Posted on 04/22/2005 4:47:01 AM PDT by tomkat
BELLEFONTE -- The collection of clues is growing, but Bellefonte police still have no answer as to the whereabouts of District Attorney Ray Gricar, who has been missing for the past week.
In a room packed with reporters, including Fox News host Greta Van Susteren, Bellefonte Police Chief Duane Dixon said another Lewisburg business owner said she thinks she saw a man fitting Gricar's description between 1 and 2 p.m. Saturday. She is the third person to report possibly seeing Gricar on Saturday.
Based on that, Dixon said, police will continue to focus their search efforts in the Lewisburg area. All week, investigators have been interviewing people and searching the Susquehanna River by boat and the surrounding area -- all the way to Harrisburg -- by helicopter.
So far, though, those searches have come up empty. Police have found no information on Gricar's whereabouts between the time he called co-worker and girlfriend Patty Fornicola, about 11:30 a.m. Friday and when the business owners reported spotting him in Lewisburg a little more than 24 hours later.
"We can't just focus on one thing. You've got a murder case, you focus on a murder. You've got a kidnapping case, you focus on a kidnapping," Dixon said. "I've got a missing person's report, so I got to look at everything from foul play to he left by himself, is there a medical issue, or is there a mental health issue. Everything is being looked at."
Police received a copy of Gricar's medical records from Geisinger Health Systems after requesting a search warrant Wednesday. The request was based in part on Fornicola's statements that Gricar had been "complaining of fatigue and would often have to take naps at lunchtime and after his work day," according to the warrant.
Also at Thursday's news conference, both Dixon and Fornicola repeatedly asked members of the media to stop speculating about the case, specifically about the state of Gricar's mental health.
"We, the family, are continuing to treat this as a missing person's case and would greatly appreciate the media continuing to do the same," Fornicola said. "There is a lot of speculation about what has occurred, but we have no conclusive evidence to confirm any of those scenarios."
Dixon said there is no evidence that Gricar had been diagnosed with depression or that his disappearance had anything to do with that of his brother in May 1996. Roy Gricar was missing for five days before his body was pulled from a river near Dayton, Ohio. His death was ruled a suicide, according to earlier reports.
Fornicola ended her statement by asking anyone who has seen Gricar or has any information about him to call police. She did not answer questions.
Among the other clues police have investigated this week was a cassette tape reportedly found in the Street of Shops parking lot in Lewisburg where Gricar's car was parked. The postal carrier who picked up the cassette said he didn't remember seeing Gricar's red-and-white Mini Cooper.
It turned out to be an aerobics tape, Dixon said.
"We listened to both sides of it," he said. "There's nothing of note on there."
Police found Gricar's county-issued cell phone inside the Mini Cooper, which is registered to Fornicola and used by the both of them. Still missing is Gricar's laptop computer, wallet, sunglasses and keys.
Dixon said a police dog that sniffed around the lot where Gricar's car was found acted in a way that "possibly could have meant that Ray might have gotten into another vehicle."
Five fingerprints found in or on the Mini Cooper have been sent to the state police crime lab in Harrisburg and will be compared with Fornicola's and Gricar's prints, Dixon said. Cigarette butts found in the parking lot also will be analyzed, although Dixon said it's unlikely they are connected to the case.
Investigators said they have found no activity on Gricar's credit cards or bank account since he's been missing. They also said there were no unusual withdrawals before he disappeared. They have not looked into the district attorney's office finances, Dixon said Thursday.
Also at Thursday's news conference were several officials, including Bellefonte Borough Manager Ralph Stewart and two county commissioners, Steve Dershem and Scott Conklin.
Gricar was the subject of a brief discussion at Thursday's county commissioners meeting. They debated whether to suspend Gricar's pay until he is located but decided to wait two weeks, until the end of the next pay period. The move would be to protect not only the taxpayers but also the missing district attorney, Commissioner Chris Exarchos said.
"These are mysterious circumstances. We don't know who has access to his accounts," Exarchos said. "It's for his own protection, as well."
Gricar, with a $129,000 annual salary, will be paid for the last two weeks he worked. If his pay is suspended, money he is owed would be held for him, commissioners said.
"It's a difficult situation we find ourselves in," Dershem said. "We've never lost a public official before."
I think I saw him at a truck stop in Gorman California. He got into his big rig and drove away, with Elvis.
FYI
Two options:
1) He's dead.
2) He's shacked up with some floozy.
I bet he's dead.
I saw this exact thang on Law and Order.
Police Search for Pennsylvania Prosecutor Missing Since Friday
As an after thought, how long has he been missing? Is there any way to tie him to Ray Reggie and his magic tape recorder?
What happened on Law and Order?
He did just make a big heroin ring bust not too long ago.
Her death was staged and she was whisked away by the alphabet people.
She did a reappear to say bye to the detectives that were handling her murder.
I only posted this thread and took the pics referenced above 'cause it's all right across the river from me.
Lewisburg is a lovely little town, slightly leftish because of Bucknell, but surrounded by much conservativism.
State College, 50mi west of here, is Gomorrah in comparison.
The local paper here ran this story yesterday:
Police offer reward in DA case
Stuff like this doesn't happen around here too often.
There are some pretty ornery dudes locked up in the Federal Pen out north of town, but their claims to fame all happened somewhere else.
Anyway, Gricar is reputed to be a pretty decent guy, and for his family's sake I hope he turns up safe somewhere.
Sounds like possible symptoms of Depression, which the police are looking into as a possible indication of suicide. I saw a photograph of him that was shown on Fox News. He LOOKED depressed in the photo. That is not a diagnosis, btw, just something I noticed. If anyone can find and post the photo, it might prove interesting. Then there's the part about his brother committing suicide nine years ago, very near this time of year. Could Depression run in the family? Could he be depressed in part because of his brother's suicide? I have a sense this might be a personal, rather than a professional thing, but who knows? It might even be some of both. The "met with foulplay angle" is being played down by just about everyone, is it not? An impression I have, anyway...
Maybe he's in the desert rebuilding his crashed airplane into a new one to fly home..
A pretty decent guy? When he was married and poundatating the office secretary, who he eventually left his wife for?
I've no clue as to the man's personal life or background.
What I do know is that the ending of some 'marriages' is the best/healthiest possible outcome for all involved.
LOL, NBC recycled an old episode of "Wings" when Lowell had to go into witness protection.
ping
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