Seems like I read that he had recently made a multi-million dollar drug bust.
Posted on 08/01/2005 8:09:49 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
BELLEFONTE, Pa. - Two fishermen found a laptop computer at the bottom of a river that belonged to a county prosecutor who has been missing for 3 1/2 months, police said Monday.
The laptop, which was missing its hard drive, was found Saturday in the Susquehanna River under a bridge, Bellefonte police said. The fishermen turned it over to state police who determined it belonged to Centre County District Attorney Ray F. Gricar.
Authorities had searched the river several times already. Dive teams searched it again Saturday and Sunday but found nothing else.
The computer's hard drive had either fallen out or had been removed before it was thrown into the river, police said.
Gricar, 59, vanished on April 15 after going for a drive on his day off. His car was found the next day in a parking lot about 45 miles from his home in central Pennsylvania.
Police have said they have few credible leads and have not ruled out foul play. So far, the disappearance doesn't appear to be connected to any of his cases, authorities have said.
___
On the Net:
Gricar family site: http://www.raygricar.com/
Perhaps I'm mistaken....but I've never seen a laptop where the hard drive can just "fall out". In my experience, they are usually a serious pain in the...um...you get my point!
Is it illegal to disappear? Why are the police involved?
They get a little suspicious when a prosecutor just up and disappears. It wasn't like him to do so.
The family filed a report as well. It's a mystery.
I will agree with your statement that most HD's on a laptop are a pain to remove.
Unless it was smashed... and then tossed in.
What is the local speculation? Must be rumors...woman, drugs, thugs, etc...?
Yeah but most of those you need to be holding the button while you pull the HDD out, right?
no one likes to think it but foul play is most likely,,
he was divorced, had a daughter from first marriage, had a girlfriend, he did prosecute criminal cases, no indications of drugs, sex related issues. seemed like a solid person
this was on Greta not too long ago and pops up now and then,,
my own theory, the hard drive being gone may relate to an ongoing investigation he was working on, but no one has anything hard to offer as to what really happened.
The Susquehanna River has 2 branches, starts out in New York, and empties into the Chesepeake Bay in Maryland. It would be nice to know WHERE along the Susquehanna they found it.
ping
Well, the problem is that the man's brother committed suicide a couple of years ago, at almost the same site that the car was found.
Then again, this is the media reporting this - it could have been the media bay CD Rom drive that was missing.
Like all things constructed by man there are numerous exceptions to the rules.
Usually that is the way two buttons and then it is out, but I have seen one button releases.
Missing DA's laptop, but not hard drive, found in river
Associated Press
BELLEFONTE, Pa. - Two fishermen found the laptop computer of a top county prosecutor missing for 3 1/2 months, police said Monday.
The anglers found the computer at the bottom of the Susquehanna River under a bridge in Lewisburg on Saturday and turned it over to state police. The bridge is a couple blocks down from the parking lot in which Centre County District Attorney Ray F. Gricar's car was found on April 16, the day after he was reported missing.
State police determined the computer belonged to Gricar, but also discovered that its hard drive was missing. Authorities say the hard drive either fell out or was removed before the computer was thrown into the river.
Bellefonte Police Chief Duane Dixon said that makes it highly unlikely that police will be able to recover clues from the computer about Gricar's whereabouts.
"It's another piece to the puzzle but it doesn't lead us anywhere," Dixon said in an interview with reporters at police headquarters. Police still classify the investigation as a missing persons case.
Divers were sent into the river Saturday and Sunday but found no other evidence, Dixon said. It's unclear how long the computer was in the river, though it started rusting soon after being pulled from the water, he said.
Gricar vanished April 15 after going for a drive on his day off. His red-and-white Mini Cooper was found the next day in a parking lot in Lewisburg, about 45 miles from his home in Bellefonte in central Pennsylvania.
Authorities had searched the river several times already. Dixon said the river where the laptop was found is about 4 1/2 to 5 feet deep, which is shallower than when divers first went into the Susquehanna in the weeks after Gricar disappeared.
The fishermen found the laptop in the middle of the river when one of their nets snagged it, police said.
Gricar, 59, was supposed to retire in December after more than two decades as Centre County's top prosecutor. So far, the disappearance doesn't appear to be connected to any of his cases, authorities have said.
Police have said they have few credible leads and have not ruled out any scenarios, including foul play.
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/12275628.htm
Thanks!
I've heard of a computer described as "only useful as a boat anchor" but I never thought anyone would try it.
Your welcome. I did a Google News search, and most of the articles didn't include the exact location (Lewisburg). This is extremely pertinent to the story, since the Susquehanna doesn't flow through Bellefonte, and the guy went missing in Lewisburg.
Seems like I read that he had recently made a multi-million dollar drug bust.
This is the other branch that goes through State College, Bellefonte, Williamsport and joins the east branch at Northumberland/Sunbury.
This is a good mystery. Gricar worked at the Centre County building in Bellefonte. Among his hobbies were collecting antiques, including toys. He was from Cleveland and always talked about the Indians. He told his girlfriend he was taking a drive on his day off. His car was found at an antiques mall 60 miles away in Lewisburg. But with cig ashes on the floor -- something's wrong there.
Some people in Wilkes-Barre said they say him three days after he disappeared. Bartender said he was wearing a suit and talked about the Indians. He left home in jeans. Credit cards, bank activity, nothing.
Now, his computer is found three months later back in Bellefonte.
Good mystery. Did he get jumped in Bellefonte by a smoker who coincidentally left the car where Gricar might go?
More likely, he removed and destroyed the hard drive, threw the computer in the river, decided that wasn't a good place to jump in and commit suicide in a river like his brother did nine years ago and drove to Lewisburg where the river is deeper.
Had a girlfriend, like to drink a bit, divorced. Did he pick up smoking rough trade and pay the price? Meet somebody shady in Lewisburg and get killed?
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