WILLIAMSPORT – Remains of what appears to be a second young child have been unearthed in Lycoming County and police say the case is now considered a homicide.
It is believed the remains are those of Jasman and Nicole Snyder, the daughters of Marie Sue Snyder who were last accounted for in 2015, Old Lycoming Twp. Police Chief Christopher Kriner said Sunday.
The remains found Saturday and Sunday on a Livermore Road property in rural Hepburn Twp. about four miles north of Williamsport will be sent to a forensic pathologist, he said.
Snyder was arrested Friday at her place of work in Clinton County and jailed without bail on charges of endangering the welfare of children and obstruction in child abuse cases.
A decision on additional charges will be made after consultation with Lycoming County District Attorney Ryan C. Gardner, Kriner said.
Also arrested Friday and being held without bail is Echo Butler, 26, who police describe as Snyder’s girlfriend.
The women and Snyder’s son Jesse, 7, were living in the trailer with Butler’s parents, Ronald and Michelle Butler, police said. The remains were found near the residence, they said.
Jesse was removed from the home Friday and placed in the custody of the county’s Children and Youth Services.
The agency on Sept. 7 began an investigation into Jesse’s welfare after it learned from a medical provider the boy was not enrolled in school, had limited knowledge of basic numbers and the alphabet and was not toilet trained.
It was during that investigation that questions were raised about Jasman and Nicole, who today would be 8 and 11, respectively.
When Snyder was questioned Sept. 15 about her daughters, she claimed they were living with a friend and being home-schooled, an arrest affidavit states.
Neither she nor Butler during the course of the investigation would provide the name of the friend or where that individual could be located, Kriner said.
The girls’ farther, Joshua Snyder, told Children and Youth he had not seen his children since 2015 because of custody and protection from abuse orders. He is not a suspect, Kriner said.
Marie Sue Snyder, left, and Echo Butler
The agency confirmed Jasman and Nicole had not been enrolled in school and the last contact for medical or court purposes was 2015, the affidavit states.
A township police officer who surveyed the neighborhood in late October reported no one had seen the two girls.
Michelle Butler told investigators she had not seen the girls since Snyder moved in six years ago.
Snyder had told her Jasman and Nicole were with friends out of state until she had enough money to buy a larger place, the affidavit states.
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