Criminal Justice

DA Who Didn't Prosecute Sandusky Is Missing; Suspicions He Was John Doe Prisoner Proved Wrong

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The district attorney who decided not to prosecute Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky in 1998 isn’t available to defend his decision.

District Attorney Ray Gricar of Centre County, Pa., has been missing since April 2005 and was declared legally dead in July. Gricar investigated allegations that Sandusky showered with an 11-year-old boy in a school locker room in 1998, but opted not to prosecute, the New York Times reports.

Gricar’s nephew, Tony Gricar, tells the Patriot-News he’s sure of the reason: There wasn’t enough evidence. “One thing I can say is that Ray was beholden to no one, was not a politician,” Gricar told the newspaper.

Ray Gricar’s body was never found. Investigators found his red Mini Cooper in a parking lot and his badly damaged county laptop in the Susquehanna River. A search of his home computer found an Internet search for the phrase “how to wreck a hard drive.”

Earlier this year, reports of a John Doe prisoner in Utah brought speculation that the man was Gricar. The prisoner turned out to be a New Mexico man who had lost his job.

Hat tip to SBM Blog.

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