Missing Dover Twp. man mystery: Stepdaughter to face charges

(Dover) — On December 12, police in York County filed an unusual arrest affidavit.

A Texas woman was charged for allegedly notarizing forged documents for property that belonged to her mother and her stepfather.

The arrest documents detailed the mystery of her missing stepfather, Thomas Hayden Sr.

 On Tuesday, Connie Lynn Pender, 43, was brought back to York County to be arraigned on the charges. Yesterday afternoon, Pender was waiting to be sent to York County Prison after she was unable to post bail.

Police alleged that Pender notarized documents for property that belonged to her stepfather, Thomas Hayden, and her mother, Virginia Hayden, and that Virginia Hayden later sold that property. On those documents, police allege, Thomas Hayden’s signature was forged by his wife, Virginia Hayden.

Family members say they have not seen Thomas Hayden since 2011. 

About a year ago, Thomas Hayden’s daughter, Kim Via, who lives in Louisiana, called police because she hadn’t heard from her father for years. That set off a yearlong investigation that ultimately tied into a January 2012 discovery in Dover Township of a Foodsaver bag containing human blood, hair and skin.

For five years, the DNA in that bag didn’t have a match. However, police chasing the Hayden case tested his brothers’ DNA and found the DNA almost certainly could belong only to their sibling.

Pender was arraigned Tuesday morning by District Judge Thomas J. Reilly. Her bail was set at $100,000. Pender’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 16, in front of District Judge David C. Escbach.

This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The York Daily Record.