A respected detective leaves his job, but he won't stop working

The victim was a prominent philanthropist whose generous spirit led her to open her door on an April night in 1996 to a young stranger with dirty-blond hair and a crooked nose.

He claimed to have a disabled car, but what he had was a gun. He forced Marilyn Steinbright to leave her Norristown home and drive him in her Mercedes-Benz station wagon to three ATMs. After she withdrew $500, he dumped her, unharmed but shaken.

Then Detective Oscar Vance arrived. In his calming presence, leavened with training in hypnosis, Steinbright recalled her abductor's face - with the telltale nose - for a composite artist. Out went the drawing. In came five calls. Case closed.

"It turned out to be the pizza delivery guy in Norristown," Vance said. "He was convicted."

On Tuesday, after 48 years with the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, after 800 murder investigations, after uncounted criminal cases, Vance is retiring as chief county detective.

"He looms large in both physical presence and strength of character," District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said, adding that she has relied on his fairness and good judgment. "It is hard for me to imagine this place without him."

Ferman is the last of eight district attorneys whom the 70-year-old Vance has served, including Mike Marino and Bruce L. Castor Jr., a feat of longevity that Vance attributes to his adaptability.

Signing on in 1964 as an entry-level gumshoe at a salary of $4,500, Vance rose to become the pillar of the detective bureau, overseeing 52 workers who investigate and prepare criminal cases for prosecution.

But that has been only part of his $110,002-a-year job. He has had to maintain bonds with the county's 49 municipal police departments, the FBI, the Secret Service, and the Pennsylvania State Police while making sure detectives are up to date on forensics and other investigative techniques.

In the process, Vance has earned plaudits from outside the detective bureau.

"I have learned much from him over the years," said John Livingood, deputy police chief in Abington Township. "In my opinion, he is the epitome of a law enforcement professional."

Steinbright, now 76, is particularly appreciative. "I wish him well," she said, "and thank him for all the years he worked there."