The case of a Centre County PA district attorney who disappeared in 2005 has been revived. Ray Gricar had investigated Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, who has now been formally charged, leading to the explosive scandal at the college and the firing of legendary head coach Joe Paterno.
BELLEFONTE, Pa. -- The Centre County district attorney has formed a panel of investigators to look into the disappearance of a former county prosecutor nearly five years ago.
Ray Gricar was reported missing by his girlfriend on April 15, 2005, after going for a drive on his day off. His car was found at an antiques market in Lewisburg.
Current District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller said Wednesday in a statement that the new review board will be made up of seasoned investigators from the county. She calls the board an extension of her review of the investigation.
Ray Gricar's car was found in an antiques market parking lot, but his body has never been found. The hardrive from his laptop was also missing. As a fiercely indpendent prosectuor, some find it strange that Ray Gricar never prosecuted Sandusky on child molestation charges.
"People ask why Ray did not prosecute, and I have no problem saying, because he clearly felt he didn't have a case for a 'successful' prosecution," Tony Gricar, Ray Gricar’s nephew , told The Patriot-News.
"... One thing I can say is that Ray was beholden to no one, was not a politician."
This district attorney who had “a bitter taste in his mouth for the [Penn State] program, and its coach,” according to his nephew, and yet never prosecuted Sandusky, disappeared on April 15, 2005, after telling his girlfriend that he was going on a drive.
Ray Gricar’s friend, Montour County District Attorney Robert Buehner Jr., told the New York Times that if the ardent district attorney had committed suicide, he would have wanted his body found. But in the case of possible foul play, no suspects have emerged from investigations.
.
When it comes to the Sandusky case, friends and former co-workers are all of the opinion that Ray Gricar would never back down from a righteous prosecution.
And, despite the fact that Ray Gricar had the mother of one of the alleged victims confront Sandusky while police listened, the 1998 report on Sandusky was labeled “unfounded” by the District Attorney’s Office, reports the Patriot-News.
The firing of Joe Paterno by the Board of Trustees does not seem to be the end of this story. Paterno has contacted a prominent defense attorney.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Fired Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has approached a prominent criminal defense lawyer in the wake of the Penn State sex abuse scandal, NBC reported Thursday night, citing unidentified sources.
The network reported that J. Sedgwick Sollers, who represented President George H.W. Bush in the Iran-Contra affair, was contacted by Paterno's advisers on Thursday.
Concerns about Jerry Sandusky date back as far as 1995. He was considered in line for Paterno's job as well as being pursued by other colleges in the early 90's, then suddenly vanished from coaching after a 1998 allegation, which begs the question what did Penn State officials know and when did they know it?
The earliest documented report of possible abuse at the hands of Sandusky is in 1995, when his now-legally adopted son was still a teenage foster child in his home.
The adoption file for Matt Sandusky, who had a different name at the time, contains letters of concern from his mother to children and youth officials and to a Centre County judge.
Matt’s biological mother, Debra Long, testified before the grand jury.
Matt, 33, is not one of the victims in the grand jury presentment, but he did testify before the grand jury.
I think this is just the tip of the iceberg that we are seeing and Penn State finally did the right thing by getting rid of Paterno, especially considering even more unsavory rumors about Sandusky that are beginning to surface.