Investigators say the vehicle’s movements, surveillance footage and digital records helped reconstruct the hours before and after Karoline Heintz was found dead.

CALIFORNIA, Pa. — A tracking device inside an 18-year-old college student’s Jeep helped her family and police locate the vehicle after she failed to return to campus, leading officers to Karoline Heintz’s body and beginning an investigation that has resulted in homicide and evidence-related charges against her boyfriend and his mother. Royce Moser, 18, and Rachel Moser, 56, have since been ordered to stand trial after prosecutors presented evidence tracing the Jeep, the defendants’ phones and their movements through Washington County.

The case began as a search for a young woman who was expected back at PennWest California. Heintz had spent time with her family on Aug. 19 and was preparing to return to college, according to police and testimony later presented in court. Her father became concerned when he could no longer reach her and her location was not appearing as expected. Authorities were told an Apple AirTag had been placed in her Jeep Cherokee, giving investigators another way to determine where the vehicle had gone. The tracking information eventually pointed police toward Wood Street in California Borough, close to the university campus.

Officers reached the Jeep shortly after midnight Aug. 20 near the California Public Library. Police have said they saw signs of blood and discovered Heintz in the rear cargo area. Body-camera video released in early September showed an officer approaching the vehicle in darkness, looking inside and immediately calling for emergency medical personnel and additional officers. The officer broke windows to gain access. The discovery changed what had begun as a welfare check into a homicide investigation, and state police soon began working backward through the vehicle’s known locations and Heintz’s final hours.

The trail led investigators to the North Strabane Township home of Royce Moser’s father. Police said Heintz had stopped there before she was supposed to return to campus. According to a criminal complaint and later preliminary-hearing testimony, Heintz and Moser were sitting in the Jeep and talking about their relationship. Trooper Jessica Bishop testified that Moser later told investigators he tried to hug and kiss Heintz but that the contact was not welcomed. He allegedly said Heintz then made a remark that angered him. Authorities have not publicly identified the exact statement that they say prompted his reaction.

Investigators allege Moser went inside the residence, obtained a kitchen knife and returned to the Jeep. He then stabbed Heintz in the chest, according to the complaint and police testimony. Moser told investigators Heintz fell from the vehicle before he moved her to the rear hatch, authorities said. He also told police that a “demon” had taken over and told him to stab her. That statement is an account attributed to Moser in court records; authorities have not presented it as an independent medical finding or an explanation established by the court.

Police allege the Jeep was then driven to Rachel Moser’s home in Beallsville. According to investigators, Royce Moser contacted his mother and asked for help. Rachel Moser allegedly provided cleaning products and latex gloves and had the Jeep brought into a garage. Investigators say she later told her son to bathe and change clothes, and that his clothing was placed in a washing machine. A knife was put into a garbage bag outside the residence, according to the criminal complaint. Police later recovered a chef’s knife after obtaining a search warrant for the property.

The Jeep did not remain in Beallsville. Investigators say mother and son traveled back toward California Borough in separate vehicles, with Royce Moser driving Heintz’s Jeep and following Rachel Moser. Surveillance footage reviewed by police allegedly showed both wearing blue latex gloves. The Jeep was ultimately left near the library with Heintz still inside, prosecutors say. Those movements became important to investigators because they connected locations already identified through the AirTag with surveillance cameras and other records that could be compared against statements the Mosers later gave police.

At a Sept. 1 preliminary hearing, prosecutors added more detail to that reconstruction. Witnesses described surveillance video, license-plate-reader information, cellphone evidence and physical items gathered during the investigation. Authorities said digital evidence helped trace the defendants’ movements through the area. Investigators also testified about internet searches recovered from Royce Moser’s phone, including searches about removing fingerprints, how long Ring camera footage is stored and whether an 18-year-old could receive the death penalty. The searches were presented as part of the prosecution’s evidence; a court has not yet determined what weight they should receive at trial.

The hearing also gave prosecutors an opportunity to present the defendants’ alleged statements alongside evidence that investigators say corroborated portions of those accounts. Bishop testified about interviewing Royce Moser and Rachel Moser after they were taken into custody. According to the testimony, Royce Moser described the encounter in the Jeep, the stabbing and his call to his mother. Rachel Moser allegedly acknowledged learning from her son that he had stabbed Heintz, although testimony indicated she did not know whether Heintz was alive or dead at a particular point in the sequence described to investigators.

Magisterial District Judge Charles A. Tenny Jr. ordered the charges against both defendants held for court after the preliminary hearing. Royce Moser faces criminal homicide along with charges involving tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, conspiracy and obstruction. Rachel Moser faces charges that include hindering apprehension or prosecution, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, conspiracy and obstruction. A criminal-use-of-a-communication-facility charge was also added against her during the preliminary-hearing process. Both defendants are being held without bail. The charges are allegations, and neither defendant has been convicted in connection with Heintz’s death.

Heintz had been beginning a new stage of her life at the time she died. She was a recent Peters Township High School graduate and a first-year student at PennWest California, where she had joined the women’s soccer program as a defender. The university and its athletic department described her as a kind young woman and offered condolences to her family, friends, teammates and coaches. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference also honored her after her death, arranging moments of silence at conference events. Her family later asked for privacy while saying she was deeply loved and that they wanted justice for her.

The route from a worried family’s search to a homicide prosecution now forms one of the central features of the case. The AirTag helped authorities locate the Jeep, but investigators say the broader chronology was assembled from many sources: the tracking information, surveillance cameras, license-plate readers, cellphone records, physical evidence and interviews. Those materials allowed police to compare the movements of the Jeep and the Mosers with what the defendants allegedly told investigators, creating the evidentiary timeline prosecutors presented when asking that the charges proceed to court.

The next scheduled step is a formal arraignment on Oct. 13 in Washington County Court of Common Pleas. No trial date has been announced. Royce and Rachel Moser remained in the Washington County jail without bail as of the latest publicly reported court proceedings, while the criminal case continues beyond the preliminary stage.

Author note: Last updated September 29, 2026.