Investigation Continues into Death of Christi Troiano as Police Await Final Report from Coroner

Keith Heffintrayer | North Penn Now•

Left: Valley Stream Apartments in Hatfield Township. Right: Christi Troiano, 56, of Souderton Borough.

The circumstances surrounding the disappearance and death of 56-year-old Christi Troiano remain under investigation two weeks after her body was found lying across the backseat of her vehicle along the 2100 block of North Line Street in Hatfield Township.

Troiano was reported missing by her daughter, Nicole, after she left her home in Souderton Borough during the early-morning hours of April 25. Troiano’s vehicle was captured on a stationary license plate reader at the intersection of Cowpath and Orvilla roads in Hatfield Township approximately one hour after she left her home, according to police, but all leads ended there, and she was not seen or heard from again.

According to the daughter, Troiano had an active involuntary commitment order due to mental health issues and she indicated she intended to harm herself prior to her disappearance.

An army of volunteers was built on social media as the weeks passed, including the "In Search of Christi Troiano” Facebook group, where everyone from concerned citizens to amateur internet sleuths banded together to share information and generate leads in the hopes that Troiano could be located alive. However, those efforts came to a tragic end on May 24, as Troiano’s body was discovered by a maintenance worker inside of her vehicle near the R Building of the Valley Stream Apartment complex — approximately 2.2 miles from where her vehicle was last observed.

Two days later, investigators confirmed that the body recovered at the scene was Troiano, following a positive identification via a comparison of dental records by a forensic odontologist with the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.

In the aftermath of Troiano’s body being discovered, questions continue to linger, including her official cause and manner of death — both of which are currently listed as "pending” — as well as how long her body and vehicle were at that location prior to their discovery.

In an interview with North Penn Now, Souderton Police Chief Brian Newhall confirmed the investigation into Troiano’s death is ongoing, and investigators are awaiting the final ruling from the coroner’s office. When asked how long Troiano’s body had been inside of her vehicle, Newhall said the Cause of Death form currently lists her date of death as May 24, however he believes her body had been in the vehicle much longer and the approximate date of death would likely be adjusted upon the coroner’s final ruling.

Newhall declined to comment if there were any suspicious circumstances surrounding Troiano’s death, and he also declined to comment on if her body had been covered or purposefully hidden in any way, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.

Prior to the discovery of Troiano’s body, Newhall maintained that it was a missing persons investigation, and not a criminal matter.

"At this point, there is still no evidence to imply that anything criminal had happened, so we are still treating this as a missing person case,” said Souderton Police Chief Brian Newhall, in comments provided to North Penn Now on May 18.

Newhall said it is likely the coroner’s office is awaiting the results of toxicology tests before they officially determine Troiano’s cause and manner of death, adding that once he receives the official report from the coroner’s office, he’ll be able to provide more information regarding Troiano’s death and what occurred in the days prior.

Christi’s death comes four years after her son — 32-year-old Eric Otto — and the mother of his children both died unexpectedly in March 2019. In the wake of their passing, Christi and Nicole worked to have Eric’s two children — Justin, 6, and Meela, 9 — placed in their custody, and the two purchased a home in Souderton Borough in 2021 to raise the children.

"We became a team together in raising Justin and Meela after that,” said Nicole, who now finds herself as the sole guardian of the two children.

A GoFundMe was subsequently launched in the wake of Christi Troiano’s disappearance in an effort to provide support for Nicole and her niece and nephew. To date, it has raised $11,440 of it’s $15,000 goal. To donate to the GoFundMe, click here.

North Penn Now has reached out to Nicole Troiano for comment, as well as to secure any information on funeral arrangements. We will update this article with that information once we have received a response.