Mel Wiley
Mel Wiley was the police chief of Hinckley Township, Ohio. Hinkley is in a different county from Cleveland, and while RFG was there, Wiley was with the Medina County Sheriff's Office, and ran their identification division. It is doubtful that the two ever met or worked together.
In 1982, Wiley became the police chief and around 7/28/85, he vanished without a trace. Police investigating determined that he simply was dissatisfied with his life and left. The story briefly received national attention and included a story in
Time.
Here is the timeline:
July, 1979 RFG moves to Centre County, then wife Barbara gets a position at PSU.
December, 1980 RFG begins working at the Centre County District Attorney's Office (becomes a member of the PA Bar in mid 1981, maintains Ohio Bar membership.)
May, 1985 RFG wins the Republican nomination for DA. (Elected over Amos Goodall in November, sworn in in January, 1986.)
7/30/85 Wiley's car found near Lake Erie. In mid August, police determine he left voluntarily. News stories appear in mid August.
4/28/88 JKA starts working at the DA's Office.
May, 1991 SPS starts working at the DA's Office. Laid off (budgetary) in October 1991, returns in early 1993.
4/15/05 RFG disappears.
September, October, 2006 J. J. in Phila asked about people in responsible positions who voluntarily leave. He cites two, Wiley and Jay Carsey, a college president who left voluntarily in 1982, and subject of the 1989 book,
Exit the Rainmaker.
July 2007 JKA notes, in her "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury," that she thought she heard people in the office referencing Mel Wiley.
1/9/08 CDT reporter asks SPS if RFG ever was interested Wiley; he says yes, but not recently.
Note that neither JKA nor SPS were in the office while the Wiley disappearance was in the news. It is definite that RFG talked about after May 1991, and probably after March 1993.
Wiley had absolutely no ties to Centre County.
In other words, RFG had an interest in the Wiley disappearance well after it was in the news. While Carsey was better known, the subject of a best selling book, RFG was interested in Wiley.
Mel Wiley thread