Case: The disappearance of Ray Gricar

By: Cornelius, Maddie, Nadja, and Nicholas

Questions to think about as you analyze the sources:1. What do you think happened to Ray Gricar?2. If he is dead, why was he killed?

Source 1 Source 7Sources 5/6Source 2 Source 4Source 3 LS

Our final analysis

Other’s opinions

Source #1

 

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Questions on Sandusky Are Wrapped in a 2005 Mystery, Ken Beloson, November 2011 One of the questions surrounding the sex-abuse case against Jerry Sandusky is why a former district attorney chose not to prosecute the then-Penn State assistant coach in 1998 after reports surfaced that he had inappropriate interactions with a boy. The answer is unknowable because of an unsolved mystery: What happened to Ray Gricar, the Centre County, Pa., district attorney?

Gricar went missing in April 2005. The murky circumstances surrounding his disappearance — an abandoned car, a laptop recovered months later in a river without a hard drive, his body was never found — have spawned Web sites, television programs and conspiracy theories. More than six years later, the police still receive tips and reports of sightings. The police in central Pennsylvania continue to investigate even though Gricar’s daughter, Lara, successfully petitioned in July to have her father declared legally dead so the family could find some closure and begin dividing his estate.

Source #2

Excerpt from Jim Fisher True Crime blog post, Jim Fisher (former FBI agent and crime investigator), June 2012

Gricar's red mini cooper was found parked near an antique mall in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, 55 miles east of Bellefonte. The interior of the vehicle reeked of cigarettes. Gricar, who didn't smoke, didn't like that smell. The car had been locked, and Gricar's cellphone was inside. According to a Lewisburg shop owner whose antique store Gricar had patronized in the past, the district attorney, on the day he left Bellefonte, was walking in the mall with a tall, dark-haired woman in her late 30s or early 40s. Investigators made no effort to identify and question this woman. Because this information wasn't published until 13 months after Gricar's disappearance, the police received no help from the public in identifying this woman. By the time the story came out, the case had grown cold.

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Source(s) #3Patriot-news newspaper, article by Sarah Ganim, 16th April 2012

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Luke O’Brien, historical blogger. 13th April 2012.

Three months later, fishermen discovered Gricar's government-issued laptop in the Susquehanna River. Police later found his hard drive on a riverbank, damaged so badly that no data could be recovered. They also learned about the Internet searches run on the DA's home computer before his disappearance: "how to wreck a hard drive," "how to fry a hard drive," and "water damage to a notebook computer."

Source #4

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Wanted by the FBI, Kidnappings and missing persons

Although having been declared dead by a Centre County judge (pennlive.com), Gricar is still listed as a missing person on the FBI website.

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Criminal researcher’s report, Jim Fisher 27th June 2012

Ray Gricar's brother, Roy J. Gricar, committed suicide in May 1996 by jumping off a bridge over the Great Miami River near West Chester, Ohio. If Ray had jumped from a bridge across the Susquehanna River, what are the chances his body would have been found? Some believe the odds are great that his body would have been recovered. Others disagree. To have an opinion on this question, one would have to know the ins and outs of the Susquehanna River.

Investigative essay from “Yard Bird” book by Bill Keisling, 2005.

Shortly before his disappearance, Gricar's photograph was posted on the internet in a press release trumpeting the heroin arrests, and the grand jury investigation.

The March 31, 2005 press release from the office of State Attorney General Tom Corbett relates, "'This is the largest heroin operation that we have ever seen in Centre County,' Corbett said, 'feeding a drug trade that stretched throughout the region and allegedly resulted in at least one deadly overdose.'"

Source #7

Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report, 11th November 2011

Ray Gricar investigated allegations that Sandusky had inappropriate contact with an 11-year-old boy in a school locker room in 1998.Earlier this week, Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly indicated Sandusky on 40 counts of sex crimes against young boys. According to the grand jury report, there are eight victims who were targeted between 1994 and 2009.Since Sandusky's arrest, Penn State has been the subject of widespread criticism because of an alleged cover-up of the former coach's alleged illegal activities. Recently, that criticism has also fallen on Ray Gricar, the man who opted not to prosecute Sandusky in 1998.The former DA, however, is not around to defend his actions. Ray Gricar has been missing since 2005, when he vanished under mysterious circumstances.

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Wherever he may beRest he in peace,

Whether taken by willOr physical threat,Evidence will notResolve his case,

The Mystery remainsA Mystery

And has caused many worriesWherever he may beRest he in peace,

For his life,As any other

Was valued and cherished,And as many previous

His case remainsUnresolved

-Nadja Flechner

Back to folderSource #8 – Literary Source

Our take on what happened to Gricar

In conclusion, we think that the daughter was the one that committed this heinous crime. The reason why we are questioning the daughter’s motives are because in 2011 she petitioned to have her father pronounced legally dead, so that she could split up the estate and the will and that the family could get a sort of “closure”. She would also get to manage the family estate, meaning that she would be the main beneficiary of her adopted father’s death.

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Other Theories(not professional, as no ‘experts’ seem to have given their

opinions/theories on what actually happened)

NCAAF Blog Post, metsfan710, November 2011

• Theory 1: Gricar’s disappearance had nothing to do with Sandusky and is just a coincidence

• Theory 2: Recent reports indicate that the Sandusky scandal goes further than Sandusky himself. Allegedly, the Second Mile, Sandusky’s foundation, doubled as sex trafficking for rich donors. Gricar was very rich and somehow involved.

• Theory 3: Gricar did not have enough evidence in 1998 and continued to build a case. By 2005, he had a solid case built and Penn State caught wind that he would soon prosecute Sandusky, casting a dark cloud over Penn State’s prestigious program. Penn State either paid Gricar to disappear, or used one of the many “means” that inhabits the Penn State area to take care of Gricar.

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