Kortne Stouffer was enjoying her young life having recently moved into her first apartment in Palmyra, PA with her boyfriend. Who could have imagined that she would disappear without a trace in July 2012? Did she just walk away or was she taken by someone who meant to do her harm? Plenty of questions, but few answers.
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TuneInKortne Stouffer
In July of 2012, Kortne Stouffer was 21 and living in Palmyra, PA with her boyfriend Brad in her first apartment. She was a beautiful girl standing 5’8’’ with long blond hair. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing dreads. Kortne had green eyes and a mole on her right cheek. She has a tattoo on one of her biceps with the words “One Love”, stars on one of her feet, and a pistol with flowers on her abdomen to the back of her torso.
Kortne was described as a free spirit who loves spending time with her family. She was a lover of animals, especially her dog Sheba a black lab she received when she was 8 years old as a birthday gift.
Palmyra, PA is located to the east of the town of Hershey, known for its chocolate and amusement park.
July 28, 2012 – Party Time
The story starts around 9:00 pm on Saturday, July 28, 2012. Kortne and her boyfriend, Brad Herr, were throwing a small party in their apartment at 810 West Main Street in Palmyra. They had moved there in early 2012.
Kortne and Brad’s apartment was on the 2nd floor of a converted home.
This small party got loud and soon after the police arrived having possibly been contacted by one of her neighbors. At this party were 7 people including Kortne and Brad. Unfortunately for Brad, his probation officer showed up. Since there was alcohol being consumed, it was a violation of Brad’s probation. There are also two underage minors present. He was taken into custody and placed in Lebanon County Prison, where he would stay for the next week. Brad had been recently arrested for a DUI. He was on house arrest and was not allowed to be drinking.
Kortne was livid and believed that her boyfriend’s probation violation would lead to longer incarceration for him. She felt that her neighbors, Janice Riemenschneider and Rick Sheetz, who lived in the apartment below, had called the police about their party, and that lead to his probation officer showing up. Kortne texted her brother to ask him if he wanted to go out as she was having a rough day, but he declined.
Heading Out
Next, Kortne drove to The Gas Station, a bar in the neighboring town of Hummelstown. She asked her friends, Cody Pruett and Milton Rodriguez Jr. if they wanted to go to Second Street. It’s a popular destination in Harrisburg that is lined with restaurants and bars. The group left in Rodriguez’s 2004 Acura.
Upon arrival at Second Street, they went to Sawyers – Harrisburg’s finest meat/meet market for the unruly nighttime-enjoying younger crowd. It had giant beer pong games, large dance (deck) floor, and a decent bar inside. After Sawyers, the group traveled down the block to The Hardware Bar. It’s a popular bar in the image of Coyote Ugly, located on 2nd Street.
The group was not there long before Kortne got into a verbal altercation with another couple. This argument could have been over Kortne confronting them about a break-in that had occurred at her apartment. Kortne was kicked out of the bar.
A friend of Kortne’s, Jesica Laton, saw Kortne storm past the 2nd Street Pizza shop she was in and soon the group was on their way back towards Palmyra.
Back Home
Upon returning home with Cody, Kortne got into argument with another neighbor, Todd Saksek. She then got into another argument with Riemenschneider and Sheetz, about what had happened earlier with her boyfriend’s detainment. She was obviously still upset over it. According to Riemenschneider and Sheetz, Cody had stepped between them. Then he turned and made hostile remarks towards them so they closed their door and called the police.
Patrolman Timothy Lengle, arrived around 3:15 am. Officer Lengle cleared the scene sending everyone back to their apartments and stayed there until around 3:45 am. Soon after, the police were contacted again at 4:15 am due to the sounds of stomping and yelling from Kortne’s apartment. When the police arrived for the third time that night all the lights were off. When the officer knocked no one answered at either Kortne’s or Saksek’s door so he assumed everything had quieted down and he left around 4:36 am.
Cody, who had spent the night, woke up around 7 am on Sunday. Not seeing Kortne he figured she was still sleeping in another room. He left the apartment to go to a convenience store down the street. Cody was caught on surveillance cameras buying food and drink. He used a payphone to call Kortne and leave a message. He used his phone to text someone, presumably Kortne texting “I didn’t see you when I woke up” and he returned to Rodriguez’s home.
Monday, July 30, 2012 – Mom Looks for Kortne
Kortne’s mother, Wendy Hummel, was worried when she hadn’t heard from her daughter and had a bad feeling. Kortne had failed to report to work that morning. She had enough of a bad feeling that she went over to Kortne’s apartment to check on her. When she entered her daughter’s apartment through an unlocked door, she found Kortne’s cell phone, keys, and wallet.
She also found her beloved dog, Sheba, who was known to go with Kortne almost everywhere. Brad’s dog was also in the apartment. Both appeared to not have been fed for some time. Kortne’s car was also out front with all of the windows down. The police were called and the family made a missing person’s report.
