PA PA - District Attorney Ray Gricar Mysteriously Disappeared - Bellefonte, 15 April 2005 *NamUs #MP1982* #18

[J. J. in Phila]

The exoneration above didn’t happen until several years after Gricar disappeared.

We keep hearing both arguments from people who insist Gricar didn’t meet with foul play. You argue that evidence shows he disappeared on purpose and also that he committed suicide. Which is it? He couldn’t have done both. What do you believe the preponderance of the evidence shows?

RFG knew he had not disclosed the evidence, and had known that since 1982 or 1988. He knew that it could come out (and potentially be civilly liable for it).

Evidence can point to different things. This points to walkaway or suicide. The financial situation points to walkaway.

The preponderance (more than 50% likely) of evidence points to walkaway. It has for a few years.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

While I won't be posting the 2026 odds for at least a fortnight, here are ones from last year:

2025 Odds:

Walkaway: 73%

Foul Play: 26%

Something Else (including Suicide): 1%

 

[J. J. in Phila]

When RFG bought the Mini and put it in PEF's name, he said he was doing so in case he got sued. That did not make sense to anyone because he was under the county's liability policy. If his acts were willful, that might not cover it.

 

[minazoe]

wow so no one believes he offed himself? like literally barely a percent.

 

[minazoe]

this is a case where I feel like if you slide around just a couple of the "facts " and move over something from the timeline it could
change the whole thing..I don't know why but I always get weirded out and hinky feeling over the events of that morning..
then when the car is moved to that lot...I don't trust the visual of Ray moving the car or the time estimate.

it feels like the puzzle is just slightly off and I never feel confident it stays together...mOO

 

[J. J. in Phila]

wow so no one believes he offed himself? like literally barely a percent.

You are asking me what I believed last year.

I have found that almost no one in LE thinks it was foul play. They are saying suicide or walkaway.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

this is a case where I feel like if you slide around just a couple of the "facts " and move over something from the timeline it could
change the whole thing..I don't know why but I always get weirded out and hinky feeling over the events of that morning..
then when the car is moved to that lot...I don't trust the visual of Ray moving the car or the time estimate.

it feels like the puzzle is just slightly off and I never feel confident it stays together...mOO

If you take out some pieces, yes, you could get a different result. Taking out any single witness does not yield a different result.

We know that at least three witnesses saw him on 4/16 between 11:00 and 11:30 AM. If we discount them, perhaps walkaway drops a bit to 65%. But if we could determine that RFG was there at that time, it may jump to 85%.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

A rather bad video:

 

[J. J. in Phila]

An exceedingly bad video:

I'll add laughingly bad.

 

[Sleuth2010]

If he was prosecuting Hells Angels…that’s a bad omen.

It would be good if DNA could be run again from the cigarettes and other evidence collected at the time. Then run it again…

It seems he was loved and did love too many people to be so cruel as a walk-away. The US Marshal Service could surely find him, if authorities believed that is the case.

Hopefully the family and friends, colleagues, neighbors can find some peace.
This is a very sad and difficult case. PA and Delaware can do better ~ find justice.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

If he was prosecuting Hells Angels…that’s a bad omen.

It would be good if DNA could be run again from the cigarettes and other evidence collected at the time. Then run it again…

It seems he was loved and did love too many people to be so cruel as a walk-away. The US Marshal Service could surely find him, if authorities believed that is the case.

Hopefully the family and friends, colleagues, neighbors can find some peace.
This is a very sad and difficult case. PA and Delaware can do better ~ find justice.

RFG was not directly prosecuting a Hell's Angel; his office was prosecuting a former member. The case was being handled by an ADA, who was alive and kicking a decade after RFG disappeared.

The Marshal Service never had the case.

As noted, there may have been a financial advantage both for RFG and his heirs if he disappeared. I am not suggesting his heirs are involved.

 

[Betty P]

this is a case where I feel like if you slide around just a couple of the "facts " and move over something from the timeline it could
change the whole thing..I don't know why but I always get weirded out and hinky feeling over the events of that morning..
then when the car is moved to that lot...I don't trust the visual of Ray moving the car or the time estimate.

it feels like the puzzle is just slightly off and I never feel confident it stays together...mOO

There are several people who saw him in that town before his disappearance, in addition to the antique store. At least two of them saw him talking on a cell phone with bluetooth ear plugs. He was pacing up and down the sidewalk near the antique store while talking on the phone. Those witness reports are often overlooked when people discuss or report on this story, but JMO they are relevant and are included in the police report. People who are planning to commit suicide or escape to another country don't usually make a big production of being seen publicly just before disappearing.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

There are several people who saw him in that town before his disappearance, in addition to the antique store. At least two of them saw him talking on a cell phone with bluetooth ear plugs. He was pacing up and down the sidewalk near the antique store while talking on the phone. Those witness reports are often overlooked when people discuss or report on this story, but JMO they are relevant and are included in the police report. People who are planning to commit suicide or escape to another country don't usually make a big production of being seen publicly just before disappearing.

