PA PA - Dana Bailey, 21, State College, 4 March 1987

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morf13

morf13

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Just curious, whatever happened to the entire Dana Bailey thread? She was the Penn State Student murdered in 1987. There was a lengthy thread about her case that was pretty active.
 
From August 2014:

http://www.centredaily.com/2014/08/10/4299932_justice-still-sought-for-slaying.html?rh=1

The Baileys in Philipsburg still only know that they lost their 21-year-old daughter Dana, also a Penn State student, when she was stabbed in her off-campus apartment on Allen Street during spring break in March 1987. The case has been in the hands of State College police for 27 years as District Judge Tom Jordan, then a detective in the borough, and now Sgt. Ralph Ralston have followed the timeline that ended with Bailey’s death...

Over the past 10 years, however, Ralston said, changing science has prompted more review. He has resubmitted samples to be tested for short-term repeating DNA, then Y-chromosome STR, mitochondrial and even the touch DNA that can pick up genetic material from the least contact.

The investigation has gone beyond the lab, however. It actually has gone as far as Colorado, where Ralston has followed bread crumbs, meeting with people to interview, to exclude or to gain samples for more lab tests. One such interview was even scheduled for Friday.
Click to expand...
 
I used to correspond with Ralston, he's a really nice Guy, and seems to be fully dedicated to to solving this case. It's disgusting that there are still leaked pics of Dana's Body taken at the crime scene on the net. I would love to see this case solved.
 
I predict this case will be solved soon!
 
From an article from 2015: State College detective continues murder investigation nearly 30 years later
"He also recently sent evidence to Guardian Forensic Sciences, an independent lab outside of Philadelphia, for processing. Unlike most federal laboratories, which strictly examine DNA profiles, Guardian Forensic Sciences studies “the whole picture,” Ralston said, which is essential for a nearly 30-year-old case."
 
@morf13 . I remember that there was an ongoing case discussion thread about Dana Bailey as well.
What happened to it? Do you think there's someone with power, like someone connected to LE who doesn't want her case info in the public domain? I ask because there's another strange thing about her case being kept " quiet" at the time of her murder.

When the news broke about her murder, former Centre County D.A. Ray Gricar would not release a simple photograph of her alive and well. He took a lot of flak for that. He said the public had all the info they needed to have, and refused to release a photo to the press. Obviously, they found a photo and from what you've posted, also someone stole and posted her crime scene photos or parts of them, which is beyond disgusting considering the description of the crime scene.

Then, D.A. Gricar went missing in 2005 and has never been found ( I follow his case here on WS) , so it's not like we can follow up on why he might have been so protective or maybe was told by someone higher up to keep her simply composed smiling head shot photo out of the news. IDK.

I hope her case is having DNA testing and database searches done right now. You say you think it will be solved soon. I really hope you're right. Her family deserves answers and to know who did this heinous crime. My heart goes out to them- this has been an unsolved case for way too long!
 
Wanted to add a live link to a Centre County Times 2014 report on Betsy Aardsma's case and Dana Bailey's as the one OkieGranny posted from that time period doesn't work any longer. No one's fault, we know these things happen with media links:
Justice still sought for slaying victims decades after death

Highlight of article: Short chain repeat DNA testing has been done, along with mitochondrial DNA ( or mDNA) testing and Y chromosome DNA testing at the direction of Sgt. Ralph Ralston. who had this cold case in 2014. Not sure if he does 4 years later..

So, they have her DNA testing done. It's time for the GENMATCH wizards to go to work! Let's get her name on our DNA Match- "matched!" list. Hopefully the perp. is still alive so there can be a trial. Her family has had justice denied for so very long.
 
Yeah, I recall the Crime scene photo being leaked, I did see it, but as far as I know it was removed from the net. I think there is likely DNA but I flat out asked a retired investigator who wouldn't comment on the DNA evidence(if there is)
 
morf13 said:
Yeah, I recall the Crime scene photo being leaked, I did see it, but as far as I know it was removed from the net. I think there is likely DNA but I flat out asked a retired investigator who wouldn't comment on the DNA evidence(if there is)
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Are you understanding that I posted a news article which contains direct statements from Sgt. Ralston in 2014 ? Because the news article I linked says DNA testing was done, several different types of DNA testing, in 2014.

It's a fact, not my speculation, and not for your speculation. The investigator in charge of the case in 2014, Sgt. Ralph Ralston, said HE had the foreign DNA tested. They've had the results for a few years now.
Case facts. Not speculation.
 
