ATLANTA — Investigators in California are looking to see if there are any connections between a missing child case from 1991 to a former pastor who is now in jail for murdering an 8-year-old girl in Pennsylvania nearly 50 years ago.

David Zandstra has been living in Marietta for the past 18 years with his family. Last week, he was arrested in the 1975 murder of 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington, who vanished while walking to Bible school.

Zandstra was the pastor at one of the two churches the Bible school was held. Harrington’s father was the pastor of the second church.

Prior to moving to Georgia nearly two decades ago, Zandstra lived in Fairfield, California. During his time living there, Amanda Campbell disappeared and has never been found.

“Our research has led us to believe the suspect, David Zandstra, lived in the Fairfield area around the time Amanda Campbell went missing,” the Fairfield Police Department said in an email on Thursday.

The department said it is the only connection they have between the two, but it has assigned a detective from its Special Victims’ Unit to look into the case and see if Zandstra could be a suspect in the girls’ disappearance.

Detective Phil Stoddard with the Cobb County Police Department said Cobb County Police were contacted by Pennsylvania state troopers two months ago and they requested police reach out to Zandstra and ask him about his ties to the family.

It was inside a room at the Cobb County Police Department that he confessed.

“A lot of times, when one is in custody, there’s a lot of questions about what’s going to happen next. ‘What am I being charged with?’” Stoddard said. “We got none of those questions from Mr. Zandstra.”

A Pennsylvania state trooper whose cracked numerous cold cases gave Harrington’s case a fresh set of eyes, re-interviewing witnesses. He found alarming information, including a diary with disturbing allegations, that led him to Zandstra.

Zandstra pastored at five different congregations for the Christian Reformed Church in North America.

The organization issued a statement extending their condolences to the Harrington family and saying they are grieved to hear that a CRC pastor was responsible for her murder.

“We join in prayer for the Harrington family and the Broomall, Pa., community. We are grateful that local law enforcement did not stop in their pursuit of answers, and we pray that the truth for Gretchen and any other survivors of abuse or violence will continue to come to light. We also commit to continue striving for our congregations to be places of peace, welcome, hospitality, and safety for all who attend and visit. As a denomination, we work hard to help our congregations be safe places that actively prevent abuse in all its forms. We encourage all congregations to have safe church policies and procedures in place to help prevent abuse.”

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