The police to their credit immediately looked into Kortne’s disappearance as a homicide. This was due to what was left behind and what had occurred the night before. Unfortunately, they didn’t know where to go from there since there was absolutely no trace of Kortne and there was no evidence of foul play in her apartment. No notes were left by Kortne, there was no blood nor was there any sign of struggle.
Palmyra PD Investigation
- Tuesday, July 31, 2012
- At 2:25 pm Palmyra PD issues a missing person’s news release
- August 1, 2012
- Search warrants are executed for Kortne’s apartment and her car, a Ford Fusion, was impounded.
- Riemenschneider (49) and Sheetz (57) lives were put under the microscope. However, they cooperated with police even allowing searches of their apartment.
- August 8, 2012
- Stouffer’s family and 50 volunteers searched nearby fields and the woods near her apartment with no luck.
- August 9, 2012
- Another search of Kortne’s apartment is conducted this time with scent dogs and I believe cadaver dogs, but again with no luck.
- August 10, 2012
- A search warrant is executed for Melvin Rodriguez’s car and home. Not sure if anything is found or not, but at this time there have been no arrests or persons of interest mentioned by the police. The Lebanon County District Attorney states that both Pruett and Rodriguez are not considered persons of interest or suspects.
2014 – Lake is Searched
Police are contacted by Amanda Ballistar who informed the police that she may know where Kortne’s body is. She is quoted as saying “two people that I’m convinced have done this basically went to her apartment seeking drugs and money that were in there.” “They stole the money, from what I understand, and then killed Kortne, rolled her up into a carpet and drove to Memorial Lake, weighed down her body, and threw her into the lake to dispose of the body.”
Memorial Lake is an 85-acre lake located in East Hanover Township. The authorities conducted a search of the lake with divers and sonar, but nothing was found. Another body of water was also searched due to an anonymous tip that came from a second-hand source. This time it was Weaber’s Sawmill Pond in Annville, Lebanon County. The police told Scott Stauffer, Kortne’s dad that the pond was thoroughly searched using underwater cameras and unmanned submarines. Again, nothing was found.
Theories & Rumors:
- One rumor floating around was that Brad and Kortne were drug dealers and that they stole $3,000 worth of drugs they were supposed to sell. This may also be what the argument was about at The Hardware Bar with the couple. The male is an alleged drug dealer that they may have owed the money to.
- The neighbors had something to do with Kortne’s disappearance due to lots of tension in the apartment building.
- Cody Pruett was involved as he was the last one to see her alive. Again, rumors were that Cody had feelings for Kortne, and perhaps he had made a move on her that night that was not reciprocated. The noises that the neighbors heard (screaming and stomping) may have been Kortne fighting for her life and it was her attempt to get her downstairs neighbor’s attention. To back up this theory how does Kortne go from being calm when the police are there not 22 minutes earlier to stomping and yelling then back to no sounds at all. Also, Cody calls from the convenience store even though he had a cell phone that he had texted her on. Was this to create an alibi, be seen on tape, and get a receipt for the items he purchased?
- Someone took advantage of Brad’s detainment and went to Kortne’s apartment looking for money and drugs and things went horribly wrong. The problem with that theory is that Cody did not hear anything as Kortne would have put up a fight and nobody heard her dog barking. Also, there was no sign of a struggle in the apartment.
Reward
As of April 2017, the reward for any information leading to the whereabouts of Kortne Stouffer, who will be 28 on the 7th anniversary of her disappearance, is up to $100,000.
The family hired a private detective, Leah Hopewell. If you have any information please call her at 717-348-3205. You can also email her at lhopewellpi@comcast.net or visit her website lhopewellpi.com. You can also contact Lebanon County Crime Stoppers at 717-270-9800.
There is also a Facebook page entitled Kortne Stouffer Remember Me that you can check out.
ID Discovery aired an episode that aired in April 2017 about Kortne’s case. As of December 2017, the National Crime Information Center’s Missing Person files contained over 88,000 active cases. Adults over 21 years old account for over 14,000 of them.
Resources
- Kortne Stouffer’s family, investigators hold fast to hope six years later
- Police, parents still looking for Kortne 5 years later
- Woman claims Kortne Stouffer’s body was dumped in Memorial Lake
- Kortne Stouffer has been missing a quarter of her life, leaving family gutted but still searching
- Where is Kortne Stouffer? – The True Crime Times
- Woman, 21, vanishes from apartment after 3 police visits in one night
- Kortne Stouffer Missing: Milton Rodriguez, Jr., Cody Pruett Questioned About Disappeared Woman
- Kortne Stouffer- Remember Me – Home
- The disappearance of Kortne Stouffer, six years later
- Kortne Stouffer disappeared amid volatile circumstances, her father says
- What Happened The Night Of Kortne Stouffer’s Disappearance | Disappeared
- EPISODE 70: Kortne Stouffer
- Woman who tipped off police puzzled by search for Kortne Stouffer in Memorial Lake
- Unsolved in Pa: The case of Kortne Stouffer
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