COLUMBIA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Investigators say a man is facing charges for allegedly killing his wife after the victim's sister and a search party discovered her remains in a box on the property he used to own.
37-year-old Vincent Harp, of Hemlock Township, was arrested Sunday and faces charges of criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence in the death of his wife, 33-year-old Katlyn Harp.
An investigation began on June 20, when Katlyn's sister requested a welfare check after not having any communication with her. Vincent was questioned on the victim's disappearance, and police stated, "(Vincent) Harp was inconsistent with his movements before, during, and after Katyln's disappearance."
Through further investigation, police gathered surveillance video of Vincent's whereabouts when Katlyn first went missing, and they reviewed his cell phone locations. In the videos, authorities said he is seen driving with a large green box in the bed of his vehicle.
On Saturday, a state police forensics team searched the Harp home on Fairview Drive.
Some of the evidence detailed in the complaint includes security camera video from a VFW near Bloomsburg.
According to the complaint, Harp's Chevrolet Silverado was seen on June 20 passing the location, also consistent with his cellular activity.
Then on June 29, state police received a call from Katlyn's sister stating she and a search party believed they found her on Harp Lane in Montour Township, at a property Vincent previously owned.
Once on the scene, investigators said a large green metal box, matching the one seen on video on the back of Vincent's truck, was discovered along the mountainside of his former property.
As stated in the affidavit, "the box had a strong odor of decomposition... opening the box, human remains were discovered, Katyln Harp was identified via a tattoo."
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Investigators say public interest in Harp's disappearance helped provide useful information.
"The social media tips and public input, did it play a factor, push it forward?" 28/22 News I-Team Reporter Andy Mehalshick asked.
"Without a doubt. Investigators were working every single day, every tip that was put on PSP Tips Facebook page, were called into 911, or reached out to the State Police directly. They were looked into and determined whether it was a credible tip or not, so credible tip, but you know, we appreciate the fact that the public was so concerned with this case, and rightfully so," Pennsylvania State Police Hazleton Trooper Anthony Petroski explained.
Troopers say the investigation is ongoing.
"We will still take any tips or any information that people may have in relation to this case. The arrest was made, but the investigation is ongoing to this point. In just over a week, we served 20 search warrants in just a week," Trooper Petroski added.
Vincent Harp's preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 14.
The Columbia County Coroner, Jeremy Reese, released the findings of an autopsy on the body of Katlyn Harp Monday afternoon.
According to the release, the body was "in an advanced state of decomposition secondary to being placed in the container consistent with a military type storage locker for over a week."
The coroner added there was no evidence of gunshot wounds or penetrating trauma, and "no fractures to the extremity bones."
Additional testing has to be done, including toxicology tests, to determine the cause of death, according to the coroner.
You can find the full release with details of the coroner's findings below:
HARP-Media-Release-2-063025Download
