REEDSVILLE, Pa. — About a four-hour drive from where police say well-known D.C. photographer Joe Shymanski was killed in his Calvert County, Maryland home, police say they made a gruesome discovery in a quiet community of around 500 people.
Police say they found Shymanski's killer and what they believe are his remains not far from the suspect's home.
"This is just a total shock to us because I never in a million years would have imagined something like this could have happened in this area," said Reedsville resident Peggy Fisher.
People here say this alleged crime is hard to even think about.
"The shock is setting in," said resident Lisa Hershey. "It’s kind of hitting me in my stomach and making me a little more sick than I was before."
According to those close to the investigation, Calvert County deputies used license plate reading technology in the area near Joe Shymanski’s home to spot Brandon Holbrook's out-of-state plates.
And while they won’t say how they did it, police say they also found a connection between Holbrook and Shymanski’s ex-wife, who, according to court records, lives about 30 minutes from Holbrook’s Pennsylvania home.
Investigators say they found Holbrook earlier this week at his home on Logan Street in Reedsville.
"Mr. Holbrook was cooperative and agreed to speak with us," said Chief Andre French with the Mifflin County Regional Police Department. "Through the course of that conversation and with some things that were in plain view in the residence, we turned from a missing person investigation to a probable homicide investigation."
Neighbors say when police asked them where someone might try to hide evidence they led them down a narrow gravel lane behind Holbrook's home.
Just a few hundred feet down the road, police say they found what they believe are Shymanski’s remains next to a creek.
"I think that’s probably one of the most disturbing things is the fact that there are remains, pieces of remains here," said Fisher, one of Holbrook's neighbors. "That made it scary."
She and other neighbors said Holbrook has lived in the house for the past couple of years and mostly kept to himself – in a neighborhood where people typically know each other well.
Court records show Holdbrook has multiple convictions for indecent exposure, including a July arrest for exposing himself to women at a gym. But neighbors say that does not explain how he could have murdered a man. Their hope now is for answers and justice for Shymanski.
"That’s all you can hope for at this point," said Hershey, whose home is near the lane where remains were found.
Chief French said, "These cases are so tough. We have to provide some sort of a form of justice and closure for the victim and his family."
Police say it will take DNA testing to definitively say the human remains are Shymanski's.
French said, "DNA confirmation will take some time. But, we have every reason to believe that the remains found here...are that of the missing person from Maryland."