AI answered my last question on 11/25. Since then, I've gotten no questions that are easily answered, until yours: Police first began investigating Gricar's disappearance after his girlfriend and housemate Patty Fornicola called them at about 11:30 p.m. April 15. During the first days of investigation, police did not dust for fingerprints because "he was just a missing person," according to Bellefonte police Officer Darrel Zaccagni, the lead investigator in the case. After he hadn't returned home or shown up for work in the next few days, officers re-evaluated the case and went back to Fornicola's house to investigate further. While there, they looked for "any signs of obvious foul play - new carpeting, fresh scrub marks," Zaccagni said. But police have never, at any time, dusted the home or the laptop case for fingerprints, he said.

APatty Fornicola, who works as a clerk in the county's District Attorney's Office, had planned to resign at the end of the year when Ray Gricar retire from his position. Now, she plans to remain in her position as a clerk, she said this week. Republican Michael Madeira, who will take office as the county's DA in January, has not made any announcements regarding possible staffing changes at the office.

ANot exactly. As Mike Joseph reported Dec. 6, the state has suspended Ray Gricar's law license because he has not paid the $175 fee to keep it current. His daughter, Lara, will be taking care of the paperwork to renew his license, according to Joseph's story. To read the full story, copy and paste this link into your browser: http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/local/13345630.htm

AYou have to keep the investigation into Ray Gricar's disappearance in perspective, says Bellefonte police Officer Darrel Zaccagni. "To you and me and his family, it's the most important thing in the world," he said. "But Ray is just a missing person. In the scheme of what (the FBI) are dealing with, this is small."

AThe answer to your first question: Police don't know who, other than Patty Fornicola, was the last to see him. Bellefonte police Officer Darrel Zaccagni said they never looked into that. Since Patty Fornicola "passed" the lie detector test earlier this year — part of which asked her if she had anything to do with Gricar's disappearance or knew where he was — they don't think it was important to look into it now. To answer your second question, yes, we have produced a timeline of events that has run with two feature stories. Copy and paste this link into your browser to see it: http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/special_packages/ray_gricar/13208445.htm

AFrom a story posted prominently on our Web site Wednesday, Nov. 9: Madeira beats Arnold Drug prosecutor wins handily, will replace missing district attorney By Mike Joseph mjoseph@centredaily.com Drug strike-force prosecutor Michael Madeira defeated assistant district attorney Karen Arnold to win election as Centre County's first new district attorney in 20 years. With all but one precinct reporting, Madeira had 12,046 votes and Arnold 9,672, a margin of 54 percent to 43 percent, according to unofficial results posted by the county elections office. (to continue reading the story, click on: http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/breaking_news/13118732.htm)

AI think the reason you think you hear so much about Fornicola is that she's a big part of the background on the case -- she was the last one who spoke to Gricar before he disappeared. I don't think we've quoted her any more than we quote any of the other 'key players' in the case: Bellefonte police Officer and lead investigator Darrel Zaccagni and family spokesman Tony Gricar. But we've also quoted Lara Gricar many, many times in stories about the ongoing investigation into his disappearance. Here are a couple of the stories: "Six months later, still no answers in Gricar mystery" (http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/special_packages/ray_gricar/12914580.htm), "Gricar's daughter passes polygraph" (http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/special_packages/ray_gricar/12658311.htm), and "Without a trace" (http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/special_packages/ray_gricar/12208972.htm). To answer your other question, one of the many theories surrounding this case is that Ray Gricar did just 'walk away.' He also could have been killed or committed suicide. There's really no evidence to point to any one theory over another.

ABellefonte police Officer Darrel Zaccagni's opinion that Ray Gricar is no longer alive is nothing new. He has often been quoted in the CDT as saying he believes Ray Gricar may have been the victim of homicide, in part because of the lack of activity at his bank accounts and the few reliable sightings. Gricar family spokesman Tony Gricar, Ray's nephew, has also been quoted in CDT news accounts that the family fears Ray Gricar is dead. But both Zaccagni and Tony Gricar say that anything is possible, and that Ray Gricar could still be alive somewhere.

APolice say they used a dive team to search the river soon after Gricar's car was found in Lewisburg and again when the hard drive was found in late July. I don't think they are called "search and rescue teams," but they are divers who specialize in this type of work, police say. I hope this clears it up.

ARivers change as time goes on. Hard rains make them rise, droughts make them fall. When police announced that fishermen had found the laptop in late July, the CDT and other news media posed that exact question to them. We were all told that the river had cleared, making it easier to see the bottom. As for the hard drive found on the riverbank, police seem to believe it had become lodged there when the river was higher. When the waters receded, the riverbank had been exposed and so was the hard drive. Of course, you can't assume that the computer or the hard drive was in the water since Gricar's disappearance. Some folks following this story believe the laptop was placed there more recently. Police can't rule that explanation out. But officials stand firm in their belief that they searched the river thoroughly both after Gricar's car was found in Lewisburg and when the laptop was found this summer.