The Hunt for Ray Gricar Lloyd Hill Back Home After Coronavirus Diagnosis

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School@home helps kids keep on learning. D4-5 THE CASE OF THE MISSING DA 15 YEARS LATER

The hunt for Ray Gricar Lloyd Hill back home after coronavirus diagnosis. C1

THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK Calls to ‘reopen Pennsylvania’ are getting ever louder

Wolf outlines steps in state’s recovery plan, garnering criticism and praise

Matt Miller and Jan Murphy [email protected]

How frayed has the patience of Pennsylvanians become after weeks under a government ordered lockdown due to the coronavirus? We might find out on Monday. At noon, an array of groups who are bashing Gov. Tom Wolf’s COVID-19 quarantine and business closure orders as overreaching, unnecessarily broad and harmful to a tot- tering economy are vowing to rally outside the now-empty Capitol Complex. They say they will be driving around, honking their horns to show their displeasure. It is a sound and a message that has been echoing around the country with increasing volume of late. On Saturday, small-government groups and Trump sup- porters staged demonstrations Saturday in several cities after President Donald Trump urged them to “liberate” three states led by Democratic governors. Protests happened in Republican-led states, too, including at the Texas Capitol and in front of the Indiana gover- nor’s home. Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott already said that restrictions will begin easing next week. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb — who signed an agreement with six other Midwestern states to coordinate reopening — said he would extend his stay-at-home order until May 1. Michigan has seen widespread protests against its government-imposed quarantine, with Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as the vilified target. Other rallies have been logged in Minnesota, Kentucky, Utah, North Carolina and Ohio. The movement has spilled across the border into Canada as well. Trump, whose administration waited months to bol- ster stockpiles of key medical supplies and equipment, Illustration by Susan Santola, Advance Local appeared to back protesters. “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, “ Trump said in a Friday tweet- In the days after Centre County Ray Gricar’s disappearance, local police and half a dozen state and fed- storm in which he also lashed out at New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, for criticizing the federal response. eral agencies chased a cascade of leads. There were sightings across the state and around the country. Cuomo “should spend more time ‘doing’ and less time ‘complaining,’” the president said. Investigators mulled whether Gricar left voluntarily or was the victim of foul play. As years passed, the PLAN FOR PENNSYLVANIA leads dried up and, eventually, the case was taken out of the hands of the Bellefonte police and given to In a statewide address Friday, Pennsylvania’s Gov. Tom Wolf touched on the framework and standards upon which the Pennsylvania State Police’s cold case unit. In the past two years, PennLive has taken a deep dive into economic recovery and reopening decisions will be based. the case, uncovering strands of evidence that may have never been fully explored. STORY, A10 SEE REOPEN, A24

ELECTION 2020 Pa. remains key battleground but virus radically changes campaigns

Ron Southwick [email protected]

The 2020 presidential election has been November election. Nonetheless, the coro- U.S. senator from Delaware, could give Dem- upended by COVID-19. navirus pandemic has completely reshaped ocrats a chance to take back the Keystone With Bernie Sanders dropping out of the the election, analysts agree. State. Trump narrowly won Pennsylvania in race, former Vice President Joe Biden stands Analysts say it’s tough to project who will 2016, becoming the first Republican presi- as the presumptive Democratic nominee win Pennsylvania when there are so many dential candidate to win the commonwealth and is all but certain to face President Don- larger, looming questions that can’t be since 1988. “We are in an environment where ald Trump in November. answered right now. What will campaigning it’s very, very difficult to make judgments Analysts agree Pennsylvania will remain even look like in 2020? Can traditional cam- that hold any future sway,” said G. Terry a battleground state. paigning resume and if so, when? Madonna, a political analyst at Franklin & “One constant is Pennsylvania remains As Borick asked: “How do you campaign Marshall College. extremely coveted,” said Christopher Borick, in a time of pandemic? Expect plenty of advertising money to be a political analyst at Muhlenberg College. Will the Democrats and Republicans spent in Pennsylvania. Normally, it’d be easy “The electoral math hasn’t changed because have their national conventions this sum- to project plenty of events featuring both of COVID-19. Pennsylvania will be an epicen- mer? Can Trump and Biden have rallies or candidates, who made repeated appear- A recent Quinnipiac University poll in the ter of the campaign.” will public health concerns scrap events that ances in the Keystone State before the pan- general election face-off between former Aside from that fact, political analysts say would draw big crowds? demic. “We’re going to be one of the most vis- Vice President Joe Biden, left, and President it’s virtually impossible to forecast what will Will people show up to the polls in Novem- ited states,” Madonna said, “if they can get Donald Trump shows Biden leading 49% happen in November. ber or will more voters cast ballots by mail? out and campaign.” to 41%. The same poll showed Trump’s job The coronavirus has altered virtually Seasoned political analysts said there are approval is the highest of his presidency. every aspect of American life. The efforts far more questions than answers right now. ‘A SHORTENED CAMPAIGN’ Analysts say the race is virtually impossible to reduce the spread of the virus have shut “Trump is no longer the biggest wild card Most analysts agreed voters aren’t focus- to forecast right now. Associated Press photos down businesses and left millions of Ameri- in the race,” said Lauren Copeland, a polit- ing on November right now. cans without jobs. ical analyst at Baldwin Wallace University. Many aren’t giving much thought to the Biden, a Scranton native and a longtime SEE CAMPAIGNS, A17

