Records will remain sealed in Unity woman's disappearance

Search warrants related to the disappearance of a Unity woman will remain sealed for the time being, a Westmoreland County judge ruled Thursday.

Prosecutors said public disclosure of documents supporting 15 search warrants obtained last year could interfere with the ongoing investigation into the whereabouts and possible death of Cassandra Gross, who was last seen alive in early April 2018.

Gross would have turned 53 in May.

A county judge in January declared Gross legally dead. Gross’ family believes she was killed and police said this year they are treating her disappearance as a homicide. Her former boyfriend, Thomas Stanko, has been named as a potential person of interest in her disappearance. Stanko has for the last year denied any knowledge of her whereabouts.

According to Thursday’s court filings, the search warrants include “sensitive investigative details not otherwise released to the public” and the identities of individuals who have given information to police.

“The commonwealth submits that the release of the information … would irreparably interfere with and or handicap the investigation of this matter,” according to the court filing from District Attorney John Peck and Assistant District Attorney James Lazar.

Police have disclosed little about the investigation but previously acknowledged that Stanko’s home and surrounding property near the Unity Cemetery were searched.

The court documents filed Thursday said police seized a telephone from Stanko and searched for trace evidence on an all-terrain vehicle and handcart at his Macey Road home. Police also searched Stanko’s Google account information and his home internet router, data from his telephone provider and information relative to LensCrafters. Investigators also searched property on White Fence Lane, where Stanko’s mother lives, as well as Gross’ cellphone and internet records, according to the court documents.

While Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Tim Krieger extended the seal on the search warrants for the next 30 days, he ordered a hearing within the next month on any further requests for extensions.

Stanko, 48, of Unity has been in jail for the past year. He was initially charged with possession of a stolen ATV found on his property during one of the police searches and has since been accused of fraud and other offenses. Stanko is in federal custody awaiting disposition of federal firearms counts he was charged with late last year.

No charges have been filed related to Gross’ disappearance.

Stanko also faces pending drunk driving and assault charges in connection with a bar fight in 2017.