NEED TO KNOW
- Katlyn Harp, 33, was reported missing on June 20 by her sister Harper Lane, who said she missed their daily phone call and her Life360 had not updated from the previous day
- Vincent Harp sold a utility vehicle four days after his wife’s death that tested positive for blood — and troopers found footage of him driving with a large green box on June 20
- On June 29, Lane called troopers to say she had located a large green box by the side of a cliff on a densely forested property once owned by Vincent
The body of a missing Pennsylvania woman was located over the weekend, nine days after she went missing from her home.
Pennsylvania State Troopers announced on June 29 that the body of 33-year-old Katlyn Harp had been located in a green metal box on a property once owned by her husband, Vincent Harp.
It was not those Pennsylvania Troopers or local law enforcement who tracked down Harp’s body after a nine-day search — but rather her sister, Harper Lane, according to a copy of the criminal complaint filed against Vincent and obtained by PEOPLE.
It was also Lane who first called to report her sister missing on June 20, the complaint said, noting she was concerned because Harp missed their daily call.
Lane also informed the patrolwoman she spoke with that she and her sister have Life360 on their phones, and Harp’s had not updated since the previous day.
The Hemlock Township Police Department spent the next two days, with no luck, speaking with family members and friends to try and locate Harp, and on June 22 the case was reassigned to the Pennsylvania State Troopers.
Vincent was called in for questioning the following day. According to the complaint, there were a number of “discrepancies” when it came to his accounting of the days before and after his wife’s disappearance.
“He omitted locations he travelled and failed to report interactions with Katlyn,” said the complaint.
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Over the course of the next few days, troopers tracked down footage of Vincent arriving at a Sunoco gas station and asking for gloves on the day of his wife’s disappearance — and also learned that he sold a utility vehicle he owned on June 24, one day after he was questioned by troopers, according to the complaint.
That utility vehicle was brought in for testing on June 25 and “showed a presumptive positive for human blood,” the complaint said.
Footage obtained by troopers also showed Vincent driving in his truck with a green metal box in the bed on June 20..
Then, on June 29, troopers got a call from the most dedicated member of the search team.
Lane called to inform troopers that she had located a green metal box approximately 180 yards from the side of a cliff on a densely forested, 40-acre property previously owned by her brother-in-law, according to the complaint.
Troopers arrived on the scene and cut the lock to find human remains inside the box which the complaint said they were able to identify because of a tattoo on Harp’s body.
A closer examination of Vincent’s cell phone records showed him to be in the area of the property twice on June 21, according to the complaint.
Vincent is now charged with criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence for allegedly moving his wife’s body.
Lane contacted police at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, and by 7 p.m. Vincent was arraigned on those three charges and denied bail by a judge.
He does not have a lawyer at this time and is due back in court on July 14.
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