Ray Grank Gricar, the former district attorney of Centre County, Pennsylvania  serve from 1985 until 2005 was reported missing after he did not return home from a road trip as expected. At 11:30 a.m. (EDT) on April 15, 2005, Gricar contacted his girlfriend and told her he would return soon after driving through the countryside of the Brush Valley area.  He never returned. Gricar’s car was found outside an antiques store in  Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Inside his car was his cell phone. His wallet or keys were not found. No signs of a struggle was found.  Authorities began a search for Gricar and his credit cards and accounts were monitored, but there were no signs of activity. On July 30, fishermen found Gricar’s laptop in a nearby river beneath a bridge, but its hard drive was missing.

Authorities are investigating three theories. The main theory is that he committed suicide. Authorities believe this is the most plausible theory but his family does not. They report no history of depression or any other mental illness. They also report he was excited about approaching retirement.

The second theory is foul play. It is suspected that his disappearance may be link to the Penn State sex abuse scandal case or the unsolved murder of Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Luna, a drug investigator who was found dead in a creek in December 2003.

Investigators found that in 1998 Gricar had mysteriously refused to press charges against the coach despite having crucial evidence to do so.  And again in 2005 he again refused to press charges.  

In 2009, local police reported that before Gricar went missing, someone had use his home computer to search for “how to wreck a hard drive”, “how to fry a hard drive” and “water damage to a notebook computer.”  

A disheveled, gray haired and blue eyed man with a striking resemblance to Gricar was arrested in Utah refusing to reveal his identity. The police released his mug shot in the hopes that someone could identify him. Reported leads did not lead to the man’s true identity. Investigators were considering that the man was the missing former district attorney.  Recently, the man’s brother called authorities and identified him as a missing man from Farmington.

Gricar’s body has never been found.