PA PA - District Attorney Ray Gricar Mysteriously Disappeared - Bellefonte 15 April 2005 #18

[J. J. in Phila]

Theres nothing fishy about taking a day off work, shutting off the work cell and leaving it in the car, and taking wallet and keys with you to browse some antique stores. Even now, 20 years later, that would be a normal occurrence.

It is fishy to take the work laptop along on a trip on a day off, and even more fishy to take the work laptop out of the car on the day off but not also the work phone. It is also fishy to have a cell phone that nobody knows about (though we do not know for sure if that was the case or not.)

Snipped for emphasis only.

First, I agree that there is nothing unusual about shutting off the phone. He is not a first responder, he is not expecting to be called into court, and he has voicemail. He could have responded in a few hours, if he was planning to return.

Second, I disagree on the laptop. We know he wanted to get rid of whatever was on it for a while. He could have gone to Lewisburg for some other reason and thought that this would be good place to get rid of it. It could be completely unrelated; he tossed the laptop and then something else unplanned happened to him.

Both are consistent with something voluntary, but not overly so.

If we knew he had a burner, it would weaken suicide, but suicide is very weak anyhow.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

We will see it there is anything on the case. So far, just a brief story WKOK in Sunbury that it was 20 years ago and there is a reward.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

A story from Saturday in the Milton paper: Unsolved mystery: Centre County DA vanished 20 years ago

Rebecca Knight talked to them.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

I did find something depressing. I did a Google search for news stories and about a 20% was stuff I wrote.

 

[MandaT]

Hi, everyone!
I've followed this case since the day his disappearance was news. so 20 years minus one day. Every year. I get this sense of dread, almost like a personal loss, and know there is nothing new under the sun about Ray's disappearance and although declared legally dead many years ago, there is no physical memorial or homage to his life's work as a hard- working DA in Centre Co. There is also nothing that remains of him in Bellefonte. No one left to mourn him who loved him except maybe his daughter now and she's spent many more years without him and may have deep resentments and anger regarding her father simply " being gone". It's not something we know much about, is it?

Great work was done by at least 2 members here regarding financial matters that didn't jibe with what was usual and customary for a man in his position, with his salary, and so close to retirement. We do NOT know what the apparently " missing money" means, though. Like Ray., it's just apparently missing.

I and many other people have prayed for him and hoped he has been alive and well for many years, not knowing. With only the tools a civilian possesses, it is impossible to KNOW what happened and IF he has been alive, or theoretically could still be alive at 79 years old this year, but I still have HOPE.
I hope so much he left because he wanted to leave for reasons of his own, or maybe felt he HAD to leave for reasons unknown.

If he is alive, I hope he knows in some way that there are people who never knew him except when he became missing, but respect him as a D.A., a father, and a man of extremely good character as far as we know.
If he is not alive, then according to my belief system, he's been in a perfect place for X number of years and we should rejoice and not be sad, angry or hurt. Rather, be accepting and IF he was murdered, pray for justice for his killer or killers if it was another person or persons who caused his death.

Thank you to WS for never forgetting about Ray Frank Gricar. None of us has a perfect crystal ball, none of us have either proof of life or proof of his death, so here we are, so close to 20 years later, still wondering, still hoping he lived, that he could still be alive, and that his life might be a good and happy one. 79 doesn't look nearly as old to this gal as it once did. More than anything, I want to see him be found alive and for people to celebrate his LIVING . It's taken me 20 years to come to this place in the road, but this is my hope and my prayer, and God willing, I will go to that celebration of life for Ray Frank Gricar and simply embrace him in gratitude for his life and he will understand.
I might have to stand behind J.J. and wait for a bit to embrace an old ' friend' returned, I realize, as is only proper! God bless you, dedicated PA resident and master sleuth,

 

[J. J. in Phila]

I will say this. If RFG was murdered, I want his murderer brought to justice.

 

[Sweetluv]

April 15, 2005..20 years missing!
Ray is out there somewhere..alive or dead, I hope this case gets solved!

 

[Black Diamond]

A story from Saturday in the Milton paper: Unsolved mystery: Centre County DA vanished 20 years ago

Rebecca Knight talked to them.

A few tidbits in that story that I have never read before and may be new news (if they are accurate)

 

[J. J. in Phila]

A few tidbits in that story that I have never read before and may be new news (if they are accurate)

Such as?

 

[J. J. in Phila]

BTW, Welcome MandaT

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Pennlive has a story, but it is behind a paywall: What happened to Ray Gricar? 3 theories in search of solution

 

[Black Diamond]

On the 20 year anniversary I’ll say that I believe Ray is no longer alive. I’m about 50/50 on walk away and foul play, and less than 1% that he took his own life.

If he did walk away, my only hope is that he contacted his daughter shortly afterwards or that she was involved. If he walked away and left her with the agony of not knowing for all these years, he deserved to spend those years in horrid grief and suffering. No reason, none, is good enough to do that to your daughter. Girlfriends and wives come and go, nephews and friends are distant enough to be cast aside, but your child is forever.