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On April 15, 2005, Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar called off work and took a drive out to Lewisburg, likely traveling this stretch of Route 192. 2015 PennLive photo The hunt for Ray Gricar Sifting through 15 years of clues, theories and the search for answers

Wallace McKelvey [email protected]

AVONDALE, Arizona — Duane Dixon rises early so he can spend time doting on his granddaughter before heading off to work in the evidence locker of a suburban Phoenix police station. He invites me into his Spanish-Colonial tract house and immediately starts apologizing: for his two dogs constantly underfoot, for the chirping TV anchors on the morning news, for not quite being ready to be interviewed. Oh, and would I like coffee? OJ? Water? Dixon, now 62, has an obliging, plainspoken manner familiar to anyone who’s watched him field questions from the likes of Greta Van Susteren during his 15 minutes of fame 15 years ago after Centre County District Attorney Ray Gri- car went missing. “I’ll be honest with you,” he whispers a confession, “she’s kind of intimidating.” Every law enforcement officer has a case that defines their career. Gricar is that case for Dixon. Fifteen years ago this month, sometime around midnight back in Pennsylvania, a patrolman knocked on the former Bellefonte police chief’s door to tell him the county prosecutor hadn’t come home. That porch-light briefing would set off days, weeks and ultimately years of searching. Such mysteries exert their own gravity, ever more so in an era of “Serial” and Netflix. It was Dixon’s last big case before retiring to Arizona, and he feels a responsibility to keep it going. And it was the biggest challenge of Dixon’s career, and not only from a public relations standpoint. Former Bellefonte police chief Duane Dixon says he never turns down an opportunity to discuss the Ray Gricar case because Being police chief in a small town like Bellefonte means there is always a chance that a news article could inspire someone to come forward with new information. PennLive being something of a player-coach. Dixon joined his officers responding to calls, everything from bar fights to domestic violence. half a dozen state and federal agencies chased down a cas- And bears. cade of leads. There were sightings across the state and “It came in as a possible burglary call, somebody up a tree around the country, including one caller who claimed to looking into a house,” he recalls. “I get there. It wasn’t a per- have seen him at a taping of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in son. It was a black bear.” Chicago. When animal control arrived, the two men walked behind Investigators mulled whether Gricar left voluntarily or the bear, shooing it up East High Street, past the old court- was the victim of foul play. As years passed, the leads dried house, and into the woods at the edge of town. up and, eventually, the case was taken out of the hands of the “We’re so close to it the Game Commission guy told me to Bellefonte police and given to the Pennsylvania State Police’s smack it on the butt,” Dixon says, his voice taking on a giddy cold case unit. Gricar was declared dead in 2011. charge. “I said, ‘I ain’t smacking no bear on the butt. It’s mov- Each year, like clockwork, a state police spokesman says ing fast enough for me.’” the case is still open. The whimsy drains from his voice as our conversation The investigators who worked the case prior to the state turns to Ray Gricar. police takeover in 2014 say they were stuck in a bind. Once “All I know is we gave it the best job we could.” the leads were exhausted, what they had in essence was a missing persons case with virtually no physical evidence. It Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar A NOW FAMILIAR STORY was a locked-car mystery with no body. is shown in this undated photo. The basic gist of Ray Gricar’s disappearance is so familiar “You have the look,” Bellefonte Police Chief Shawn Weaver I can recount it in my sleep. quipped the second time I met him to discuss the case. One sunny Friday on April 15, 2005 — Tax Day, eight That’s the kind dialogue you read in a Raymond Chandler “Just about months before his retirement — the Centre County district novel or hear in a political thriller from the ’70s. This ain’t attorney called his live-in girlfriend, Patty Fornicola, to tell exactly “All the President’s Men,” but the case has taken on anytime someone her he was playing hooky and not to expect him home until that kind of import in Centre County and on internet mes- later. sage boards where sleuths and trolls proffer their own the- He drove his distinctive red Mini Cooper east along rural ories. finds a body, it Route 192 past rolling hillsides and an Amish schoolhouse Even so, I knew what Weaver meant. and through a state forest. Witnesses saw him strolling the Over the course of nearly two years — longer if you include makes me think Street of Shops, a kitschy antiques mall in Lewisburg where an earlier foray into the Gricar mystery for the 10th anniver- vendors sell Beanie Babies and scented candles in false- sary in 2015 — I’ve spoken with two dozen people in Gricar’s fronted stalls dressed up like the kind of Main Street you see orbit and quite a few outside of it in an effort to figure out about Ray. I in a Thomas Kinkade painting. how a prominent district attorney could simply vanish. Investigators found the Mini Cooper parked in the lot I uncovered strands of evidence that, best as I can tell, wonder if it’s him.” there. His cellphone, turned off, was locked inside but the were never fully explored during previous investigations. keys were missing. Forensic technicians detected an obvious The process would take me across the country to meet oth- Darrel Zaccagni, the lead cigarette smell and found ash on the passenger’s side floor ers who had the look: heavy brow, tired eyes and a wry sense investigator in the early days mat. Not only was Gricar not a smoker, but the people who of humor about what they’d endured. knew him knew he abhorred cigarettes. It soon became apparent that Gricar’s laptop was miss- ‘COULD BE DANGEROUS’ ing. It wasn’t in his office and it wasn’t in the modest white The informant met me at a greasy spoon off the interstate. bungalow he shared with Fornicola in Bellefonte, the county I was a mediocre Boy Scout but I still live the motto: “Be seat. There was no recent activity on his email. Nor his bank prepared.” I arrived 15 minutes early and asked the hostess account. Nor his credit cards. for a table at the far end of the restaurant, away from other In the first days after his disappearance, local police and patrons, where we could talk discreetly with a clear line of SUNDAY PATRIOT-NEWS SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020 A11

