His mutilated body was found in a field in a rural area in Rockdale, Pennsylvania. VanDyke’s head and feet had been chopped off and his body stuffed into a drum.
DNA tests had to be performed in order to identify the body but police said they were already sure the butchered body was that of VanDyke.
The autopsy revealed that prior to being chopped up, VanDyke had been shot through the heart with a hunting arrow, piercing is aorta.
VanDyke’s longtime girlfriend, Tina Skelton had told her father Richard Alfred Houy, 68, of Cambridge that she wanted to break up with VanDyke.
According to police there was bad blood between Skelton and VanDyke.
A day before police made the gruesome discovery they had already arrested Houy and charged him with the murder of VanDyke based on a confession state police said Houy gave them.
Richard Houy reportedly killed VanDyke for his daughter, Tina Skelton.
VanDyke’s family members cannot believe it and were absolutely horrified and disgusted when they heard the details of his murder.
VanDkye’s aunt said, “Who would ever remove parts of the body?”
“It is one thing to get angry and kill someone, but to dismember him — that is about as low as you can get.”
Police later found parts of VanDykes truck that had been dismantled and scrapped.
Police charged Houy with Murder of the First Degree, Abuse of a Corpse, Tampering with or Fabricating Evidence, and False Reports to Law Enforcement.
Houy is being held without bond in Crawford County Jail.