First, no witness reported saw RFG with bluetooth plugs. They think he could have had them, which is very different.

If RFG was thinking about suicide, he could have walking around to think it over, look for a place to toss the drive and then the laptop, and finally a spot to enter the river. He didn't care if anyone saw him.

If he walked away, RFG being seen leads LE to look around Lewisburg and the Susquehanna. That is reinforced by the 4/16 witnesses. That is the reason why, if he walked away, he would want to be seen, repeatedly.

I suspect that, if RFG did walk away, and the 4/16 witnesses are accurate, he did not spend the night in Lewisburg. He spent it someplace in Centre County.

 

[minazoe]

did Ray know how to swim?

I want to know how people who know how to swim drown in a river. is it undercurrent? the speed of the current? it just seems like such a horrible way to die. I have said before that Ray may have suffered such trauma regarding his brothers death that he wanted to experience it himself.

I know that sounds weird but I think trauma and odd obsessions go together and suicide can definitely be contagious.

mOO

 

[J. J. in Phila]

did Ray know how to swim?

I want to know how people who know how to swim drown in a river. is it undercurrent? the speed of the current? it just seems like such a horrible way to die. I have said before that Ray may have suffered such trauma regarding his brothers death that he wanted to experience it himself.

I know that sounds weird but I think trauma and odd obsessions go together and suicide can definitely be contagious.

mOO

A predisposition for suicide can be genetic. It was long suspected, but the evidence was first published in 2011. Depression has long been known to have a genetic element. That is a point for the suicide theory.

RFG could swim, but was not a strong swimmer. The water was very cold, so he would face hypothermia, even if he walked in. If he jumped in, he could have hit the bottom or even hit the water at an angle that could cause injuries.

One of those "Something Else" possibilities is that he was walking along the river, slipped and fell in, possibly hitting his head in the process.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

This is an article on the genetic link to suicide: The Genetics of Suicide Risk Not everyone with the gene is suicidal nor does every suicidal person have the gene, but having the gene makes it more likely.

While the link was not discovered in 2005, depression was known to have a genetic link. Further, there was a thought that "suicide ran in families," well before 2005. Ernest Hemingway died of suicide, as did his father, brother, sister, and granddaughter; Hemingway committed suicide with ten years of winning both a Pulitzer Prize for fiction and Nobel Prize in Literature.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

I want to put the Vedam case in perspective.

RFG was the ADA in 1983 who prosecuted the case and failed to disclose the information. It was a well publicized case and I even remember joking with my father about the case, saying, "See, this is why I don't want a roommate." It was also RFG's big win in Centre County, and that certainly helped him get elected in 1985.

In 1988, RFG was in his first term. He was trying to the convince the commissioners to make the post full time (which would nearly double his salary). He also ran into problems with the Dana Bailey murder case, that happened about a year before. If this had come out in the 1988 retrial, it would be very likely that he would not have been reelected in 1989. It is also probable that he would be facing disciplinary action by the bar, and possibly civil litigation. Since it was deliberate, any civil action may not have been covered under the County's liability insurance (which happened with Mike Nifong).

This is about the retrial: 8-year-old murder case will be retried

 

[J. J. in Phila]

One point on the $10,000 check to cash.

LG, his daughter, was on his accounts, so she could have written the check. Why she would write a check to cash, however, is questionable.

 

[Sweetluv]

So this dark haired woman seen talking and walking with Ray in the shops would be key. She obviously knew Ray, so im surprised with all the publicity this case has received, she hasnt come forward. Unless she helped Ray "disappear " or her meeting with him was far from casual.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

So this dark haired woman seen talking and walking with Ray in the shops would be key. She obviously knew Ray, so im surprised with all the publicity this case has received, she hasnt come forward. Unless she helped Ray "disappear " or her meeting with him was far from casual.

Maybe, maybe not. It might have another shopper that just struck up a conversation with RFG.