David Allen Gross’s 1974 Pocono Mountain High School yearbook photo. Gross was murdered on Aug. 10, 1977, just eight days after his 21st birthday.
The 1977 murder of a Mount Pocono man whose body was found in Northampton County may be a cold case, but police still hope to solve it, as evidenced by a PA Crimestoppers post from earlier this year.
Saturday, Aug. 11 will mark the 41st anniversary of the discovery of David Allen Gross’s body inside the hatchback of his 1975 Chevrolet Monza at the Arrow Island Lookout in the Delaware Water Gap Recreational Area along Rt. 611 in Upper Mount Bethel Township, Northampton County.
The lookout is located approximately midway between Portland, Northampton County, and Delaware Water Gap, Monroe County.
Arrow Island Lookout is located along the Delaware River and Rt. 611, just south of the Monroe-Northampton county line.
Police say Gross had been beaten and strangled to death, possibly at another location.
Gross was a 1974 graduate of Pocono Mountain High School, “was employed at his father’s carpentry business, and had just recently begun working for a local art gallery,” police said in the 2018 Crimestoppers post.
Only days before he was murdered, Gross hosted his own 21st birthday party in nearby Cresco, Monroe County, which police say “was heavily attended by people from the Pocono Mountain and Lehigh Valley areas.”
Several bands had been hired to play at the event, which the Morning Call–in a 1996 story about the case–reported was held at his parents’ home.
A photo of a 1975 Chevy Monza, similar to the car that David Allen Gross owned and in which his body was found shortly after 1 a.m. on Aug. 11, 1977 in Upper Mount Bethel Township, Northampton County.
The Morning Call reported that Gross had been severely beaten about the head and body, and that a rope similar to the type used on pulleys on exercise equipment was tightly tied around his neck.
A Pennsylvania State Police trooper interviewed at the time stated a motive for the murder may have been robbery.
Gross–an only child–is buried in Arlington Memorial Park in Whitehall.
According to the author of a page dedicated to his memory on the website FindAGrave.com, “what makes his death even more tragic is that his murder still remains a mystery today and his killer roams free.”
The cold case remains under investigation by Pennsylvania State Police Troop M, which is headquartered in Bethlehem.
If you have any information about the murder of David Allen Gross please call Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers at 1-800-4PA-TIPS. All callers can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a cash reward.
