A war of words has erupted between five men at the center of the investigation into the disappearance of Ray Gricar, former Centre County district attorney.
Gricar vanished in April 2005. He was last seen in Lewisburg, near the banks of the Susquehanna River.
The controversy was sparked Tuesday after Robert Buehner, Montour County district attorney, flanked by retired Clinton County District Attorney Ted McKnight, addressed the media in Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Park, Lewisburg. Buehner and McKnight were Gricar’s longtime friends.
Buehner presented a letter that he sent to Peter Johnson, Union County district attorney, and Michael Madeira, Centre County district attorney, on June 3. The letter outlined what Buehner felt were additional steps that needed to be taken in the investigation into Gricar’s disappearance.
Buehner wrote that he felt investigators should send the hard drive from Gricar’s computer, which was found in the Susquehanna River, to the same firm that retrieved data from the hard drive of the space shuttle Columbia after it exploded. To date, investigators have been unable to pull anything useful from Gricar’s water-logged hard drive.
The letter also suggested McKnight knows of a witness who reportedly spotted Gricar driving along Route 15 at the same time the DA was supposed to have been seen in Centre County.
Buehner said no one followed up with McKnight to check on that witness. He also alleged that Johnson and Maderia failed to respond to his letter until they learned of the press conference from a Standard Journal reporter on Monday.
The Montour County district attorney said he also contacted Attorney General Tom Corbett and asked him to take over the investigation. Buehner said because the case spanned three counties — Union, Centre and Northumberland — he felt that would fall under the jurisdiction of the state Attorney General.
Buehner said Corbett refused his request.
“This is the state of the investigation. It’s shameful. It’s reprehensible. It’s intolerable,” Buehner said.
He also alleged Corbett attempted to unseat him by recruiting candidates to run against him.
“He threatened me with political extinction. He failed miserably,” Buehner said.
Kevin Harley, a spokesperson for Corbett, responded to those claims.
He said it is not true that Corbett tried to recruit candidates to run against Buehner and also addressed why Corbett could not take over the investigation.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Buehner and Mr. McKnight either do not know or do not understand the law,” Harley said.
He noted the attorney general cannot take over an investigation just because multiple counties are involved. He said the investigation can only fall into the hands of the attorney general if the lead district attorney has a conflict of interest or if he lacks the resources to conduct a proper investigation.
Harley said neither one of those circumstances apply to the Gricar case.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Buehner likes to get attention for himself and see his name in the newspaper,” Harley added.
Johnson also responded to Buehner’s allegations.
“I know that Mr. Buehner is emotionally distraught over the loss of Ray Gricar and obviously that’s had an effect on his perceptions and judgments,” Johnson said. “His behavior now is so beyond what would be appropriate for the circumstances of a man in his position, especially in light of what Ray Gricar stood for in terms of professionalism.”
Johnson said the investigation has been reviewed by independent experts and they have found nothing to substantiate Buehner’s claims of inadequacy.
Madeira also responded to Buehner’s allegations. He noted investigators were already looking in to the claims Buehner outlined in his letter.
“I have no obligation to tell Mr. Buehner what I am doing with the investigation,” Madeira said. “I remain satisfied with the effort and commitment of law enforcement to get to the bottom of this. Until we get answers I will never be satisfied that we don’t have those answers. I know that all of law enforcement feels that same way.”

Kevin Mertz: 570-742-9671
kevin@standard-journal.com