Kriti Mehrotra
Ever since its debut back in early 1992, NBC’s ‘Dateline’ has been shining a light upon one enigmatic true-crime case after another to really shine a light upon the dark side of human nature. Thus, of course, its season 20 episode 12, ‘The Case of the Missing DA,’ profiling the undeniably baffling 2005 disappearance of renowned attorney Ray Frank Gricar, is absolutely no different. So now, if you simply wish to learn more about the same — with a specific focus on the events to have transpired as well as its ensuing investigations — we’ve got the essential details for you.
What Happened to Ray Gricar?
Although proudly born, raised, and educated in Ohio, Ray ultimately relocated to Pennsylvania in 1980, only to end up spreading his wings as a prosecutor in the university town of State College. The truth is he actually did small wonders as an Assistant District Attorney under David Grine, soon leading to him getting elected in the principal executive position for Centre County in 1985. Yet the most significant aspect is that he was re-elected four more times before finally announcing he would not even be running a re-election campaign in 2005 — the 59-year-old was retiring.
But alas, little did anyone know Ray would never get to lead a quiet, peaceful life well away from the limelight because he disappeared a mere nine months prior to his scheduled last day as DA. It was 11:30 am on April 15, 2005, when he was last seen or heard from — he’d called his girlfriend Patty Fornicola to inform her he’d taken a half day and was in the scenic Brush Valley area. This call honestly would’ve surprised her had he not already indicated his plans in the morning, yet she obviously grew really worried once 10, then 12 hours passed, and he still was not home.
Patty hence filed a missing person’s report, driving the local police to immediately begin an extensive search and send out notices to other departments owing to Ray’s public standing. However, it wasn’t the DA but his vehicle that was found in an antique store’s parking lot in Lewisburg the following morning — just his cell was inside; his laptop, keys, and wallet were missing. There were absolutely no signs of him or of foul play anywhere near this scene, yet investigators did officially classify him as missing upon conceding the circumstances were quite mysterious.
Ray Gricar: Declared Dead, Body Unfound
Despite the fact nearly two decades have gone by since Ray was last seen or heard from, neither he nor his body has ever been found — we say body as he was declared dead on July 25, 2011. This decision to legally mark him deceased actually came from Centre County authorities after no concrete trace of his whereabouts was uncovered, even though the inquiries were continuous. Nevertheless, some theories have come to light on what could’ve happened to the DA, with the first one concerning his older brother Roy Gricar, who’d reportedly died by suicide in May 1996.
According to reports, the location of Ray’s seemingly abandoned car was rather eerie since it bore similarities to the spot Roy had parked his vehicle before taking his life in the Great Miami River. Therefore, of course, officers pulled the DA’s medical records while also actively searching the Susquehanna River (almost adjacent to the parking lot) for any clue he’d committed suicide too, but to no avail. He wasn’t depressed, he had no financial troubles, and he didn’t show any signs of mental illness. sniffer dogs indicated he likely got into another vehicle with someone else.
Thus comes the possibility of foul play, especially once Ray’s hard-drive removed laptop was found beneath a river bridge on July 30, 2005 — this drive was located 91m away two months later. The FBI, the US Secret Service, as well as other experts all tried to carefully recover this device’s contents over a lengthy period of time, yet it was too severely damaged to be of any use. Although Ray’s home computer at the residence he shared with Patty astonishingly revealed someone had looked up “how to wreck a hard drive,” “how to fry a hard drive,” and “water damage to a notebook computer” on the internet mere days before the disappearance.
Patty and Ray’s daughter Lara were both intensely questioned, just so they would not only pass polygraph tests but also ostensibly have solid alibis, meaning neither was responsible in this matter. Then there’s the fact detectives initially believed the DA’s vanishing might be connected to the 2003 unsolved death of US Attorney Jonathan Luna or a heroin ring he’d recently been investigating. There have also been suggestions his going missing could be linked to his 1998 refusal to pursue criminal charges against now-convicted sexual predator/child molester Jerry Sandusky.
Moreover, per records, a former Hells Angel member had told authorities in 2013 that Ray had been brutally killed as revenge for a prison sentence a fellow member had received owing to his work. This motorcycle gang informant had purportedly stopped talking before he could be convinced to disclose the location of the DA’s remains, and it’s unclear whether there are any leads regarding this matter.
Hence comes the final theory of Ray having faked his own disappearance to start afresh in a new place, surrounded by new people – this actually stems from his alleged interest in the case of a Cleveland official who’d done the same. Furthermore, several people have reported seeing someone who looked like him at different places well after April 2005, including at a bar in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Then there’s the indication he might have fled to Europe, particularly as he has relatives in Slovenia and is fluent in their local language while also being semi-fluent in Russian.
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