Paranormal investigator arrested on felony theft charges

A State College man and paranormal television celebrity has been confined to the Centre County Correctional Facility on felony charges of theft.

According to the criminal complaint filed Sept. 14 by State College police, the manager of Hertz, Eagle Automotive LLC contacted police on Aug. 18. The manager allegedly told police he had rented out a vehicle to Ryan Buell, 34, and the vehicle had not been returned by the end of rental date of Aug. 1.

The manager allegedly tried to contact Buell via telephone, email and at his address, police said, but was unable to contact him. The manager was told by police to send a certified letter as required by statute and give Buell a week to return the vehicle.

Officers attempted to contact Buell via telephone, address and Facebook, police said, but the vehicle had still not been returned as of the date of the filing. Police also said they learned that the address provided to Hertz was not a valid address at the time of rental.

Buell had been previously arrested in South Carolina when he was returned to State College. He was arraigned before District Judge Carmine Prestia, according to court documents, and charged with felony counts of theft of leased property and receiving stolen property.

Bail was set at $35,000, court documents said. A preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday.

Buell gained fame as a paranormal investigator and hosted his own show on A&E, “Paranormal State,” until the final episode aired in 2011. The CDT reported on a paranormal-themed event co-hosted by Buell at The State Theatre in 2015.

This story was originally published September 29, 2016 at 11:54 PM with the headline "Paranormal investigator arrested on felony theft charges."