Who here believes that if the contents of the hard drive had been salvaged by the FBI the mystery of what happened to RG would be solved? (Raises hand).
Thanks for that clarification, J.J.!
Separate (2-part) question for you and others here on the thread:
a) Do you think that if the FBI had been able to retrieve the contents of the hard drive on RG's laptop, the mystery of what happened to him would have been solved by the info it contained?
b) I know this is pure conjecture, but what are people thinking may have been on that hard drive that made RG so desperate to obliterate it entirely?
Great questions, GK.
My opinion is different...
1)
I'm not positive, but I don't tend to believe the contents of the HD ALONE would have led to Ray's door. I believe he used more than one method of erasure becauses he was a meticulous person, but I think he also was able to delete many things himself.
He has a nephew who is in IT. He could have shown him how to remove the partitions and data on a Windows system easily with a " junker" laptop. ( which is pretty much what Ray had, an old junker). Also, I have 2 family members who have high level careers using a great deal of IT. They have both said, without me asking, that if they truly wanted to destroy a HD, they'd use their own skills at overwriting code and de-partitioning the HD, then would use a software program, then would submerge the HD in water ( they said saltwater) for a period of months. Both said the abrasion of the saltwater is the reason they'd use saline water over fresh water. We know the grit on the banks and bottom of the Susquehanna likely served the exact same purpose. He was one smart man!
I believe he spread his methods of communication and planning out over more than one or two methods. Likely,in 2005, burner phones used by 2 people many miles or a continent apart would have been secure enough. I believe he might have been concerned that one or two pieces of correspondence might have been on the laptop, or just work notes.
I think he loved outwitting LE, loved not having a woman beg and cry about his imminent leaving, ( which she did after he left anyway) and
left exactly the way he wanted to, a puzzle inside a riddle. Otherwise, would we still be talking about Ray Frank Gricar who disappeared on tax filing day, April 15, 2005, 13+ years later? No.
2)
I believe the contents of the HD fall into one of two categories or possibly a combo of both:
a) It was work related, old cases, not meant for public scrutiny but totally benign with the original case files located in the CC Court House DA's office.
b) He kept or thought he might have kept a small amount of personal correspondence between he and an unknown person who was the person he wanted to live the rest of his life with, and/or helpers of either sex to help him with his plan of " 50 ways to leave his lover".
In either case, it doesn't have to be one or the other, but a collection of both types of personal emails.
I think he definitely could have taken one year of planning to get this leavetaking just right. I see him as a very meticulous person, very ordered and extremely, superbly intelligent. He would have covered every contingency possible, I believe. Also, I think he was quite driven to outsmart LE without committing a crime ( staging any sign of kidnapping or other abduction).
Why would he want it destroyed?
This also has multiple parts.
a) We have reason to believe he was not a tech savvy person. It might have weighed heavily on his mind from the beginning that there were emails between he and Lady Love.. He might have been worried that they would give his plan away or reveal her name.
b) He was a very private man. He was what I'd call " reserved". He had no way to know his missing case would go national, then international, but he likely would have known " They'll look through my computer files so I'll get rid of what I don't want known".
c) The fact that he mentioned both the disappearance of Mel Wiley in OH ( an unsolved missing persons case believed to be a walkaway of a retired OH sheriff Ray knew about) and the hard drive erasure more than once shows it was on his mind. That when he was not covered up with work, he was pondering his past actions and his future plans. This is the mind of a very intelligent man who is always planning.
All of this is likely not linear. It was happening at the same time, more of a group of related thoughts and actions at the same time than 1, 2, 3, 4. I needed a way to outline it, though.
I could be very wrong, all or any of us could be. We don't know, but this is my hypothesis based on what I think initiated his strong desire to leave so close to retirement ( My top choice is a lover who lived elsewhere, possibly even out of the US; Second choice is overseas or other offshore life savings he needed to access- think Slovenian relatives here; Last would be a request to help with an international crime investigation and prosecution out of the US, or other reason.)
I hope this makes sense and answers what you are asking.
Short answer- I think he left to be with someone he wanted to be with very much, and did not want that person's ID known, or their whereabouts together known. Maybe because of who the other person is, maybe because of him. Files most likely deal with this, but again, I think he would never have been or allowed the other person to be explicit in planning online.
Burner phones used by both in 2005 might have worked.. he might have wondered and worried that a few details were on the HD.. 
