where is distrct attorney gricar

by Gay Dare 3 min read

What happened to DA Ray Gricar?

Weaver said he believes Gricar committed suicide, perhaps by jumping into the Susquehanna River not far from where his car was found in Lewisburg the day after he disappeared.

Has Ray Gricar ever been found?

He was living with Fornicola in her childhood home in Bellefonte at the time of his disappearance. Gricar's older brother Roy disappeared from his West Chester, Ohio, home in May 1996. His body was found a week later in the Great Miami River; authorities ruled his death a suicide.

Where was Ray Gricar car found?

An investigation that started to unfold on April 15, 2005. Gricar told his longtime girlfriend that he was going for a ride. His red Mini Cooper was discovered the next day parked outside “The Street Shops,” an antique mall in Lewisburg in Union County.

Who is Centre County DA?

Bernie CantornaBernie Cantorna was sworn in as Centre County District Attorney on January 2, 2018. Mr. Cantorna graduated from St. Mary's College with a degree in business management and was a certified public accountant prior to attending law school.

Who is the district attorney of Pennsylvania?

The current District Attorney of Philadelphia is Larry Krasner. The district attorney represents the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City & County of Philadelphia in all criminal and other prosecutions....District Attorney of PhiladelphiaSalary$ 175,576 (2017)4 more rows

How old was Ray Gricar?

59-year-old Ray Gricar was the top prosecutor in Centre County for 20 years. Investigators say his disappearance is one of the most intriguing cases they have ever seen.

When did Gricar die?

The possibility that he wanted to disappear for whatever reason has not been ruled out, but we do know that a Centre County judge declared Gricar officially deceased in July of 2011. A hearing was held at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte.

Where was Gricar's laptop found?

It was turned off and there were no signs of foul play. Two weeks later, Gricar’s laptop was found in the nearby Susquenanna River. Its hard drive was missing.

Where is Gricar from?

Born in Cleveland, Ohio , Gricar received his Juris Doctor degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and began his career as a prosecutor for Cuyahoga County. He moved to State College, Pennsylvania, around 1980 and, after a brief stint as an assistant district attorney, was elected district attorney of Centre County in 1985. He was re-elected four times before announcing that he would not run for re-election in the 2005 campaign.

Where was Ray Gricar born?

Early life and career. Ray Gricar was born in Cleveland, Ohio , and grew up in the city's Collinwood neighborhood.

Where was the laptop that Gricar used?

On July 30, fishermen discovered Gricar's county-issued laptop in the Susquehanna River beneath a bridge between Lewisburg and Milton , but its hard drive was missing. Divers searched the area of the river near where it was found over the next several days, but found nothing else. Two months later, someone recovered a hard drive on the banks of the Susquehanna River about 100 yards (91 m) from the location of the laptop, and investigators hypothesized that it had come from his computer; however, it was badly damaged, and analysis by the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, and the data-recovery firm Kroll Ontrack failed to recover anything from it. In April 2009, Bellefonte police revealed that before Gricar's disappearance, someone had used the home computer at the residence he shared with Fornicola to perform internet searches on topics such as "how to wreck a hard drive", "how to fry a hard drive" and "water damage to a notebook computer".

When did Gricar call Fornicola?

At 11:30 a.m. ( EDT) on April 15, 2005, Gricar called Fornicola to inform her that he was driving through the Brush Valley area northeast of Centre Hall. Gricar failed to return home, and late that evening, Fornicola reported him missing.

When did Gricar run for reelection?

Gricar's office was part-time when he was elected, and he successfully campaigned to make it full-time in 1996. He was re-elected in 1989, 1993, 1997, and 2001. During his tenure, in 1998, Gricar declined to press charges against longtime Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky following allegations of child sexual abuse; Sandusky was charged and convicted of multiple counts of sexual abuse thirteen years later. In 2004, Gricar announced he would not run for re-election and would retire from practicing law altogether in December 2005, shortly after his 60th birthday.

Where was Gricar's car found?

Gricar was reported missing to authorities after failing to return home from a road trip. His car was found in Lewisburg with his cell phone inside, and at a later date his laptop computer and the laptop's hard drive was found in the adjacent Susquehanna River.