sight to the entrance. He arrived minutes later — another man who looks before he leaps — and settled in across from me. I had my notebook out with two pens at the ready but, initially, he waved them off. “Listen,” he said. “Don’t start writing. I have something you need to hear. I mean, really hear.” I set the ballpoint down and gave him my undivided attention. “You and your people” — it amused me that he thought I had people but I made a point not to smile — “need to know what you’re getting into.” Then the waitress arrived, a chipper middle-aged woman with chestnut hair. We ordered coffee. He hesitated, making vague complaints about his health while we awaited her return. Then he unloaded two creams and a packet of sugar into his. I sipped mine black. “Your people need to know,” he continued, after some prodding, “that what you’re doing could be dangerous.” He paused. “Are you ready for that?”

CONSPIRACY THEORIES Speculation and innuendo fill the vacuum, Weaver and other investigators say, in the absence of any DNA to test or fingerprints to lift. Uncertainty led to conspiracy theories. Some of Gricar’s closest colleagues flamed out, publicly espousing such theories, running ill-considered campaigns for public office or, in one case, getting arrested for DUI and drug possession. Bellefonte Police Chief Shawn Weaver took over the Ray Gricar investigation in 2006 after police chief Duane Dixon retired. And Gricar’s office, which he led for 20 years with a kind “I don’t know if I would have taken the case if it was my decision,” he admits. Photos by PennLive of steady competence that earned the respect of his most ardent courtroom adversaries and political opponents, became a revolving door of “characters,” as a local judge described them. One such character, Stacy Parks Miller, leveraged dissat- isfaction over the Gricar investigation in her political campaign. Then her law license was suspended amid a scandal over, among other things, her use of a fake Facebook page to snoop on suspects and witnesses. Today, she advertises her services — on Facebook — as a media analyst. In 2015, I ambushed Weaver at his office when my calls went unreturned. He was more receptive the second time around, although he was also more deflated in both the physical and metaphorical senses of the word. He, like me, lost weight. He also lost his filter. He was no longer interested in sugarcoating the absurdity of a small-town police department of 11 officers running such a massive investigation for so long. Weaver took over in 2006 after Dixon retired. He immediately felt the pressure of what his predecessor dove head- long into. “It’s a big undertaking for a small but professional police department to take on by itself and still do day-to-day calls,” he said. “I don’t know if I would have taken the case if it was my decision. I struggle with that now: Why the Bellefonte Borough police when, most likely, if there were a crime scene it would be out of our jurisdiction?” I repeatedly pressed Dixon on this question but his answers were less than satisfying. The closest I got to an answer was that Bellefonte took jurisdiction because that’s where Gricar lived. “I understood that if the car was found outside of Belle- David Centner, the current police chief of Hinckley Township, Ohio, discusses a 1985 case where a police chief went missing. fonte, the state police were going to do the investigation,” he Some believe that Gricar might have taken inspiration from that case and simply decided to vanish and create a new life. said. “But once the car was found, the detectives from the state police told my officers ... they would assist in the investigation.” Perhaps Weaver’s candor explains why, after our second interview, Weaver referred my calls to the current district attorney, Bernie Cantorna, who ignored them wholesale. By the time I interviewed Weaver that second time, I had met enough people caught in the slipstream of the Ray Gri- car case to know what the police chief meant by “the look.” Many of them, Weaver included, have “the look.” As he leapfrogged from one clue, one letdown, one missed opportunity, to the next over the course of nearly four hours with me, he repeatedly shook his head and looked down at his patent leather shoes, bemused by it all. There’s the walkaway theory, that Gricar — 59 years old and nearing retirement — figured enough was enough, staged a mysterious trip to Lewisburg and fled for points unknown. But would he really abandon his girlfriend and, more importantly, his daughter Lara, whom friends say he was deeply committed to? What motive did he have to make his departure a big mystery when he was retiring anyway? And wouldn’t someone have heard from him in 15 years? There’s the homicide theory, that someone Gricar had prosecuted, was prosecuting or would prosecute took it upon themselves to knock him off. A lot of Sandusky conspiracy theories fall under this umbrella. But investigators can rattle off a number of leads they followed where the subjects had compelling alibis. And Gricar’s body was never found. And, finally, the suicide theory, that Gricar — suffering from some mental anguish and unable to swim — jumped into the Susquehanna and his body was churned up by the inflatable dam downstream in Sunbury. Or maybe he found Former Clinton County District Attorney Ted McKnight once called for the state attorney general’s office to take over the some other way to shuffle off this mortal coil while leaving investigation. “I quit being active in this case a number of years ago because I thought I’m making a little too much noise.” no evidence of foul play. Investigators eventually found Gricar’s laptop, with its hard drive conspicuously removed, in the river near the anymore and, besides, “what’s done is done.” But he politely Buehner’s anguish is palpable. He shakes his head at Route 192 bridge in Lewisburg. A few months later, the hard encouraged me to keep at it and — click — the line was dead. the thought and stares off into the middle distance for a drive was found upstream under an abandoned railroad My second call was Bob Buehner, former Montour County moment. trestle. No data could be recovered and, so, the discoveries district