Pennsylvania Crimestoppers recently posted a release about the cold case offering a $5,000 reward for anyone who comes forward with information leading to Gricar's whereabouts.
The announcement comes almost two years after the death of Bob Buehner, one of the most vocal advocates for keeping the investigation active. Buehner, who was a former Montour County District Attorney, was friends with Gricar and spoke to him shortly before his disappearance. Buehner gave interviews to the media to bring awareness to the case up until the time of his death at the age of 69 on Sept. 4, 2021.
Gricar was last seen the morning of April 15, 2005, in Bellefonte. On that warm spring day, Gricar called Patty Fornicola, his longtime girlfriend, around 11:30 a.m. to tell her he had taken off work and was heading east on Route 192 toward Lewisburg in Union County. He was driving a 2004 red Mini Cooper with a white top and vanity plate, police say.
By 11:30 p.m. that night, Fornicola reported Gricar missing. He never came home, and she had not heard from him. The next day, the Mini Cooper was found in the parking lot of the Street of Shops antiques mall in Lewisburg. The car was locked, with no keys inside. The keys were never found, according to police.
There were cigarette ashes in the car. According to reports, Gricar disliked cigarettes and would not have allowed someone to smoke in the car. Gricar's cell phone, which was turned off, also was found in the Mini Cooper along with a bottled water. Gricar's DNA was found on the bottled water, indicating he drank from it.
For the next few years after Gricar's disappearance, investigators followed leads that led to dead ends, and formed plenty of theories on what happened to Gricar. Some think Gricar was a victim of foul play. Others believe he committed suicide. And some think he disappeared and started a new life elsewhere.
Buehner strongly believed Gricar was a victim of foul play. Buehner told
NorthcentralPa.com in a 2021
interview that a state prison inmate had written him with information about his cellmate in Centre County, who may have been involved in Gricar's disappearance. The inmate told Buehner that Gricar had "ran afoul of a person who was in the witness protection program," Buehner said. The person was someone Gricar had prosecuted in Centre County and sent to prison…
Lewisburg, Pa. — Eighteen years after the disappearance of Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar, the case is still open, according to state police at Hollidaysburg.
www.northcentralpa.com