Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Disappeared: Ray Gricar

Ray Frank Gricar (/ˈɡriːkɑːr/;born October 9, 1945, missing since April 15, 2005) was an Americanlawyer who served as the district attorney of Center County,Pennsylvania, from 1985 until 2005. On April 15, 2005, Gricar wentmissing under mysterious circumstances and has not been heard fromsince. After he had been missing for over six years with no trace ofhis whereabouts, Centre County authorities declared Gricar legallydead on July 25, 2011.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Gricarreceived his Juris Doctor degree from Case Western Reserve UniversitySchool of Law and began his career as a prosecutor for CuyahogaCounty. He moved to State College, Pennsylvania, around 1980 and,after a brief stint as an assistant district attorney, was electeddistrict attorney of Center County in 1985. He was re-elected fourtimes before announcing that he would not run for re-election in the2005 campaign.

Gricar was reported missing toauthorities after failing to return home from a road trip. His carwas found in Lewisburg with his cell phone inside, and at a laterdate his laptop computer and the laptop's hard drive was found in theadjacent Susquehanna River. The hard drive was found in a differentlocation of the river than the laptop was found, which indicated thatthe hard drive was removed before the laptop was tossed into theriver. No further trace of Gricar has been found.

Early life and career

Ray Gricar was born in Cleveland, Ohio,and grew up in the city's Collinwood neighborhood. He attended highschool at the Gilmour Academy, a prestigious Catholic school in GatesMills, and enrolled at the University of Dayton (UD), where he becameinterested in studying law after working as an intern for theprosecutor's office. After graduating, Gricar moved back toCleveland to study law at Case Western Reserve University School ofLaw. He obtained his Juris Doctor and subsequently took a job as aprosecutor for Cuyahoga County, specializing in prosecuting cases ofrape and murder.

In 1980, Gricar moved to State College,Pennsylvania, where his wife had taken a job at Pennsylvania StateUniversity (or Penn State). He opted to become a stay-at-home dad tohis young daughter following the move. However, Centre CountyDistrict Attorney David E. Grine offered Gricar an assistantposition, which he accepted. In 1985, the incumbent districtattorney, Robert Mix (Grine's successor), chose not to run forre-election, and Gricar ran for the open position. He won theelection by a margin of 600 votes.

Gricar's office was part-time when hewas elected, and he successfully campaigned to make it full-time in1996. He was re-elected in 1989, 1993, 1997, and 2001. During histenure, in 1998, Gricar declined to press charges against longtimePenn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky followingallegations of child sexual abuse; Sandusky was charged and convictedof multiple counts of sexual abuse thirteen years later. In 2004,Gricar announced he would not run for re-election and would retirefrom practicing law altogether in December 2005, shortly after his60th birthday.

Personal life

Gricar met Barbara Gray during hisundergraduate study at UD. She moved to Cleveland with him aftergraduation and they married in 1969. They adopted a baby girl, Lara,in 1978. Ray and Barbara Gricar divorced in 1991; Ray married againin 1996, but divorced in 2001. In 2002 or 2003, Gricar moved in withhis girlfriend Patty Fornicola, an employee of the Center CountyDistrict Attorney's office. He was living with Fornicola in herchildhood home in Bellefonte at the time of his disappearance.