Kortne Stouffer was 21 when she vanished from her apartment in Palmyra, Pennsylvania on July 29, 2012.
Kortne’s father is Scott Stouffer, her mother is Wendy Stouffer Hammel. Wendy has at least five children according to online sources – Kortne, Ryan, Austin and Kerstin are some of their names.
Around the time of her disappearance, Kortne had worked as a salon and spa employee and as a pet groomer.
Her sister Kerstin said that Kortne was “carefree” and “very loud.’” She was also described as a happy, a modern-day free spirit. Kerstin said that Kortne was “an energetic, lively, happy-go-lucky person.”
“She was always wanting to put a smile on your face,” she said. “She was always the life of the party wherever she was at, and she was just a loving, kind human being.”
Kortne was dating a man named Bradley Herr in 2012. They lived together in an apartment in Palmyra.
This is a timeline of the hours leading up to her disappearance:
On Saturday July 28, 2012, Kortne and Brad hosted a party at their apartment. Police were called at around 9pm by a neighbor. Authorities responded to a report of an underage drinking party.
When they arrived, police found around 8 people at the apartment. Brad was taken into custody for a probation violation. Two other attendees were cited for underage drinking and were later released.
Police broke up the party and when they left, Kortne was the only one left in the apartment.
After Brad was taken into custody, Kortne was upset. She called her mother at 9.50pm and said that she was worried Brad would now go to jail for a long time.
At 10.07pm, she got texts from two of her friends – Cody Pruett and Milton Rodriguez. They asked her to join them at a bar in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania.
Kortne drove to a venue called the Gas Station Bar and the others met her there. She rode with the others to the Hardware Bar in Harrisburg. That bar has now permanently closed.
Kortne’s father Scott has said of the circumstances leading to her disappearance “It all goes back to some of the people that were around her that night.”
At around 1.50am on Sunday, July 29, 2012, Kortne got into a brief altercation. Some reports say that the fight was with the girlfriend of a man named Arvard Brown. News Nation reports that Kortne actually fought with a man that she believed had stolen money from her in the past.
Kortney was asked to leave and became separated temporarily from her group. They ended up finding each other. The group went to get some pizza and returned to their vehicle.
At 2.45am, the group drove back to Palmyra. This is around 17 miles/25 mins drive from Harrisburg. Cody was the designated driver and he was driving Milton’s vehicle.
Cody dropped off some other members of their party first, and then dropped Milton to his home. Kortne asked him to take her back to the Gas Station Bar so that she could get her car. He did so, and then followed Kortne back to her apartment in his vehicle.
When Kortne got home at around 3am, it was reported that she got into a verbal argument with two neighbors that she suspected had made the report to police the night prior. Cody is believed to have been with her at that time.
One neighbor named Todd called police at 3.12am and said that Kortne was threatening him. He told police that she had gone into her apartment and that a man with her (presumably Cody) was also making trouble. Todd and Kortne were reported to have never gotten along. The week before she vanished, Kortne called her mother and said that Todd was ‘videotaping’ her.
Police arrived at the complex a few minutes later, at 3.15am. Both sides attempted to argue their case. Officers believed all involved were under the influence and told them all to go back into their own homes.
At 4.11am, one of the neighbors called police again and said that Kortne was screaming through the walls and stomping on the floors. He also said that she was screaming threats towards other neighbors.
Police went back to the complex again at 4.31am. They were not able to make contact with Kortne. They did hear a dog inside the residence. They knocked and looked into windows, but were not able to gain access to her place. News Nation reports that by that time, everything was quiet and dark so police left.
Cody would later tell Kortne’s family Kortne had started harassing the neighbors again but he managed to get her to calm down. He said that they went to sleep in separate rooms at around 4am. He said that he woke up at approximately 7am (some reports say it was closer to 8am) and noticed that Kortne was not there, so he left.
After Cody left the apartment, he stopped at a convenience store to make a purchase and was seen there on CCTV. He texted Kortne at this time and did not get a reply. He apparently also tried to call Kortne’s phone from a payphone which seems interesting as he had a working cell.
At 7.30am, one of the neighbors who had been fighting with Kortne during the night went to authorities to make a formal complaint against her.
Kortne had been due to meet her family that day at a fair. When she did not show up, they went to her apartment to check on her. They found her purse, keys, phone and car had been left there but there was no sign of Kortne. They also said her front door had been left unlocked and her dog was left there unattended. The TV and air conditioner had also both been left on.
“I just don’t believe for one second that many people can be involved with my daughter that night, in such a short period of time, and have no information and have no idea what happened to her,” Scott said.
Scott reported Kortne missing at 2.42pm on July 30, 2012.
Police began investigating the disappearance. Investigators have said everyone in contact with Kortne that night was interviewed multiple times. They have also confirmed that they were looking into two break-ins at Kortne’s apartment before her disappearance.
Some of the people who were questioned included Cody and Milton, Arvard (the person who she had argued with at the bar), as well as the neighbors in her complex.
Cody has been reported to have been very cooperative and gave his DNA. Authorities searched Milton’s car and home, as well as Cody’s home, and nothing suspicious was said to have been found.
Todd’s home was also searched and there was nothing found either there or in his vehicle to link him to Kortne’s disappearance.
There was a Disappeared episode on this case, and it was reported in that, that Todd had called the landlady and said that if she would not deal with the ‘situation’, he would.