attorney and, as the aforementioned judge would Then he tells me about The Informant. only yielded more questions: Did Gricar himself ditch them, say, a character. as his final act before leaving town or killing himself? Or did Buehner, known for his swagger in and out of the court- MEETING THE INFORMANT somebody kill him in order to destroy whatever evidence room, is one of the few mainstays of the Gricar case. When it I’ve used a number of anonymous sources in my time was on his computer? languished for months and then years, he stepped up as an as a reporter. Before I grant anonymity, the person has to “What’s very frustrating about this case is that, like you outspoken critic. In the buttoned-down world of law enforce- pass the sniff test. That is: I need to know who they are, why and I are sitting talking about it now, I can’t just stay focused ment, Buehner stuck his neck out in a big way. He staged a they’re talking to me and why they absolutely must share on one avenue because there’s no end to it,” Weaver said. press conference in Lewisburg, near the Street of Shops, this information anonymously. “There’s a beginning. There’s a whole bunch of middle. And alongside then-Clinton County District Attorney Ted McK- Political hacks use the cover of anonymity to smear oppo- even within the middle, there’s so much ambiguity and what night to call for the state attorney general’s office to step in. nents, corporate types to gain leverage in the market and if’s and theories.” “I’d have to say it was somewhat unprecedented,” he says, ladies at the auxiliary bake sale because they heard it once It’s enough to drive anyone a little crazy. in a conference room at the old courthouse in Danville, “but on “Law and Order” and are too polite to just say no. For the nobody was doing anything to find out what happened to record, none of these are good reasons. A HAUNTING CASE Ray Gricar.” I did some legwork before meeting The Informant. Anniversary stories are — or were — the bread-and-but- Buehner succeeded in angering a lot of his colleagues and To answer the first question, I reached out to a few more ter of journalism. I’ve written a lot of them. The one I wrote several Harrisburg politicos but not much else. people in law enforcement who were familiar with him. about Gricar in 2015 felt different. It mostly centered around I interviewed McKnight at his Victorian home on a leafy They vouched for him, at least hypothetically, as a plausible law enforcement and the uneasy feeling many had about the street in Lock Haven, videographer in tow. Amid a chorus of source because he already served as a police informant in a case. ticking clocks that burst to life at irregular intervals to mark somewhat high-profile case. It didn’t get much press cover- Their recollections were tinged with regret, a vague long- the hour he spoke cryptically about dark forces that didn’t age but The Informant’s actions may well have saved some- ing for the case that got away. want the case to be solved. one’s life. “Just about anytime someone finds a body, it makes me “I quit being active in this case a number of years ago,” That doesn’t necessarily mean everything The Informant think about Ray,” Darrel Zaccagni, the lead investigator in he says, “because I thought I’m making a little too much says about Ray Gricar should be taken as gospel. the early days, told me as we spoke in his living room on the noise. I’m a threat. I don’t want to be a threat. I want to live. On the second question: The Informant didn’t seek me outskirts of Bellefonte. “I wonder if it’s him.” Because if you add all of it together, the case will not be pur- out. I found him. His story, at least the version I heard sec- As he posed for a portrait in the field behind his house, he sued. So what’s the point.” ondhand, merited follow-up and so I went about trying to mentioned that Gricar still haunts him. It wasn’t clear if Zac- In case you’re wondering, McKnight has the look. find him. He moved around a lot but I soon found a last cagni meant the case or the person and, at the time, I didn’t “Should we be worried?” the videographer asked from known address. ask. He kicked the dirt at his feet, straightened his back and behind his camera. One day, a videographer and I went to a nondescript apart- raised his chin, then stared directly into the camera. “Possibly.” ment complex. I knocked on his door, then paused to listen. Journalists, like cops, have preoccupations: Gricar That interview led to a memorable two-hour-long ride Knocked again. Paused. No response. I wrote him a note, became one of mine. After that 2015 story, I pitched my edi- home. ripped the page from my notebook and left it wedged with tors on a podcast — this was months after NPR’s “Serial” — As of this writing, all three of us are still alive. my business card in the jamb. but there was no easy way to sell ads for it. I persisted, gently Buehner, for his part, seemed less grandiose in his theo- A neighbor confirmed that, yes, The Informant lived and sometimes not so gently, in between stories about drug ries but no less concerned about their implications. there. But he came and went at odd hours because of his job. policy and drinking water. Eventually, PennLive greenlit a “If a sitting district attorney ... can go missing and law The next day, I got a call. documentary and I set out anew. enforcement officials do next to nothing to solve his disap- “So I hear you’re looking for me.” Zaccagni was my first call. pearance, what chance does an average citizen have when Today, he’s retired and driving rideshare. He declined a their loved one goes missing?” He says. “The answer is, boy, second interview, saying he doesn’t fully trust his memory not very much.” SEE GRICAR, A12 A12 SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020 SUNDAY PATRIOT-NEWS

Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar’s car was found in a parking lot across the street from Street of Shops antique store in Lewisburg, 45 miles from his home in Bellefonte. His cellphone, turned off, was locked inside. Forensic technicians detected an obvious cigarette smell and found ash on the passenger’s side floor mat. Gricar was not a smoker. PennLive file photo

