Marple's Gretchen Harrington Tragedy: Kidnapping, Murder and Innocence Lost in Suburban Philadelphia

by Michael Mathis, Joanna Falcone Sullivan

Friday, Aug. 15, 1975 began as a typical summer day in the suburbs. Young children played with their friends, adults prepared for work or planned for their vacation at the Jersey Shore... That all changed in the hours before noon, when Gretchen Harrington, the 8-year-old daughter of a Presbyterian minister and his wife, was kidnapped while walking to a vacation Bible school less than a quarter-mile from her house. Her body was found by a jogger in a state park nearly two months later. The crime forever changed the lives of the children who were near Gretchen's age and their parents, many of whom chose to live in Marple Township because they considered it a safe refuge from the crime-ridden streets of Philadelphia. Journalists Mike Mathis and Joanna Falcone Sullivan examine the kidnapping, murder and the nearly five-decade long investigation through rare access to police files in what is still considered an open investigation.

112 pages, Paperback

Published October 31, 2022

Reviews

[Chuck Mankin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a great book. I lived this story from the day it started. My father was the lead detective on this case and he carried this case with him until his death. Gretchen's kidnapping changed my life and the life of everyone my age in our town. In 1975 I was the same age as she was. We were mostly free range kids in our neighborhood. We had our boundaries we couldn't cross which were for the most part major roadways but other than that we wandered and explored all day and into the evening. Suddenly we couldn't leave the yard without telling someone exactly where we were going. We couldn't walk to the store anymore or just hang out with friends. To say the stress level was high in my house would be an understatement. The case was never really discussed but it changed my dad.
This book not only gives details of the case, many of which I wasn't even aware of, but also a glimpse into that quiet life we lived in Broomall PA.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A heartbreaking story, which I would give a much higher rating if the style of writing didn't seemed like a term paper for history class.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reporting by Mike and Joanna to tell the story of Gretchen Harrington’s murder and unsolved case. What happened to Gretchen is one of every parent’s worst nightmares and at some points in reading this book I felt sick to my stomach at the thought of how that child felt, what she went through at the end of her life, and the unfathomable grief and loss her parents felt. I am not a history buff, and a section on the history of the area Gretchen lived felt unnecessary to the broader story. I also spotted some errors in the content, including pages 42 and 43. But overall, this book was executed with true passion for bringing a comprehensive lens to this case. I worked with Mike several years ago and wasn’t surprised this book was researched well and read well!