Montour DA's letter on Gricar case

June 3, 2008

Honorable Michael T. Madeira

District Attorney of Centre County

Centre County Courthouse

Bellefonte, PA 16823

Honorable D. Peter Johnson

District Attorney of Union County

Union County Courthouse

103 South 2" Street

Lewisburg, PA 17837

Re: Disappearance of our colleague Ray Gricar

Dear Mike and Pete:

It has been over three years since our friend and colleague disappeared — literally vanished from Earth.

I write to both of you because each of your counties has some involvement in the investigation of Ray's disappearance.

There are three separate matters of serious importance which I would like to call to your attention.

First, there is the matter of the hard drive of Ray’s laptop found in the Susquehanna River at Lewisburg within or near Union County’s boundary. Media reports have indicated that law enforcement officials were unable to recover any data from the hard drive. I have recently come across information relating to a hard drive that was on the Space Shuttle Columbia which tragically disintegrated on reentry on February 1, 2003. A Seagate hard drive from Columbia was found burned almost beyond recognition as part of the debris. The hard drive was sent to Kroll Ontrack, Inc. whose corporate headquarters is 9023 Columbia Road, Eden Park, MN 55347 (phone number is 1-800-347-6105). Kroll’s computer forensic investigators were able to retrieve almost 100% of the data stored on the hard drive despite it being in incredibly poor condition. This was disclosed in the April, 2008 edition of Physical Review E Journal.

It would seem obvious that the hard drive should be submitted forthwith to Kroll for testing. Any information on the hard drive should be highly valuable.

Second, hotel/motel records are required to be kept for three years pursuant to Pennsylvania law. 37 P.S. Section 105(a) sets forth “The innkeeper of a lodging establishment shall maintain for a period of three years a guest register which shows the name residence, date of arrival and departure of guests of the lodging establishment.”

As you may recall, Ray was clearly seen by several witnesses in Lewisburg, PA on Friday, April 15, 2005, standing by his Mini Cooper by the park near the Lewisburg River Bridge. Those witnesses indicated that it appeared he was waiting for someone and even moved his car.

There is an additional report that places Ray at an antique mall — The Street of Shops one block away from the first location on Saturday, April 16, 2005 in the morning time. One witness was Craig Bennett, owner of the antique mail, who is a highly credible individual. It was reported that he was seen with or talking to a female and that those two could have been together. This scenario begs the obvious question: where did Ray spend Friday night? I do not believe that Ray would, if he were staying in a nearby hotel/motel with a female, register in his own name. This is because he was already in a serious relationship with Patty Fornicola and did not return home to her in Bellefonte on April 15, 2005.

It is my understanding that there is a pretty clear description of the female seen in Ray's presence on Saturday, April 16, 2005.

One method of furthering this investigation would be to canvas every lodging establishment within a certain radius -- 30 miles -- and obtain the names of all female registrants name. Experience tells me that mostly men are registrants. Then, taking each female name, investigators would run a PennDOT picture check, looking for females bearing a resemblance to the woman seen with Ray on April 16, 2005. This would require manpower and a serious commitment by investigators to work diligently to solve this mystery. This should cause a discussion about forming a “Gricar task force” with involvement by various law enforcement agencies. However, the three years is up and such records may soon be destroyed!

Third, there is a witness who saw Ray traveling on U.S. Route 15 on Friday afternoon April 15, 2005. This is a person who contacted former District Attorney Ted McKnight right after Ray’s disappearance. Ted advised this individual to contact Bellefonte Police Department. Ted related this to me in a conversation right after the disappearance. This individual is a Lock Haven resident familiar with Ray because of reading the Centre Daily Times. This person was traveling from Lock Haven to Harrisburg for a specific purpose that day and noticed the Mini Cooper with Ray driving it.

I do not believe this person has been interviewed nor have there been any media reports of this sighting. Someone should contact Ted McKnight at his home address and phone number in Lock Haven to obtain that individual's name so he can be seriously interviewed. This would conflict with the so called “courthouse sightings” of Ray on that day.

I simply want to know what happened to my friend and colleague Ray Gricar. Starting with my first year as Montour County D.A. in 1992, we became good friends. I enjoyed teasing him about getting me Penn State football tickets. He enjoyed teasing me about my short stature when we played volleyball together at PDAA summer meetings. Ray was an honorable and decent man. We need to do everything we can to solve his disappearance -- for his family, his loved ones, his colleagues and friends, the law enforcement community and the citizens of our Commonwealth.

Would you kindly advise me on the matters raised herein? I remain

Very truly,

Robert W. Buehner, Jr.

District Attorney of Montour County

Cc: Honorable Ted McKnight