Tracy Marie Kroh

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Pennsylvania State Police (PA)

Missing From:

Millersburg, Pennsylvania

Summary:

Tracy Marie Kroh was a 17-year-old honor student from Millersburg, Pennsylvania, who disappeared on August 5, 1989, after visiting her sister at Alex Acres Trailer Park in Halifax. Her car was found abandoned the next day in Millersburg town square with no trace of her. Her case remains unsolved, though authorities have named suspects and conducted multiple property searches.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

On Saturday, August 5, 1989, Tracy left her family home in Millersburg to visit her sister and brother-in-law at Alex Acres Trailer Park off Pennsylvania Route 147 in Halifax, approximately seven miles away. She arrived around 10 p.m., but found them not at home. She left a barbecue grill and grocery store coupons on their front porch. Tracy then headed toward Millersburg town square, where she may have been seen sitting on store steps earlier that evening. She was last seen at Alex Acres Trailer Park at 10 p.m. on August 5. Tracy never returned home. On August 6, her parents realized she had not spent the night at her sister's house as they had assumed. Police located her blue-striped white 1971 Mercury Comet parked in Millersburg town square that evening. Her belongings were not in the vehicle, and there was no trace of her.

Additional Details:

Tracy was reported missing on August 6, 1989, because her parents initially thought she had stayed at her sister's house, as she often did. In December 1993, four years later, parts of Tracy's wallet including her driver's license and National Honor Society card were found along Wiconisco Creek in Washington Township, nine miles from Millersburg. Investigators initially focused on Tracy's boyfriend and his family, whose parents lived a short distance from the town square, but no evidence connected them to her disappearance, and the family has maintained they were cooperative with police. In August 2019, Matthew Webster was charged with perjury after testifying before a grand jury about Tracy's disappearance. He had allegedly admitted to witness Holly Mallett that he was involved in Tracy's disappearance, claiming he and friends encountered her on the square and that 'it was supposed to be just a rape and done but then it turned out to be a lot more than that.' In December 2019, Webster pleaded no contest to felony perjury and was sentenced to four to six months but released due to time served. Mallett was also charged with perjury in July 2020 and sentenced to six to 23 months in prison. Neither was charged in Tracy's actual disappearance, only for lying about it. In May 2022, Mark Eugene Warfel was publicly named as a suspect. Warfel had close ties to the Kroh family—he was the biological father of Tracy's younger sister and had an affair with Tracy's mother Ellen. He was friends with Tracy's father Ivan and employed him at his Millersburg auto garage. Police searched Warfel's property multiple times beginning in 2016, and in 2023 demolished structures on his Jackson Township property as they searched for remains. Despite searches, no remains were found. Warfel was never formally charged in connection with Tracy's disappearance but faced other charges. In a 2022 competency hearing, he was found mentally incompetent to stand trial due to vascular dementia. Warfel died in prison on September 11, 2025, at age 92 at State Correctional Institution Laurel Highlands. Despite over 35 years of investigation and multiple leads, no one has been arrested or charged with Tracy's disappearance. Authorities treat the case as a homicide investigation and believe she was abducted, likely by someone she knew.

Case Last Updated:

Apr 30, 2026