Arvard told police that he had an alibi for the time that Kortne disappeared. He said that he and his girlfriend had been at his parents’ home. Arvard was arrested later in 2012 for breaking and entering and armed robbery – unrelated to Kortne’s case.
One theory that has emerged is that the screaming that was reported by the neighbors around 4am was actually Kortne fighting off an attacker. It has been speculated that when police arrived shortly after that and found the apartment quiet and dark, that she was already dead.
A rumor spread around the town, speculating that Kortne had been murdered and her body had been disposed of in a lake. This info is from a blog titled ‘Stories of the Unsolved’
In March 2014, a local woman contacted Scott about a conversation she’d overheard between two acquaintances. They’d said they’d killed Kortne while stealing marijuana and money from her apartment, after which they rolled her body into a carpet and threw it into Memorial Lake,
The lake was searched twice, with no results.
Some reports do indicate that Cody was cleared, however many are skeptical of this. This is info regarding a possible Cody theory from reddit:
According to friends and family, Cody had a crush on her for YEARS. Her boyfriend’s in jail, and she goes out with him for drinks. He takes her home, is spending the night, probably expects something of her. Things don’t go his way, and a fight/struggles ensues. Kortne is unfortunately murdered during this fight, and Cody disposes of the body quietly, more than likely in the boot of his car.
He left a note in her apartment before leaving that morning, and called her phone from a PAYPHONE. He had a working cellphone. Why would he do this? To set up an alibi for himself, obviously. When she’s reported missing, he uses the “I was drinking and I’m a heavy sleeper,” excuse, and the police have him on camera at Sheetz , so they practically clear him of any involvement right away.
This is a social media post that Kortne’s sister allegedly made, referencing Cody and Milton.
“I don’t know what else it’s going to take….they were seen cleaning out the car the next day “to return to their grandma”. There is an eye witness that saw them taking muddy shovels out of their truck along with taking their muddy boots off on the tailgate of their truck soon after she disappeared and now they post some shit like this on facebook. HELLO DETECTIVES..
Also the last time the cops were called was for a noise complaint from the neighbors of stomping on the floor above them and the dog barking. Well her dog wasn’t a barker and never was. I think kortne wasn’t stomping to piss the neighbors off but she was being attacked by cody and fighting for her life and the dog was witnessing it and barking to try and protect kortne. There was a missing carpet from her apartment obviously what they used to roll her up in after things had gotten out of hand…”
One other theory is that word of Brad’s arrest spread quickly. It has been suggested that someone thought with him gone, the apartment would be an easy target for money or drugs. Kortne’s parents spoke in the Disappeared episode about their concerns. They said that they thought she had been getting in with the wrong crowd.
This is a comment from reddit – the poster has now deleted their account but including it for interest.
In 2017 I attended a house party and over heard a gentleman, his name was Ben that’s all I remember. But he claimed to know that early that morning 2 men were tipped off about a couple lbs of weed and a stash of cash that was inside the apartment. Apparently the assailants assumed she’d be sleeping, but wasn’t. There was a small struggle and from he said “they strangled her and dumped her at the quarry”.
Scott has spoken to the media many times in the years after Kortne disappeared. On the 11th anniversary, in 2023, he said “There’s a lot of emptiness; there’s always hope. A lot of my family bonds together pretty well and we’re strong for each other. We definitely want answers, and I don’t think we deserve an emptiness for the rest of our lives.”
Scott also said that there had not been much communication about the case between the officials involved and his family. He also said that new information has come out from State Police, but he was not at liberty to disclose it to the media.
Scott said he was frustrated that there were aspects of the case that had not been investigated for over ten years.
“I think there’s someone accountable, and they need to be held responsible and help give everybody involved some closure as well give them their just punishment,” said Scott.
“I mean, I wish we could just snap our fingers and blink our eyes and that she would come back in just the way that she left and that we didn’t have to live with 11 years of trauma and heartbreak and everything that she’s missed, but it’s not a perfect world,” he said.
Kerstin said “I, in my heart, believe that something bad happened to her 11 years ago and that there are still people walking around this town that definitely know what happened or were involved in it.”
Kortne’s family spoke to the media again in 2024. “It is still an ongoing case,” Kerstin said. “It’s not closed. It’s still open, and we’re still trying to find out what happened to her.”
“Kortne may have been a little misguided, but she had a good spirit,” Scott said. “She was a beautiful person. There’s no reason I didn’t get to walk her down the aisle and see her have children, and I’m very frustrated with the pursuit of the case.”
“It’s just frustrating,” Scott said. “Twelve years later these people are still walking around, (while) we have no closure. We have no answers. My family suffers every day.”
Human remains were found in York, PA in December 2024. The remains were found around one hour away from where Kortne disappeared.
The detective investigating the case confirmed to CBS 21 they received tips about a potential connection to Kortne, as the sketches bear resemblance. In June 2025, it was confirmed that the remains do not belong to Kortne. The person remains unidentified.
At the time of her disappearance, Kortne had shoulder-length blond hair, green eyes, tattoos on her arm and was 5 feet 8 inches tall. A $100,000 reward has been offered to anyone with information about what happened to Kortne.
July 29, 2025 will mark 13 years since Kortne vanished.
SOURCE LIST
https://www.facebook.com/kortne.stouffer
https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap/missing-persons/kortne-ciera-stouffer
https://www.newsnationnow.com/missing/kortne-stouffer
https://local21news.com/news/local/fairview-township-police-asking-public-to-help-identify-remains
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