Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers is offering a $10,000 reward for information that helps solve the case of the disappearance of a Unity Township woman who has been missing for three years and is now presumed dead.
State police said Cassandra Gross, 51, of Unity Township was last heard from on April 7, 2018, when she called her mother and spoke to her over the phone while driving on Route 30 toward her home after having lunch with a friend in Southwest Greensburg.
Gross didn’t report for work on April 9. Later that morning, her blind, diabetic dog was found wandering on the side of the road in the area of Auction Barn and Beatty County roads. At that point, she was reported missing.
State police said Gross’ red 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander was discovered burned out along the railroad tracks near Twin Lakes Park in the afternoon.
State police have conducted several searches, but she has never been found. Authorities have classified her case as a homicide.
Investigators searched two properties owned by Thomas George Stanko, 50, of Unity Township, who at one time dated Gross. Stanko has repeatedly maintained his innocence in the case.
He has been in custody since shortly after Gross’ disappearance for unrelated charges and is awaiting trial on federal gun charges.
Former Assistant District Attorney Pete Flanigan was quoted in December as saying the office anticipated filing criminal homicide charges against Stanko in connection with Gross’ disappearance “when the time is right.” Flanigan has since left the DA’s office.
District Attorney John Peck said earlier this year that Gross’ disappearance remains “on the front burner” for investigators and he said he planned to conduct a thorough review of the evidence already collected.
A Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas judge in January 2019 declared Gross legally dead in response to a request from her son, Brandon Diebold of North Carolina. Judge Chris Scherer ruled Gross the victim of homicide and heard testimony behind closed doors from Tpr. James McKenzie, the state police lead investigator in the case.