THE WALKAWAY THEORY Gricar If you spend any amount of time researching Ray Gricar on the internet, you’ll come upon Mel Wiley. In 1985, as Gricar was preparing to run for DA in Centre FROM A11 County, the police chief of a small farm community in north- east Ohio went missing. One theory posits that Gricar took ‘HE WAS ALOOF’ inspiration from the case. It’s certainly plausible he knew Gricar’s idyllic drive on an unusually warm Friday 15 years about Wiley — he was still well-connected there and the ago had some precedent. He’d once gone to a Cleveland Indi- case briefly made national headlines — but no one I spoke to ans game — he grew up in the suburbs, attended law school remembers him ever bringing it up. at Case Western and worked as a prosecutor there — without Nonetheless, the similarities are striking: A mischievous telling a soul. An acquaintance would later notify police of a if deeply private law enforcement officer vanishes. His car is sighting just one day prior at Raystown Lake, more than an found by Lake Erie with his wallet, badge and a beach towel hour’s drive from Bellefonte in the opposite direction. locked inside. His body was never found, leading to specu- Initially, Patty Fornicola didn’t suspect anything. After lation first that he drowned, then that he was killed, com- work, she went straight to the gym. It wasn’t until 11 o’clock mitted suicide or ran off to start a new life. Police analysis of that night that she phoned the local police. Wiley’s typewriter ribbon showed that he wrote about a plan Dixon’s first assumption was that Gricar wrecked his Mini to be 2,500 miles away by the time an unidentified friend Cooper somewhere off a rural road where passersby couldn’t received his final letter. see. That night, he issued a BOLO — cop jargon for “be on This bridge croses the Susquehanna River near where Ray “I am about as reasonably sure as I can be that Mel did the lookout” — and, the next morning, he went up in a state Gricar’s car was found in Lewisburg. Some speculate that not perish in Lake Erie,” said Hinckley Township’s current police helicopter to look for just that. Gricar jumped or was put into the river. 2015 PennLive photo police chief, David Centner. “Mel staged his own disappear- Generally speaking, missing adults don’t get such scrutiny. ance and left the area. I believe he went to California and But this was the district attorney. could very well, to this day, still be alive. We don’t know.” “When you hold an office like that — I don’t care what happened.” The question is: Why? anybody says — you get a little more favored treatment than After a few interviews with the investigators, The Infor- “We all have moments in our lives, I think, where we’d ‘Susie Homewife Who Doesn’t Come Home Tonight,’” said mant never heard from them again. That was back in 2009 like to take off and disappear, go somewhere and start over,” Zaccagni, who became the lead investigator because he and 2010, he said, and he expected he’d take the story to his Centner said. “There was something that drove Mel to take showed up to work first that Saturday morning. grave. A peaceful death from something ordinary. the steps that he did.” Bellefonte is one of those small towns where everybody Tricia Dieter knew Wiley from childhood. She drove me knows everybody else’s business. In 2005, it didn’t take long ‘HE’S IN THE RIVER’ around to the old familiar places: the Wiley family home where for word to spread that the DA was missing. After all, he’d Tony Gricar was in his mid-twenties in 1996 when Ray Gri- she was like a fifth child; the basement bar and the donut shop been a familiar face since he left his native Ohio in 1980 to car took leave from Centre County and joined his family in Mel frequented; Mel’s apartment, where he left behind several become Centre County’s assistant DA. Five years later, he the search for his older brother, and Tony’s father, Roy. days’ supply of food and water out for his two cats. was elected to the top job. “I learned the value of media cycles the hard way back Wiley served in Vietnam but never spoke of it, she remem- Weaver’s tenure as chief didn’t overlap with Gricar’s but then,” Tony recalled. bered. He wore long sleeves in summer to hide a skin condi- he did encounter him many times as an officer in criminal Roy, then 53, had recently retired from a job at Wright-Pat- tion. He dreamed of becoming a writer. prosecutions. terson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. The police there Dieter moved on, endured more recent tragedies, but she “He was aloof,” he remembered. “He was not the kind of asked the standard questions, Tony said, but there didn’t still thinks about her friend. She wonders if he’s alive. She guy I would sit down to have a cold one with.” seem to be much sense of urgency until Ray arrived. hopes he’s happy if he is. That was a common description among those who crossed Ray took lead in mobilizing the search, even issuing a plea “It left an empty spot,” she said. “He was like a big brother paths with him in the courthouse. From the outside, he for the public’s help to the Dayton Daily News. Roy’s body to me.” appeared so committed to his work that he was known to was eventually pulled from the Great Miami River, down- Of course, there’s evidence — however tenuous — that pass colleagues in the hall without acknowledging them, his stream from where his car was found. The coroner ruled the Wiley vanished willingly. eyes focused on some goalpost in the middle distance unless cause of death a drowning and Roy’s history of depression In my reporting on Gricar, I found just one ambiguous they initiated conversation. led police to assume a suicide. clue pointing toward the walkaway theory: the state inher- Gricar’s most famous cases tended to revolve around vio- Nearly nine years later, Tony would find himself step- itance tax form for Gricar’s estate, filed in 2013, showed that lence against women. He garnered national attention in 1993 ping into Ray’s old role, serving as family spokesman. The his assets totaled just $1,057.86. when he used DNA, tire tracks and gas receipts to link the suspected crime scene, an abandoned car near a river, was The document even gave Buehner, who’s ardent in his murder of 17-year-old runaway Dawn Marie Birnbaum to a eerily familiar. belief