ERIE, PA — An Indiana man has been charged with murder, rape and kidnapping in the 2002 disappearance and presumed death of 20-year-old Sabrina Kahler, whose body has never been found, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.
David Heck, now 50, was charged Monday following an investigation involving the Attorney General’s Cold Case Section, local authorities and the 54th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury. Authorities said Heck was taken into custody at his Indiana home late Monday night.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, the grand jury heard testimony from numerous witnesses and returned a presentment recommending charges against Heck in connection with Kahler’s disappearance on June 24, 2002.
Investigators allege Heck arrived unexpectedly at Kahler’s family home in the 1200 block of East Third Street in Erie and asked her to go swimming. Authorities said Heck was a cousin of Kahler’s boyfriend and had previously gone swimming with them.
Kahler agreed to accompany Heck, who drove approximately 25 miles to Eagley Park, according to investigators. Authorities said Heck became involved in a confrontation there with his former girlfriend and others before he and Kahler went to the Tasty Twist ice cream shop.
The Attorney General’s Office said Heck, who was on probation at the time, contacted police about the confrontation. Officers responded to Tasty Twist and saw Heck and Kahler there, according to investigators.
Authorities allege Heck later drove Kahler to the Fairview Gravel Pits, a heavily wooded area containing bodies of water. Witnesses reported seeing Kahler in Heck’s Chevrolet Blazer near the area, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
Investigators allege Heck raped and killed Kahler at the gravel pits. According to authorities, a fisherman reported hearing a woman give what he described as a “blood-curdling scream” before seeing a man he later believed matched Heck’s photograph emerge from the woods alone.
The Attorney General’s Office also said a former cellmate testified that Heck later claimed he had raped and killed a girl at the Fairview Gravel Pits and that she had screamed.
Investigators allege Heck then went to a bowling alley and enlisted acquaintance Douglas Heim to help move Kahler’s body. Heim testified before the grand jury that he helped move and bury Kahler’s body at Elk Creek Access, according to authorities.
Another acquaintance, Terry Kellerman, testified that Heck made statements about killing a girl, the Attorney General’s Office said.
Authorities said searches have continued at and around Elk Creek Access, an area investigators described as prone to flooding and significantly changed over the past 24 years. Kahler’s remains have not been recovered.
In the days after Kahler disappeared, friends and relatives searched for her and ultimately reported her missing, according to authorities. Investigators said Heck avoided people who questioned him about her whereabouts and was later found by police hiding beneath blankets at a friend’s home.
A court declared Kahler deceased in 2009.
Attorney General Dave Sunday said previously reluctant witnesses and other evidence presented to the grand jury contributed to the decision to charge Heck. Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz’s office is working with the Attorney General’s Office on the prosecution.
The Attorney General’s Cold Case Section, created in January 2026, is led by Senior Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Schorn, who will prosecute the case alongside Hirz.
All suspects, arrestees, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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