Cops: No human remains found during Unity search, but items sent to lab for forensic tests

No human remains were found on a Unity property during a two-day search connected to the 2018 disappearance of Cassandra Gross, state police said Thursday.

“Several items of interest,” however, were recovered, state police spokesman Trooper Stephen Limani said. “Those items will be forwarded to the forensic laboratory (in Hempfield) for further analysis.”

Limani declined to provide details of what was collected during the search that began shortly after 8 a.m. Wednesday on White Fence Lane, adjacent to Unity Cemetery, after serving a search warrant on 83-year-old Almira Stanko.

Investigators searched a remote section in the wooded area of the property. Almira Stanko is the mother of Thomas Stanko, 49, the man who owns the property and who police labeled a “person of interest” in the death of Gross. She would have turned 54 this month.

The elder Stanko lives in a house on the property.

The search team included 18 troopers, a biologist from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a professor of anthropology from Seton Hill University of Greensburg. They worked until late Wednesday evening before resuming Thursday morning.

“We had a trooper stationed at the scene overnight to secure the area where the search was being conducted. They were using the excavator to dig in the area and then sifting through the dirt,” Limani said. “We really appreciate the help of Unity Township, who provided us the excavator, and IUP and Seton Hill University for helping us at the scene.”

A cadaver dog also was on the scene and the Lloydsville Fire Department was kept on standby, Limani said.

A state police cruiser blocked the gravel lane marked with multiple “Private Property” and “Keep Out” signs.

State police declined to specify the tip that led investigators back to the property that they have searched before in the two years Gross has been missing.

Troopers previously searched the property and drained a nearby lake looking for clues.

On the afternoon of April 7, 2018, Gross called her mom after lunch with a friend. She was never heard from again. Investigators found her Mitsubishi Outlander burned along a rail line near Twin Lakes Park.

State police have classified her death as a homicide. No arrests have been made.

A Westmoreland County judge ruled her legally dead in January 2019.

Many searches have focused on the land around Unity Cemetery near property owned by Thomas Stanko, who had dated Gross. He has maintained his innocence and says he doesn’t know what happened to her. He’s been in jail more than a year on unrelated charges.

Gross’ mother, Kathe, was on the scene with police investigators Wednesday but couldn’t be reached for comment.

She spearheaded a search around the cemetery last August.

Gross has maintained that family and friends have not given up hope of finding evidence that will lead to an arrest in her daughter’s killing.

Limani said anyone with information on Gross’ disappearance should call 724-832-3288.