Gricar was murdered, pause: “You would have thought cross-country trucker, one of hundreds who passed through “I looked at it and said, ‘he’s in the river’,” he said. he would have more money in his bank accounts, things like the county on I-80 on any given day. Tony doesn’t blame Dixon and Zaccagni for making the that. But he apparently didn’t.” That advocacy drew Buehner’s attention. Such cases can assumption but, as soon as he uttered those words, it seemed Most people I showed the document had a similar reac- be difficult to prosecute, he said, but Gricar took them on. like suicide became the investigators’ lead theory. Of course, tion. But there are several reasonable explanations: Gricar Public defender Deborah Lux often found herself on the it was also his own. Tony spent much of his time along the had twice divorced, including as recently as 2001, which opposing end of Gricar’s withering closing arguments. One river, searching for any sign of his uncle. resulted in assets being divided with his exes. In Pennsylva- time, she watched him strangle Resusci Anne, a CPR train- Fifteen years later, he’s not so sure. nia, pensions are exempt from inheritance tax. And, finally, ing doll, as he counted down the time it took the alleged killer “If it’s a suicide, it’s a suicide without a body,” he said. in the years prior to his disappearance Gricar was known to murder his victim. Another time, he brought the armchair “That river changed so much from one week to the next to place his property in other people’s names. The red Mini her client was allegedly sitting in when he shot his wife. Gri- because of the spring melt ... the question is: How far could a Cooper, for example, technically belonged to Fornicola. car sat in the chair as he described the shooting to the jury. body have gotten?” Several people told me about odd behavior Gricar exhib- “I never thought when Ray did those things in his closing Later, Tony drove his uncle’s car across the Route 192 ited in the months prior to his disappearance that led them arguments that they were gimmicks,” she said. “To me, they bridge to see if it was possible to throw a laptop across the to believe something was up. were masterful.” passenger seat, through the window and out to where it was At her last trial with him, Lux said he appeared frail, like found. The answer was no. Of course, even that fact doesn’t he had lost a significant amount of weight. But she never TO PROVIDE CLOSURE conclusively point to any one theory. Anyone could’ve dis- pressed him for an explanation. As friendly as they were, it The informant wasted little time in making demands. posed of the laptop from any number of places near or on simply wasn’t that kind of relationship. “How are you going to guarantee my safety?” He asked, his the bridge. “He was so private,” she said. “I’d be surprised to learn if eyes narrowing, after sharing his story in all its grisly detail. “There’s almost no evidence in this case whatsoever,” he ever went to a doctor. ... He would not have wanted any- Once again, I set my pen down. I stared back. Tony said. “The best evidence is circumstantial. That’s one to know he was weak.” There’s no sense in making promises I can’t keep. what’s most maddening.” In another instance, at a scheduling conference weeks Just as I opened my mouth to say as much, the waitress Back in 2005, Ray’s family found themselves in the sur- before his disappearance, he appeared confused. When arrived with a steaming carafe to top off our coffee and ask real position of trying to drum up interest in the disappear- asked about a date to begin trial, retired court administra- if we’d like to order food and mention the key lime pie, made ance of a middle-aged man amid coverage of a new pope and tor Cheryl Spotts recalled Gricar replying flatly: “I won’t be special by the chef, with fresh key lime. the media circus around the disappearance of the so-called here.” He offered no further explanation and seemed ret- Three minutes later, our tête-à-tête continued. “runaway bride,” Jennifer Wilbanks. After a national media icent to even look at the judge, seemingly lost in thought, “I can’t guarantee you protection,” I replied, “but we can feeding frenzy, Wilbanks was found alive and unharmed. staring at the bookcases. Gricar, always so well prepared, talk about whether we identify you.” And then came the conspiracy theories, many of them didn’t even bring his schedule book with him. The Informant stirred in another splash of cream and centered around the Penn State and Jerry Sandusky child “I’m thinking, if he did mean something by it, I wish’d I sugar. He thought about it for a moment. And, thus, the con- sex abuse scandal, which broke in 2011 and once again had caught it,” she said. “But I didn’t ... I’m hoping he meant versation continued. returned Ray Gricar to headlines. In 1998, Gricar chose not that he’d be on vacation.” I saved my most important question for last: Why? to prosecute Sandusky after a sting operation revealed tan- Another witness I spoke to, an accountant named Donald The last time he cooperated with police, it was to save a talizingly vague statements made by the assistant football Houser, says he saw Gricar driving his red Mini Cooper south man’s life. He didn’t ask for leniency and he didn’t expect it. coach in conjunction with an incident of alleged sexual on Route 15 near Lewisburg at about 5 p.m. on the day he dis- Now, it’s been years since he was told the story of what hap- assault on a minor. appeared. Houser, who knew Gricar through local Republi- pened to Gricar and years since he told the state police. He These days, aside from the occasional post on Reddit to can politics, pulled up beside him at a stoplight. He’s certain didn’t expect leniency then, either, and he didn’t get it. correct the record, Tony and the rest of the family keep a low it was him. “They can’t do nothing for me,” he said, “but I want that profile. He hasn’t heard from the state police in five years and “It just seemed strange to me, the way he was sitting,” family to have some closure. They deserve to know what the media spotlight has proven all too fickle and frustrating. he recalled. “He was thinking about something. He didn’t SUNDAY PATRIOT-NEWS SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020 A13

