An autistic woman looking for love online was sadly met with a violent end when the man whom she had been speaking with killed her and dumped her body in a wooded area.
According to authorities, 26-year-old Erica Shultz of Columbia County, Pennsylvania, conversed with 42-year-old Harold D. Haulman III on the popular dating app, MeetMe. Shultz was reported missing on December 6th by her sister when she failed to show up to work.
Police discovered that the young woman’s cell phone records confirmed that she had been in contact with Haulman. The investigation concluded that their mobile devices had been together on the night of December 4th at Shultz’s Railroad Street apartment. The cell phones traveled together along Interstate 80, connecting to the same cell towers as they traveled. Along the way, Shultz’s phone became disconnected from the towers in the Milton, PA area.
FBI agents questioned Haulman on December 23rd and obtained a warrant to place a GPS tracker on Haulman’s van beforehand. After the man did not show up for his follow-up interview, authorities tracked his vehicle through Michigan, Ohio, before he arrived on Christmas Day in Duncannon, PA, where his wife resides. Police were able to locate him walking along train tracks in Duncannon. He was found with slashes on his arms from a box cutter. He allegedly told authorities, “I want to kill myself” and “I need to die for my sins.”
After being taken to a hospital for his injuries, Haulman later confessed and told authorities where he had concealed Shultz’s body using Google Maps. Authorities were able to recover her remains on Sunday. While he did not provide a motive, the man told police that he and Shultz went walking into the woods in Butler Township. Once there, he bludgeoned her nearly a dozen times with a hammer. Afterward, he said that he stabbed Shultz repeatedly with a kitchen knife.
Haulman has been charged with kidnapping, criminal homicide, and abuse of a corpse.
