Colleagues of missing Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar are understandably frustrated by the lack of a resolution to the case.

Any evidence that Gricar was the victim of a murder committed in retribution for his work as a prosecutor ought to make the investigation a top priority of local, state and federal law enforcement. The problem is that there is little to support the contention that Gricar was a victim of a crime. His remains have not been found. He gave no hint of trouble or that he intended to meet another person. Further, none of the reported sightings of the missing DA lend credence to the idea that he was in peril.

Without evidence to support the theories about Gricar's disappearance, investigators will remain unable to call the incident a crime, let alone solve the mystery.

Montour County DA Robert Buehner Jr. and former Clinton County DA Ted McKnight instead are relying on their gut feelings. They seem unwilling to consider that a man they knew and respected either voluntarily disappeared or committed suicide. By default, then, Gricar was a victim of a homicide, they reason. Such tunnel vision seems troubling for those charged with objectively overseeing the investigation and prosecution of crimes.

Centre County District Attorney Kevin Madeira is not blameless, either. Tuesday's dust-up could have been avoided if Madeira had been more responsive when his peers expressed an interest in the case. Buehner and McKnight sent Madeira a letter on June 3 suggesting a lab that might be able to retrieve information from Gricar's computer hard drive found in the Susquehanna River. Bellefonte police followed up on the tip but not until almost the end of June, when the letter made its way from the prosecutor's office.

Buehner and McKnight may be able to help investigators solve the disappearance. All the prosecutors involved can better serve the investigation by pooling their expertise, rather than pointing fingers at one another.