The Search for Ray Gricar

Centre DailyTimes ^ | April 17, 2005 | From CDT staff and wire reports

[Palladin]

Search for Ray Gricar

UPDATE

Police search for clues to Gricar's whereabouts

From CDT staff and wire reports

BELLEFONTE — Authorities investigating the disappearance of Centre County’s top prosecutor sought new leads in the case today after police said a search of the missing man’s car failed to yield signs of foul play or clues into his whereabouts.

District Attorney Ray Gricar’s red and white Mini Cooper was spotted Saturday in a parking lot across the street from an antiques market in the quaint borough of Lewisburg, about 45 miles east of Gricar’s home in Bellefonte.

The car was brought to state police barracks in Milton today. But after traveling to Milton to meet with state police, Bellefonte Police Chief Duane Dixon said that there were no signs that someone may have broken into the car and that no blood was found inside the vehicle.

“The car looks to be in fine shape,” Dixon said. “At this point, we’ve followed up on every lead we have.”

The car was then turned over to Gricar’s longtime girlfriend, Patty Fornicola, a clerk in the district attorney’s office who filed the missing-person report Friday night. Police said he was last heard from at 11:30 a.m. Friday when he called Fornicola to tell her he was going for a drive on a road that led to Lewisburg. Gricar had taken the day off.

The Street of Shops antiques market sits near a small wooded area that backs up to the Susquehanna River. An abandoned, rusted railroad bridge sits nearby, along with a newer bridge that carries cars across the river. A park with some picnic tables lies on the shore in between the bridges.

State police searched the river in the area for an hour by helicopter but found nothing, Dixon said. He added that interviews with workers at the Street of Shops market also yielded no clues.

Workers there didn’t report seeing anything unusual either Friday or Saturday. “It was business as usual,” said the market’s manager, Susan Sawyer.

The market sits on a street used by drivers to skirt around the center of Lewisburg, the home of Bucknell University.

Employees at the market and nearby residents said the neighborhood is safe.

“If I don’t lock my car, I don’t feel unsafe out here,” said Adriane Berdell, a cashier.

Police had initially said they thought the market had a surveillance camera that might have captured images of the missing prosecutor, but Dixon said that was not the case.

“We’re still hoping that it may come to a positive conclusion because there doesn’t appear to be signs of foul play,” Dixon said.

No recent threats had been made against Gricar, and none of his cases appeared likely to be involved, officials have said. They also said they did not know if Gricar had any medical issues, although he had been working hard lately.

Gricar had been planning to retire in December at age 60, after two decades and five terms as the county’s district attorney.

Anyone with information about Gricar may call Bellefonte police at (814) 353-2320 or the Centre Daily Times at (814) 231-4624. For continuing updates, visit www.centredaily.com and read Monday's Centre Daily Times.

[Josh in PA]

Where you work at Palladin?

I'm stick in here at Liberty Mutual out in Loyalsock, until we close down next year.

[FlJoePa]

Wow, that's a few hundred yards from where I grew up. I remember when they built that building. I remember skateboarding up there and riding our bikes all over there on the way home from Four Mile.

Wasn't there some thought of the school district buying that building and making it the new HS? I guess that didn't happen as last time I was home, I noticed some MAJOR construction projects ongoing at the current HS.

Small world.

I hope this guy turns up, but it sounds like a suicide. The only thing that doesn't make sense is the location of his laptop. Who takes their laptop into the river with them?