With two George Junior Republic students charged in the slaying of a night supervisor at the Pine Township residential treatment center, rumors abound in the Grove City area about lax security, dangerous students and a campus in cover-up mode.

George Junior Republic Chief Executive Officer Rick Losasso said he is working hard to allay the fears of the community as well as put to rest any rumors that have grown out of the killing Monday of 43-year-old Wayne Lamont Urey of Jefferson Township.

Urey was watching students living in Cottage S when police say he was attacked by Jeremy Melvin, 16, and Anthony Machicote, 17. Urey was beaten and bound, police said. He died of strangulation. The two teens escaped in Urey's truck and were arrested Monday in Pittsburgh.

There is no fence around George Junior Republic to keep students inside, though the residents are under constant supervision, Losasso said. The school tries to keep students in manageable groups of 8 to 10, he said.

Most live in what the school calls cottages and in on-campus group homes. They are not locked in at night.

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