Key dates in the investigation of the missing Centre County DA

April 15, 2005: Gricar takes the day off Ray Gricar, who plans to retire as Centre County district attorney in nine months, tells his longtime girlfriend Patty Fornicola in the morning that he plans to take a half day. At 11:30 a.m., he calls her to say he’s driving on scenic Route 192 and will take the rest of the day off.

He’s never seen again.

April 15, 2005: Gricar disappears Fornicola returns home from her job at the Centre County Courthouse, finds no note from Gricar and goes to the gym. She returns again and finds Gricar still missing. By about 11:30 p.m., after not being able to reach him, Fornicola calls the police.

Forgoing standard missing persons procedure, the police immediately send out notice to other departments to be on the lookout for Gricar’s red Mini Cooper.

April 16, 2005: The search ramps up Police launch air and ground searches along Route 192. Later in the day, a state trooper finds Gricar’s red Mini Cooper parked across from an antiques market in Lewisburg. His cellphone, turned off, is inside but his laptop is still missing. Ash, apparently from a cigarette, is found on the passenger’s side although Gricar did not smoke and reportedly disliked the Former Bellefonte police chief Duane Dixon logs evidence into a computer at the Glendale Police Department in Arizona. habit. Few of his colleagues at the station knew that he had been a former chief who oversaw the Gricar case. PennLive Police report that monitoring of his email, bank accounts and credit cards show no activity. look happy. Of course, when I read the news later on, it shook me up.” April 17, 2005: Gricar left no trail Houser’s sighting is relevant because it contradicts the Several witnesses report seeing Gricar, as well as a mystery generally accepted timeline of Gricar’s last day — whatever woman who may have been with him at the antiques market, happened to him was thought to have taken place earlier — and his car around Lewisburg. Bloodhounds brought in by and could have helped investigators map out his final hours. police, however, are unable to track his scent. A search of the All three, despite sharing these stories with others at the nearby Susquehanna River will continue for weeks without time, said they were never interviewed by investigators. turning up any sign of the missing DA. Of course, it’s not clear how these facts could have solved the case. After all, Gricar could just as plausibly been wor- April 18, 2005: A plea for help ried about a plan to leave town, commit suicide or a threat Gricar’s family gathers for a press conference to plea for help in against his life. finding the missing DA. “My heart aches deeply, very deeply, for your presence,” said his daughter, Lara. Fornicola, like the rest, ‘THERE WASN’T MUCH THERE’ Bob Buehner, a former district attorney, still holds out hope that Gricar is alive. “I want you to come home,” At 67, Buehner clings to hope that the case will be solved. hopes the case will be solved. PennLive she says. “Please call us. We will wait for as long as we need.” “To see him disappear and not be found is very sad,” he said. “It breaks my heart.” Police tell reporters that Gricar’s brother, Roy, disappeared It was Buehner’s continued advocacy on behalf of his from Ohio in 1996 under similar circumstances. His death was friend and colleague that drew the attention of The Infor- “To see him disappear ruled a suicide. Meanwhile, they say, the FBI had been brought mant. Then incarcerated, he struck up a correspondence in to help with the investigation. with Buehner. and not be found is very Buehner, himself a skeptical man by nature, felt out his April 19, 2005: Gricar makes national headlines new pen pal, checked into his background and pulled the Gricar’s disappearance briefly makes national headlines, with full story from him. After a number of letters, the prosecutor sad. It breaks my heart.” key figures in the case being interviewed by the likes of Fox came to believe The Informant’s version of events. He passed News’ Greta Van Susteren. Such coverage continues sporad- them along to then-Centre County District Attorney Michael Bob Buehner, former Montour County district attorney ically over the next 10 years, resulting in a flurry of new leads Madeira and other contacts in law enforcement. that often fail to pan out. What was the result, according to Buehner? Not much. April 25, 2005: No clues in medical records Madeira and several others with knowledge of the investi- Court records show that police sought a court order to obtain gation at the time declined or did not respond to requests for And yet ... Gricar’s medical records in light of the suicide of Gricar’s comment. Weaver dismissed The Informant’s story. The last time I saw The Informant, his legs were swollen brother. That review did not reveal any physical or mental “We investigated it,” Weaver said, “and there wasn’t and his face was drawn and pale. He had been in and out of ailments, police say. much there.” doctor’s offices and the death of a family member cut him Over the course of many months, I asked The Informant low. He was desperate for money and I had to tell him that I July 2005: Gricar’s laptop is found to tell and retell his story, searching for inconsistencies as couldn’t offer any. Gricar’s laptop is found underneath the Route 45 bridge over well as details he may have left out during our first meeting I asked him — for the last of nearly half a dozen times the Susquehanna River. Its hard drive, which would be found at the diner. We met so many times that I was able to watch — if I could sit down with him and Google Maps, cross-ref- a short distance away more than two months later, had been his health falter in real time. The crux of his story never did. erence the geography he remembers against mining and removed. The Informant came upon his information in 2008, while county tax records and maybe figure out where this mine incarcerated at SCI Camp Hill, which serves as a processing shaft might be. Meanwhile, police tell reporters that Fornicola and Gricar’s facility for incoming prisoners before they are assigned to “I’m just so exhausted,” he said, “and I don’t know what daughter, Lara, had both passed polygraph tests. facilities elsewhere across the state. could happen.” His cellmate was a boisterous man who claimed to work “What could happen?” August 2007: Tips trickle in with a partner, a fixer for a criminal organization with vari- “Something awful.” As the Gricar investigation enters its second year, Bellefonte ous interests scattered about the state. Together, The Infor- police continue to pursue leads both plausible and outlandish. mant said, they committed arsons, assaults and murders. AN UNFINISHED ENDING One example: Police tracked down a report that