Suspect in Unity woman's disappearance wants federal weapons charge dropped in separate case

Federal authorities did not have probable cause to search a Potter County cabin belonging to Thomas George Stanko, making the seizure of a sawed-off rifle illegal, his attorney argued in a pretrial motion.

Investigators didn’t have evidence that a firearm would be found there during the October 2018 search, said attorney Edward Rymsza.

“The affidavit did not establish that Mr. Stanko lived there regularly or even when he was last physically present at the cabin,” Rymsza wrote. “There was no evidence from any source that he had ever been seen in possession of firearms there.”

Stanko, 50, of Unity, has been linked to the 2018 disappearance of Cassandra Gross and he is facing a federal indictment in connection with the .22-cailber rifle. Authorities allege the gun had an obliterated serial number and was not registered to Stanko, who has previous felony convictions which prohibit him from possessing a firearm.

Stanko’s attorney is attempting to suppress the evidence. A response from prosecutors is due later this month.

Gross of Unity was last seen April 7, 2018. In the days after her disappearance, state police were seen searching two Unity properties Stanko owns. In May, troopers found a few items during a search at a home where Stanko’s mother lives on White Fence Lane next to Unity Cemetery. Those items were sent for testing. Police have not publicly detailed those items.

Stanko has been in jail since April 2018 on charges unrelated to Gross’ disappearance.

Rymsza said in the motion that there were no jailhouse phone calls or writings made by Stanko that would lead authorities to believe there was a weapon at the cabin. He conceded that investigators have other phone calls and writings made by Stanko that allegedly indicated, sometimes in code, that guns were present at the White Fence Lane home and a storage unit.

Authorities said they found 17 guns there, and Stanko faces a separate federal indictment in that case.

But there was nothing specific in those calls and writings that would indicate more weapons were present at the cabin, Rymsza argued.

“In short, nothing in the affidavit even inferentially connects the items sought, namely a firearm, at the Potter County residence,” he wrote.

Gross was reported missing April 9, 2018, the same day her blind and diabetic dog Baxter was found wandering alone in the Beatty Crossroads area. The next day, state police found her Mitsubishi Outlander burned almost beyond recognition in a wooded area near Twin Lakes Park.

Gross would have turned 54 in May. She was declared legally dead in January 2019 by a Westmoreland County judge. State police have continued to look for evidence of Gross’ whereabouts and they classify the case as a homicide. No arrests have been made.

Baxter died in May.