PA Publisher Sees Drug Link in Missing DA Case
PA Publisher Sees Drug Link in Missing DA Case.
Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar disappeared in what can only be called a bizarre case. Police have no leads at this time, but the strangeness of the case has led to wild speculation, and has brought the conspiracy theorists out of the closet.
The facts surrounding the case are indeed strange. Gricar had just busted a drug ring, leading to the arrest of nine alleged heroin and cocaine dealers. On the morning of April 15, Gricar called his girlfriend and said he was taking the day off to go on a drive on Route 192 near Bellefonte. His car was found in a rural parking lot. His cell phone was found on the seat, but his laptop computer was missing. He has not been heard from since, although people have claimed to see him in Lewisburg and Wilkes-Barre in the nearly two weeks since his disappearance.
On of the most intriguing theories to emerge has been posted by Bill Keisling, an author who last year wrote a book about an eerily similar case. "The Midnight Ride of Jonathan Luna" describes the disappearance Baltimore-based Assistant US Attorney Jonathan Luna in December of 2003. Luna was found murdered in Lancaster County after making an unscheduled trip to rural PA in the midst of a major drug investigation.
In an article posted on Yardbird Books' website, Keisling makes the following observations comparing the two cases:
“-- At the time of their disappearances, both prosecutors were involved in high-stakes heroin cases.-- The drug suppliers in both cases were from the New York city area. "Bricks and bricks from foreign dudes up top," as Luna's FBI informant, Warren Grace, explains.
-- Both men disappeared on car rides, while they were alone.
-- Both men vanished without their cell phones. Luna's cell phone was found on his desk, while Gricar's was in his car. This seems to indicate misplaced trust, or perhaps a sudden interruption that called them away from their routine or expected activites.
--Gricar's laptop, police say, is missing. Luna's laptop was found on his desk at work. At the time of Luna's death, Lancaster County, PA, coroner Barry Walp suggested that some of the 36 stab wounds inflicted on Luna's body appeared to have perhaps been intended to make him talk. "You would think they were perhaps after information from the guy when you see something like this," Coroner Walp told a local paper in December 2003. Gricar's disappearance follows on the heels of a widely distributed DVD titled, "Stop Snitching," in which retaliation is promised for those cooperating with drug prosecutions.
-- Both Luna and Gricar seem to have set out, for reasons unknown, perhaps to predetermined, out-of-the-way destinations, as if on a rendevous [sic] with someone they trusted. Phone records apparently offer no clues. Or, both men may have been waylaid by a stalker or stalkers; Luna, driving home, and Gricar, while shopping for antiques.
-- The press coverage of both disappearances also bear striking similarities. Unreliable or illogical sightings may offer false clues. The Centre Daily Times, in an April 20, 2005 article, reports Gricar's car was seen by employees of the Street of Shops antique market between 5 and 6pm on Friday evening, the day of his disappearance. The paper then quotes mall owner Craig Bennett, 48, as telling police investigators he witnissed [sic] a man fitting Gricar's description, wearing a blue fleece jacket, waiting in front of an uncompleted mall storefront about noon the following day, Saturday. "It appeared as though he was waiting for someone," the CDT quotes Bennett as saying. "It had all the look as if he was waiting for someone." It seems unlikely though that DA Gricar would leave his car overnight in the mall parking lot, not use his cell phone, and not check in when he was already reported missing on Saturday, April 16. Similar supposed sightings in the Luna case later failed to pan out.
-- Both men were subjected to unlikely suicide theories in the press.”
While the theory is intriguing, it has not convinced local investigators. "There's no connection between the two [cases]," Bellefonte Police Chief Duane Dixon said, according to the Centre Daily Times. Dixon had no alternative theories, although he hinted at the suicide angle, reporting that Gricar’s brother had killed himself. But, as Keisling points out, who brings a laptop to a suicide?
Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar disappeared in what can only be called a bizarre case. Police have no leads at this time, but the strangeness of the case has led to wild speculation, and has brought the conspiracy theorists out of the closet.
The facts surrounding the case are indeed strange. Gricar had just busted a drug ring, leading to the arrest of nine alleged heroin and cocaine dealers. On the morning of April 15, Gricar called his girlfriend and said he was taking the day off to go on a drive on Route 192 near Bellefonte. His car was found in a rural parking lot. His cell phone was found on the seat, but his laptop computer was missing. He has not been heard from since, although people have claimed to see him in Lewisburg and Wilkes-Barre in the nearly two weeks since his disappearance.
On of the most intriguing theories to emerge has been posted by Bill Keisling, an author who last year wrote a book about an eerily similar case. "The Midnight Ride of Jonathan Luna" describes the disappearance Baltimore-based Assistant US Attorney Jonathan Luna in December of 2003. Luna was found murdered in Lancaster County after making an unscheduled trip to rural PA in the midst of a major drug investigation.
In an article posted on Yardbird Books' website, Keisling makes the following observations comparing the two cases:
“-- At the time of their disappearances, both prosecutors were involved in high-stakes heroin cases.-- The drug suppliers in both cases were from the New York city area. "Bricks and bricks from foreign dudes up top," as Luna's FBI informant, Warren Grace, explains.
-- Both men disappeared on car rides, while they were alone.
-- Both men vanished without their cell phones. Luna's cell phone was found on his desk, while Gricar's was in his car. This seems to indicate misplaced trust, or perhaps a sudden interruption that called them away from their routine or expected activites.
--Gricar's laptop, police say, is missing. Luna's laptop was found on his desk at work. At the time of Luna's death, Lancaster County, PA, coroner Barry Walp suggested that some of the 36 stab wounds inflicted on Luna's body appeared to have perhaps been intended to make him talk. "You would think they were perhaps after information from the guy when you see something like this," Coroner Walp told a local paper in December 2003. Gricar's disappearance follows on the heels of a widely distributed DVD titled, "Stop Snitching," in which retaliation is promised for those cooperating with drug prosecutions.
-- Both Luna and Gricar seem to have set out, for reasons unknown, perhaps to predetermined, out-of-the-way destinations, as if on a rendevous [sic] with someone they trusted. Phone records apparently offer no clues. Or, both men may have been waylaid by a stalker or stalkers; Luna, driving home, and Gricar, while shopping for antiques.
-- The press coverage of both disappearances also bear striking similarities. Unreliable or illogical sightings may offer false clues. The Centre Daily Times, in an April 20, 2005 article, reports Gricar's car was seen by employees of the Street of Shops antique market between 5 and 6pm on Friday evening, the day of his disappearance. The paper then quotes mall owner Craig Bennett, 48, as telling police investigators he witnissed [sic] a man fitting Gricar's description, wearing a blue fleece jacket, waiting in front of an uncompleted mall storefront about noon the following day, Saturday. "It appeared as though he was waiting for someone," the CDT quotes Bennett as saying. "It had all the look as if he was waiting for someone." It seems unlikely though that DA Gricar would leave his car overnight in the mall parking lot, not use his cell phone, and not check in when he was already reported missing on Saturday, April 16. Similar supposed sightings in the Luna case later failed to pan out.
-- Both men were subjected to unlikely suicide theories in the press.”
While the theory is intriguing, it has not convinced local investigators. "There's no connection between the two [cases]," Bellefonte Police Chief Duane Dixon said, according to the Centre Daily Times. Dixon had no alternative theories, although he hinted at the suicide angle, reporting that Gricar’s brother had killed himself. But, as Keisling points out, who brings a laptop to a suicide?
posted by Pennsylvania Observer @ 6:13 PM
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