Manhunt underway for 80-year-old suspect accused of killing wife

PALMER TWP., Pa. (WPVI) -- Phillip Kessler says the last time he saw his neighbor, 80-year-old Edgar Himel, it was early in the morning on the Fourth of July.

Kessler says it looked like Himel was going somewhere.

"I seen a suitcase, a couple of shirts, two of his walking canes in the back of her vehicle," said Kessler.

But it wasn't until Sunday, after Himel's wife, Penny, didn't show up for church did friends and family contact the authorities.

Penny VanTessel-Himel, 66, was a devoted member of Shiloh Baptist Church in Easton and never missed Sunday service.

Police quickly arrived at her and her husband's home on Old Orchard Drive where they found Penny dead on the floor inside.

Northampton County Assistant DA Terry Houck says the coroner has since confirmed what investigators suspected.

"The cause of death was homicide. The manner of death was two gunshot wounds to the head," says Houck.

Now, authorities would very much like to speak with Edgar Himel who has been missing now for five days.

Police are calling him "armed and dangerous" and believe he is driving in his wife's dark green 2019 Nissan Rogue with Pennsylvania tags GHV-0051.

Neighbors and friends who knew the couple say the 67-year-old victim was so nice, it was almost unreal.

Doris Grau, who lives across the street says, "She was very involved in the church, and she was just a really kind, wonderful woman. I mean, she didn't deserve to die this way."

Anyone with any further information about this case is asked to call Palmer Township Police.