How many votes did Gricar get?

He won the election by a margin of 600 votes. Gricar's office was part-time when he was elected, and he successfully campaigned to make it full-time in 1996. He was re-elected in 1989, 1993, 1997, and 2001.

Who is Ray Gricar?

Ray was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and went on to become a district attorney in Pennsylvania from 1985 until 2005. Interestingly, he announced that he would not run again the same year he went missing, when he was 60 years old. Ray was involved in several high-profile cases, but the most well known was that of Jerry Sandusky. In 1998, Ray declined to press charges against the assistant Penn State coach, who was accused of child sexual abuse. After Jerry was finally prosecuted in 2011, people again questioned why Ray let Jerry off scott-free for thirteen years.

What happened to Roy Gricer?

He, too, drove his car to a nearby river, and his body washed up a week later in Ohio’s Great Miami River. Roy’s death was ruled a suicide, and many speculate that Ray may have done the same. Others think that he was killed in connection with one of the cases he worked, while some think he may have just snuck off to live under a different identity. We can’t help but hope that one day we’ll know for sure!

Is Ray Gricar alive?

As a matter of fact, many people think they have spotted him since his disappearance. For example, a John Doe prisoner in Utah in 2011 was thought to be Ray, until they found out the true identity of the unidentified man. People thought they spotted him sitting in the Oprah studio audience. Someone else thought they saw him eating at a Chili’s in Nacogdoches, Texas. However, nothing has ever been definitive enough to say if he’s alive or dead.

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Overview

Ray Frank Gricar was an American lawyer who served as the district attorney of Centre County, Pennsylvania, from 1985 until 2005. On April 15, 2005, Gricar went missing under mysterious circumstances and has not been heard from since. After he had been missing for over six years with no trace of his whereabouts, Centre County authorities declared Gricar legally dead on July 25, 2011.

Early life and career

Ray Gricar was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up in the city's Collinwood neighborhood. He attended high school at the Gilmour Academy, a prestigious Catholic school in Gates Mills, and enrolled at the University of Dayton (UD), where he became interested in studying law after working as an intern for the prosecutor's office. After graduating, Gricar moved back to Cleveland to study law at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He obtained his Juris Doctor and subsequ…

Personal life

Gricar met Barbara Gray during his undergraduate study at UD. She moved to Cleveland with him after graduation and they married in 1969. They adopted a baby girl, Lara, in 1978. Ray and Barbara Gricar divorced in 1991; Ray married again in 1996, but divorced in 2001. In 2002 or 2003, Gricar moved in with his girlfriend Patty Fornicola, an employee of the Centre County District Attorney's office. He was living with Fornicola in her childhood home in Bellefonte at the time of h…

Disappearance

At 11:30 a.m. (EDT) on April 15, 2005, Gricar called Fornicola to inform her that he was driving through the Brush Valley area northeast of Centre Hall. Gricar failed to return home, and late that evening, Fornicola reported him missing.
The following day, investigators identified Gricar's red Mini Cooper in the parking lot of an antique store in Lewisburg. The car contained his county-issued cell phone but not his laptop computer, k…

Theories

There are three main theories as to what happened to Gricar. The primary theory is he committed suicide just as his brother had done, something supported by the similarities between the two cases. Police working on the case believed this theory to be most likely, although his family did not believe this. Although Gricar was a poor swimmer, he had no medical history of depression or of suicidal thoughts. He was also reportedly looking forward to his upcoming retirement.

In popular culture

Gricar's disappearance was the subject of television documentary programs, including episodes of Haunting Evidence on Court TV in June 2006, Disappeared on Investigation Discovery in February 2011, news magazine Dateline NBC in December 2011, and an episode of Crime Junkie podcast in January 2020. An episode of the drama Without a Trace on CBS referred to the case.

See also

• Lists of people who disappeared

External links

• FBI Missing Persons Listing
• Missing Persons: Ray F. Gricar at America's Most Wanted
• Ray Gricar special section at Centre Daily Times
• Ray Gricar mystery