If he was a victim of foul play, it’s so terribly sad. At this point it’s hard to believe that any physical evidence would ever be discovered to prove foul play. If he was killed his body is probably undiscoverable. The most feasible way for foul play to be exposed is if someone with knowledge comes forward. If nobody has come forward with the truth about foul play after 20 years, there isn’t much of a chance that it will ever happen. Maybe guilt will get the best of someone, doubtful though.

To draw a conclusion after 20 years, this thing is very unlikely to ever be solved. If Ray walked away he covered his tracks so well that he got away with it. If he was killed, the killer or killers covered their tracks well and nobody that knows what happened has talked. They got away with it. If Ray committed suicide, he did it in a way that nobody would ever find his body, and got away with it. Any way you look at it, someone intentionally hid Ray’s disappearance and got away with it for at least 20 years and probably for eternity.

 

[Black Diamond]

Such as?

The stuff Bennett told the reporter for this article.

The CD ROM on the shoreline found before the laptop, determined not to be compatible with Ray’s work laptop. (Had to be near where the hard drive was found months later. They found an irrelevant CD ROM immediately but not the relevant hard drive)

The bag of cassette tapes found near the driver’s side door of Ray’s car in the SOS lot.

Bennett was “91% sure” it was Ray that he saw. Not definitely.

There was a security camera apparently facing the street / parking lot near the SOS front door. Didn’t pick up Ray. Surely long gone, but to be able to examine that footage now..

I’ve only been following this for 3 years. You obviously have read more than I (or anyone else in the world) about this case, so if any of that was printed before you would be able to comment. Is it new news, old news that wasn’t talked about much, or a poorly reported article?

 

[J. J. in Phila]

To draw a conclusion after 20 years, this thing is very unlikely to ever be solved. If Ray walked away he covered his tracks so well that he got away with it. If he was killed, the killer or killers covered their tracks well and nobody that knows what happened has talked. They got away with it. If Ray committed suicide, he did it in a way that nobody would ever find his body, and got away with it. Any way you look at it, someone intentionally hid Ray’s disappearance and got away with it for at least 20 years and probably for eternity.

Snipped only for emphasis.

If RFG walked away, he drove away. It means that he either bought a vehicle, someone else acquired a vehicle for him (in their name) or someone drove him out of Lewisburg. The third case is bit unlikely, because someone, close to RFG, would be unaccounted for that day. The first two cases will produce a record.

Because of a fire a PennDot earlier in 2005, vehicle transfers were delayed more than 30 days. That record would not be available 4/15/05 or 5/15/05, possibly not even until July of 2005. That record may still exist today. That is where I would look.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

The stuff Bennett told the reporter for this article.

The CD ROM on the shoreline found before the laptop, determined not to be compatible with Ray’s work laptop. (Had to be near where the hard drive was found months later. They found an irrelevant CD ROM immediately but not the relevant hard drive)

The bag of cassette tapes found near the driver’s side door of Ray’s car in the SOS lot.

Bennett was “91% sure” it was Ray that he saw. Not definitely.

There was a security camera apparently facing the street / parking lot near the SOS front door. Didn’t pick up Ray. Surely long gone, but to be able to examine that footage now..

I’ve only been following this for 3 years. You obviously have read more than I (or anyone else in the world) about this case, so if any of that was printed before you would be able to comment. Is it new news, old news that wasn’t talked about much, or a poorly reported article?

That was all known and I actually had a pleasant e-mail exchange with Bennett.

TG arrived in Lewisburg after the car had towed. He maintained that it was the middle row. It was in the first row, with possibly one car space separating it from the northern edge of the lot. The police report put it in the first row. Bennett was there when it was towed and I asked him. He confirmed the report.

Edited to add the lot diagram.

 

[Sweetluv]

@J. J. in Phila ..would you mind refreshing my memory on the eyewitness accounts on Sat, April 16th ? As well as...the time frame Ray was seen on the 16th.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Here is a view of the site from 8/18. There were the same hedges there in 2009 when I was there. This is looking north. Someone driving south down Water Street would have had their view blocked by the hedges and trees, if not by parked cars.

Driving north, at least during business hours, there was the possibility of the Mini being blocked by a car parallel parked in the street and a car parked next to it in the lot.

Whether or not RFG parked there to make the Mini less obvious or if it was just an empty space, we don't know. It did have the effect of making the car less easy to spot by the police as they drove past.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

@J. J. in Phila ..would you mind refreshing my memory on the eyewitness accounts on Sat, April 16th ?

Bennett and two employees of the SoS, that Bennett owned, saw (or think they saw) RFG in the SoS between 11:00 AM and Noon. There was no interaction.

There was a report by a woman who though that she saw him around 1:00 PM, but that was ruled out. PSP spotted the car around 6:30 PM, when the lot had likely emptied out a bit.

 

[Sweetluv]

If Ray did a walkaway, this was planned and well executed. He had to have had help, by a person or people he fully trusted. If he went out of the country, that would mean a fake ID, passport, and identity. If a private plane and not commercial, the pilot isn't talking either.
Were rental car companies ever checked out?

 

[Sweetluv]

IF Ray did return to the SOS on Saturday, that's odd to me. Why return to that area knowing that you never came home and probably are considered " missing" at this point by loved ones? If it was foul play, I can't see anyone with bad intentions allowing Ray to return to that area..doesn't make much sense. If the sightings were correct, where and what was Ray doing Fri night?