SeekingJana said:
Then, D.A. Gricar went missing in 2005 and has never been found ( I follow his case here on WS) , so it's not like we can follow up on why he might have been so protective or maybe was told by someone higher up to keep her simply composed smiling head shot photo out of the news. IDK.
Click to expand...
Hi @SeekingJana !
Has there been any worthwhile speculation as to why D.A. Gricar wouldn't allow her photo to be published? Do you know for certain this decision was his alone- or could there have been others involved? I need to read the thread(s), but I've never heard of such a thing...
Thanks for any insight from you or others!
 
GarAndTeed said:
Hi @SeekingJana !
Has there been any worthwhile speculation as to why D.A. Gricar wouldn't allow her photo to be published? Do you know for certain this decision was his alone- or could there have been others involved? I need to read the thread(s), but I've never heard of such a thing...
Thanks for any insight from you or others!
Click to expand...
It's not speculation as far as what Mr. Gricar said at the time of the initial press conference, as I've read Mr. Gricar's quote in a news article in the past 24 hours.

It has been said by a person I trust that this could have been Mr. Gricar's first murder case as D.A. Maybe he was " green" enough that he truly thought the buck stopped with him as far as identifying a murder victim with a photo of her alive and happy. IDK. I can't find a reason that makes sense.

I've been wondering as well if he was told to keep things under wraps for 48-72 hours, let's say, by someone in LE.
I've also wondered If it was a purely knee jerk reaction he had to want to protect her image both before death and certainly afterwards due to the extremely disturbing nature of what had to have been photographed in the crime scene photos he had access to, of course...

Maybe IF we had the case discussion which used to exist here on WS, we'd know more about how the case investigation unfolded, agreed, my friend? < Insert wry humor attempt and much dismay that this young woman's case " disappeared" on WS somehow at some point.>

I have questions but no answers about anything except that I'd take it to the bank that the foreign DNA found at the crime scene has been tested and retested as stated by the former investigator in the case. I think they are probably doing genetic database matching to find her killer right now.
 
SeekingJana said:
Maybe IF we had the case discussion which used to exist here on WS, we'd know more about how the case investigation unfolded, agreed, my friend? < Insert wry humor attempt and much dismay that this young woman's case " disappeared" on WS somehow at some point.>
Click to expand...
That would definitely help! It's frustrating that so many threads in so many cases seem to be missing or lost <sigh>.
 
GarAndTeed said:
Hi @SeekingJana !
Has there been any worthwhile speculation as to why D.A. Gricar wouldn't allow her photo to be published? Do you know for certain this decision was his alone- or could there have been others involved? I need to read the thread(s), but I've never heard of such a thing...
Thanks for any insight from you or others!
Click to expand...

He allowed it. The police sent a photo of another woman to the media. It was corrected, after much embarrassment.

This was Gricar's first murder case as district attorney. He made a lot of public relations mistakes, which he didn't repeat.
 
SeekingJana said:
Are you understanding that I posted a news article which contains direct statements from Sgt. Ralston in 2014 ? Because the news article I linked says DNA testing was done, several different types of DNA testing, in 2014.

It's a fact, not my speculation, and not for your speculation. The investigator in charge of the case in 2014, Sgt. Ralph Ralston, said HE had the foreign DNA tested. They've had the results for a few years now.
Case facts. Not speculation.
Click to expand...

I am not arguing whether they have DNA, I am letting you know that an investigator I am in contact with said he didn't want to comment on any DNA evidence. Ralph Ralston is retired now by the way.

If they have had DNA results "for years", that tells me that it likely didn't match any DNA in CODIS etc, but that should NOT stop that DNA from being entered into GEDmatch, and then traced via forensic genealogy to the right suspect
 
morf13 said:
I am not arguing whether they have DNA, I am letting you know that an investigator I am in contact with said he didn't want to comment on any DNA evidence. Ralph Ralston is retired now by the way.

If they have had DNA results "for years", that tells me that it likely didn't match any DNA in CODIS etc, but that should NOT stop that DNA from being entered into GEDmatch, and then traced via forensic genealogy to the right suspect
Click to expand...

I think the did announce that they had DNA samples. This would be within the last 9-10 years.
 
J. J. in Phila said:
I think the did announce that they had DNA samples. This would be within the last 9-10 years.
Click to expand...

It's certainly good news if there is good usable DNA, because an arrest is very possible, or at the very least, ID of the killer
 
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