Body of Erica Shultz missing Bloomsburg Pennsylvania woman found after man autistic woman met on dating app admitted to killing her.
The body of a missing Pennsylvania woman has been found after a man who met her online directed authorities to the whereabouts of her body after reportedly admitting to killing her.
Erica Shultz‘s sister reported her missing from Bloomberg, Columbia County on December 6, when the 26 year old failed to show up for work. Investigators searched Shultz’s cellphone and noticed numerous calls and messages to someone close to Interstate 80, near mile marker 219.
Investigators determined that Schultz, who was autistic, had been communicating via an online date app with Harold D. Haulman III, 42, a truck driver and reported transient according to Penn Patriot News.
After obtaining court orders and search warrants, police found that both Shultz’s and Haulman’s cellphones had been together at Shultz’s Railroad Street apartment in Bloomsburg on the night of December 4. Police say the phones stayed together as they traveled west along Interstate 80, connecting to cell towers along the way until her phone became disconnected from the towers in the Milton, PA area.
Another search warrant obtained for Haulman’s cell phone revealed the phone was located on Perry Road, Battle Creek, MI.
Picked her up on December and drove her 30 miles into the woods
On December 23, FBI agents contacted Haulman and questioned him about Schultz. Initially, Haulman denied knowing where Shultz was. He then failed up to show up for a follow-up interview.
On Christmas Day, agents tracked Haulman’s cellphone to his wife’s home in Duncannon. The following day, authorities spotted him walking along railroad tracks in Duncannon. According to police, Haulman had slashed his arms with a box cutter, stating, ‘I want to kill myself’ and ‘I need to die for my sins.’
Authorities took Haulman to an area hospital, where he asked for his cellphone and glasses. He then pulled up Google Maps on his phone and showed investigators where to locate the victim. Shultz’s body was later found near the intersection of Interstates 80 and 81.
Haulman allegedly admitted to investigators that he was walking in the woods with Shultz after having earlier in the evening of December 4 gone to her place and picked her up and driving her 30 miles from her home when he started beating her in the head with a mallet. Afterward, Haulman allegedly stabbed Shultz numerous times with a kitchen knife.
Victim used various dating apps to meet men
One of Shultz’s friend said that she used numerous dating apps to meet people. One of the men she met, who Shultz referred to as ‘Dave,’ reportedly told her that he wanted her to ‘pack everything up and go away with him,’ according to Fox56.
Shultz’s friend warned her to be careful and cautioned her about using the dating app, but Shultz decided to meet up with ‘Dave,’ to ‘see how things go.’
On December 5, Shultz met her date. The following day she stopped returning calls and messages.
After Haulman admitted to the killing, he told investigators that he had sex with Shultz one time but didn’t want to be in a relationship with her. He added that something was wrong with him and he thought about killing others, but never went through with it.
On December 26th, Haulman sent his wife a text proclaiming his love for her and saying sorry for failing their marriage. Court documents say that he wrote, ‘but I have some good news, you no longer have to fear me for any reason, I have made a decision that is just best for everyone.’
Following the discovery of the missing woman’s body, Haulman was charged with abuse of a corpse, criminal homicide, and kidnapping. He remains behind bars without bail.
