, which he placed in his pocket before leaving the station in his silver Chevy Silverado pickup truck.
Police eventually combed through Vincent Harp’s phone records, which showed him in a variety of locations where he allegedly drove several vehicles.
On the morning of June 20, he drove to one location via a remote mountain road in his GMC Yukon. He got stuck in mud and left drag marks in a wooded area. When police asked him why he was there, he was “unable to articulate a reason.”
Vincent Harp’s mobile was tracked as he left the area and returned home.
According to the criminal complaint, Vincent Harp’s Silverado was captured on surveillance camera just a few hours later, and a large, green metal box was visible in the truck’s bed.
On June 25, police reported that a utility vehicle, or ATV, sold by Vincent Harp the day before was brought to a Pennsylvania State Police station. It was examined and tested positive for human blood.
On Sunday, the search for Katlyn Harp continued, leading to a Harp Lane property previously owned by Vincent Harp.
Investigators and law enforcement arrived at the scene with permission from the property’s current owners and discovered a large, green, metal box with a “strong smell of decomposition” emanating from it.
Inside were human remains, including a distinctive tattoo that identified the body as Katlyn Harp.
Police said that a further investigation of Vincent Harp’s phone data led them to the location where the body was discovered on June 21 at around 10:30 a.m. He was also tracked down near Harp Lane around 6 p.m. that day.
Vincent Harp was arrested and charged with criminal homicide, corpse abuse, and evidence tampering. He was arraigned on Sunday at 7 p.m. and was denied bail. His next court date is set for July 14.