Gricar may The cellmate, who’s since died, was indeed at SCI Camp In Arizona, I set up my proudest shot of a documentary have been in the audience of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” “It’s Hill. And his criminal record showed a number of charges that may never be seen. very frustrating,” then-lead investigator Darrel Zaccagni told ranging from arson to an illegal gun sale to providing false We begin with a close-up on Duane Dixon, going about PennLive. “He’s still just a missing person. We have nothing information to police. his work logging evidence into a computer at the Glendale to show that there was a homicide, suicide or that he up and I asked The Informant if the cellmate could’ve been lying, Police Department, and slowly pull away from him. He’s walked away.” spinning a tall tale meant to impress a new friend. He didn’t framed by the check-in window of the evidence room, ini- think so. To him, it felt more like a come-on to persuade him tially large on the screen and then smaller and smaller still March 2010: Gricar task force formed to join them in some later scheme. as the camera backs down a nondescript hallway under the Amid increasing pressure from the public to solve the case and “He laughed a lot about this because they never got hum of sickly green fluorescent light. outcry from some of Gricar’s friends and family, new Centre caught,” The Informant said. The camera jostles. County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller assembles a task Just as we were getting to the day of the alleged murder, “Let’s try it again,” I say. force to review the case. “Anything could happen any day to the waitress returned to top off our coffee yet again. I smiled The videographer resets. break a case,” Parks Miller says. a thin smile and asked for the check, which arrived in short Dixon chuckles obligingly and says, “Sure, we can do order, freeing us to talk about Gricar. one more.” The task force meets monthly. According to The Informant, the cellmate and this other It’s a shot I’ve had in my head since PennLive signed off man, who is still alive, were contracted to kidnap and mur- on this project. I described it in my storyboard, the one with July 2011: A lookalike in Utah der Gricar as a means of slowing down a drug investigation. 112 slides I created way back in July 2018. The perfect end- In July 2011, authorities in Utah circulate the photo of a John In 2005, Gricar and then-Attorney General Tom Corbett ing to this story of grief, uncertainty and regret. Doe prisoner who bears a striking resemblance to the missing were investigating a massive drug ring based in and around But this is not a story that can be wrapped up with a slow DA. He’s ultimately identified as a 61-year-old New Mexico man, State College, which was announced one month prior to Gri- pull away and a fade to black. not Gricar. car’s disappearance. Based on The Informant’s recollec- Buehner’s words linger: If Ray Gricar can disappear, tions, though, it’s not clear if this investigation and the one what hope do the rest of us have? July 2011: Gricar legally dead that may have prompted Gricar’s murder were the same. And yet the impulse to keep digging remains. During the same week, a Centre County judge declares Gricar A female acquaintance of the two men, who is now also It’s been a while since Dixon talked about Gricar. But he legally dead. “We believe that, given the massive publicity and deceased, was paid to lure Gricar to the Street of Shops with never turns down an opportunity, he says near the end of massive investigation, it’s safe to say he’s deceased now,” says the promise of connecting him with information about our marathon two-day interview, because there’s always a Amos Goodall, Gricar’s friend and the attorney who repre- the drug ring. The Informant said Gricar and this woman chance the article or TV program will jog something loose, sented his family, including his daughter Lara. drove to a nearby hotel — the cellmate didn’t specify which inspire someone to come forward. — where the partner surprised Gricar, broke his neck and Can you tell that to the state police? I ask, joking but not November 2011: Sandusky revelations hauled his body into the trunk of a waiting car. really. Amid news of an indictment against Jerry Sandusky for Then, as his story goes, the two men drove Gricar’s body Dixon laughs. sexually assaulting young boys, it was revealed that police to a remote game land and dumped his body down an aban- Until I came to call, Dixon says, few of his colleagues in had investigated an allegation against the Penn State assis- doned mine shaft submerged in water. Glendale knew he’d been a police chief, let alone that he’d tant football coach in 1998. At the time, Gricar decided not to There’s a patina of plausibility to The Informant’s story. overseen a case that’s generated such lasting interest or pursue charges. That news brought renewed attention to the Some of the people he named are real people with real crimi- impacted so many lives. Gricar disappearance. nal records. He’s earned the faith of several law enforcement “I’m retired, a civilian now,” he says, with a chuckle. officials. And his version of events would explain why Gri- “Less stress.” September 2013: A Hells Angels connection? car’s body was never found. Dixon does not have the look. A former member of the Hells Angel motorcycle club told authorities that Gricar was killed in reprisal for a prison sentence handed down to another member, according to an About this story Altoona Mirror report. The informant reportedly stopped short of taking authorities to the location of Gricar’s body. The status Wallace McKelvey spent two years track- of the lead remains unclear today, as authorities have declined ing clues and leads around the Ray Gricar to comment. mystery. (And even longer if you count the research done for a story on the 10th anniver- February 2014: State Police take over sary of Gricar’s disappearance in 2015.) In the Almost nine years after Gricar’s disappearance, the Pennsyl- course of the project, he spoke with dozens vania State Police announce they are taking over the investi- of people in Gricar’s orbit and quite a few gation which had previously been led by the Bellefonte Police. outside of it. The process took him across the Local investigators had previously said the “state police didn’t country, uncovering strands of evidence not want the case.” previously explored.

McKelvey has worked for PennLive/The Patriot-News since 2014, digging into public records to cover stories about state government, criminal justice and the environment. A New Jersey native, he previously worked for the Salisbury (Md.) Daily Times and The Press of Atlantic City. Follow him on Twitter Wallace McKelvey has worked for PennLive since 2014. PennLive @wjmckelvey.