Discussions about how the Mini was processed

[Cinderella]

I wanted to start a thread just for talking about how the Mini was processed. I would like some answers. So if anyone has any answers, please post.

[Cinderella]

http://www.realcities.com/mld/centre...list&pageNo=41

Erin answered this question on the Ray Gricar Question and Answer Board.

Q Regarding the third question answered on 9/15, have police checked the built-in "secret" compartments on the underside of the mini-cooper? Seems like a good place for Gricar to have hiden the hard drive, if he was so inclined.
Anonymous 9/15/05

A Police didn't immediately know about the small compartments built into the outside of Mini-Coopers, according to Bellefonte police Officer Darrel Zaccagni, and they were not searched at the scene. Once police knew about the compartments, they were searched. Nothing was found, but the car had been towed and then driven back to Bellefonte. Anything secreted in the compartments could have fallen out, Zaccagni said. Nothing was found on the scene after the car was moved, however. It seems improbable that the hard drive could have fit into one of the compartments, which are apparently designed to hold keys, Zaccagni said.
Erin Nissley 9/20/05

[Cinderella]

http://www.realcities.com/mld/centre...list&pageNo=40


Q What kind of search comittee was there during the intitial investigation within the first 24 hours? Where their Police force dogs used? or was there a search and rescue team ?
Selina, Sunbury 9/28/05
A
Until the red-and-white Mini Cooper was found in Lewisburg April 16, police didn't have a defined place to search. Gricar's girlfriend and housemate Patty Fornicola reported him missing at about 11:30 p.m. April 15 and told police she's last spoken to him about 12 hours earlier. She said he told her he was taking a drive along state Route 192, so police searched along that road by car and by helicopter the morning of April 16. After the car was found by a passing state trooper, police dogs were brought to the parking lot but lost the scent very close to the car. According to Bellefonte police Officer Darrel Zaccagni, one of the K-9 handlers said that could mean Gricar got into another car. In the days following Gricar's disappearance, divers searched the Susquehanna River, which flows through Lewisburg and is near which Gricar's car was found. Nothing of interest was found until several months later, when fishermen found Gricar's county-issued laptop (missing its hard drive) under a bridge in the Susquehanna. The river was searched again by divers, who again found nothing of interest.
Erin Nissley 9/29/05

[Cinderella]

http://www.realcities.com/mld/centre...list&pageNo=36

Q When the car was dusted for fingerprints, were Ray's fingerprints the only ones found?
selena, Sunbury 12/30/05

A Yes, Gricar's Mini Cooper was dusted for fingerprints. Gricar's were the only readable ones found, Bellefonte Police Officer Darrel Zaccagni said. Zaccagni is the lead investigator on the case. While Gricar's were the only ones that were readable, there was no evidence anyone tried to "wipe the car clean" of other prints, Zaccagni said. In other words, that effort turned up nothing.
Pete Bosak 4/11/06

[Cinderella]

http://www.realcities.com/mld/centre...list&pageNo=31

Q Was Ray Gricar's car locked when it was found?
Anonymous, Lewistown, Pa 5/16/06
A Yes. Locked up tight. The windows also were up.
Pete Bosak 5/16/06

[Cinderella]

http://www.realcities.com/mld/centre...list&pageNo=30

Q Out of curiosity, was the Mini Cooper Patty's or Ray's? I recall earlier reports that indicated it belonged to Patty.
Katiegrace 5/20/06

A It was Ray's. But when he bought the Mini Cooper, in cash, he registered it in Patty's name. His reasoning, as told to police by Patty, was that he wanted his assets protected in case he was ever sued for wrongful prosecution, or something like that. So the car was Ray's, but registered to Patty.
Pete Bosak 5/22/06

[Cinderella]

http://www.realcities.com/mld/centre...list&pageNo=26

Q Pete,Did they finger print the car in Lewisburg?And how do they know he drove it there?That he was involved in foul play and someone else put the car in Lewisburg.Maybe they need to check closer home.I don't think he comitted suicide.
Madisonburg, Pa 5/21/06

A Yes, state police processed the car in Lewsiburg. All fingerprints in the car belonged to Gricar, police said. And there was no evidence someone had tried to wipe the car clean of other fingerprints, those belonging to a possible assailant. Evidence suggests Gricar parked his Mini in that parking lot, then vanished.
Pete Bosak 5/31/06

[Cinderella]

http://www.realcities.com/mld/centre...list&pageNo=26

Q This is probably over-obvious but I have to ask. You replied on 5/16 that Gricar's car was "Locked up tight. The windows also were up." But haven't the investigators insisted that they believe he planned to return to the car because they found his keys and sunglasses in the car? So, if he was coming back, how was he planning to get in?
Anonymous, Ohio 5/21/06

A His keys were not found in the car, police tell me. His keys never turned up. His girlfriend, in whose name the Mini Cooper was registered, used her set to pick up the car after it had been processed by the Pennsylvania State Police.
Pete Bosak 5/31/06

[Cinderella]

http://www.realcities.com/mld/centre...=list&pageNo=1


Q Pete. I am tired of not knowing how many finger prints or sets of finger prints where found in the Mini. I would like to know how many there were in the Mini and if any were found on the outside of the car. Where they all Ray's? Where there any of PF's. I know that they found Ray's DNA on the water bottle but where any of his finger prints found on the water bottle. This has been very mixed up from the beginning. Wanting to know the truth. Don't just tell me what you think, I want the truth. Where there someone else's prints on or in the car also?
Cinderella 2/11/08


A Hi Cind, Thanks for your question and your patience as I waited for the answer from Bellefonte police. I talked with Detective Matt Rickard today and I learned what had been said by the prior investigator on the case was not entirely accurate. And I must admit, I'm a bit surprised by these results. There were three prints lifted from Ray's Mini Cooper, not five as the last investigator had said. What he may have meant was there were five total prints sent for analysis, but two of those prints were duplicates. So there were only three prints lifted from the car, and only one of them definitively belonged to Ray Gricar, Rickard said. That print was found on the exterior window of the driver's side door, and it was identified as being left by Gricar's left middle finger. Two other prints were lifted, one from the exterior door handle on the driver's side and the second from a water bottle found inside the Mini. But they did not have enough ridge characteristics be be identified, the lab report indicated. So there were no identifiable prints found inside the Mini Cooper. What prints were there were not good enough in quality to be matched to anyone.
Pete Bosak 2/11/08

[Cinderella]

I just recently found a post that appeared in the Daily Collegian
on Tuesday, April 19, 2005. This is 4 days after Ray disappeared.
Almost 3 days after the Mini was found.

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive...05dnews-04.asp

Snip
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The car was turned over to Fornicola on Sunday.

Snip
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Snip
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FBI now involved in Gricar case


By Josh Kowalkowski
Collegian Staff Writer
The FBI began assisting local police yesterday in its investigation of the disappearance of Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar.

Bellefonte Police Chief Duane Dixon said the agency is able to conduct faster searches to see if Gricar's bank and credit cards were used since his disappearance Friday.

"In the next days, we're going to continue looking at his computer, credit card and phone records," Dixon said.

Jerri Williams, spokeswoman for the Philadelphia division of the FBI, said the Bellefonte police did request assistance, but Williams could not specify the agency's role.

"We'll be available for as long they need our help," Williams said.

Snip
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So the Mini was returned to PF before the FBI became involved. I would think that it would have been better for LE to keep the Mini for a while to really check it out. That never happened. LE didn't know about the little space for car keys. What else didn't they know about the Mini?

I have never heard of a car being found on a Saturday evening and the next day turned over to the owner. But this case has always swayed from the norm.