Body believed to be that of Jessie Davis discovered

Date:   6/24/2007 1:04:11 AM ( 17 y ago)

CANTON, Ohio - A massive search ended in sadness Saturday when authorities announced they found a body believed to be a pregnant woman who vanished from her home a week earlier. A police officer believed to be the father of the unborn child was arrested on two counts of murder.

Jessie Davis, 26, who was due to deliver a baby girl on July 3, was reported missing after her mother found Davis’ 2-year-old son home alone, bedroom furniture toppled and bleach spilled on the floor.

The boy gave investigators their first clues. “Mommy was crying. Mommy broke the table. Mommy’s in rug,” the boy said.

Thousands of volunteers had searched for Davis over several days, while investigators continued to question Bobby Cutts Jr., 30, who is the father of Davis’ son but is married to another woman.

Investigators were mum on many details of their work until they announced Cutts was taken into custody Saturday and was to be arraigned on charges of murder in the deaths of Davis and her unborn child.

The Stark County Sheriff’s Department also said a woman’s body was recovered in Summit County at 3:30 p.m. Authorities did not give a location but said they believed it to be Davis.

Television news footage taken from helicopters above Cuyahoga Valley National Park showed investigators riding off-road vehicles to reach an area that is heavily covered with trees and brush. It also show authorities carrying a body bag on a stretcher and loading it into a white van.

Roger Riggins, an investigator with the Summit County medical examiner’s office, confirmed a body was found at the southeast edge of the park, about 25 miles from Davis’ home in Lake Township.

Autopsy planned Sunday

The medical examiner’s office said they would perform an autopsy Sunday and try to use dental records to identify the body, but that they might have difficulty determining the cause of death because of the advanced state of decomposition.

Later Saturday, sheriff’s deputies searched the apartment of a high school classmate of Cutts, looking for pillows, a bed sheet, a cell phone, cleaning supplies and other evidence in the case, The Repository in Canton reported, citing a search warrant signed by Stark County Common Pleas Judge John Haas.

An inventory of the search showed three cell phones, Lysol and Clorox cleaning solution bottles, three empty bottles of Febreze fabric freshener, garbage bags and a partial roll of duct tape were removed by deputies from the home, the newspaper reported.

Tim Miller, director of Texas EquuSearch, an internationally active search group that organized the volunteer effort, said Davis’ mother, Patricia Porter, and other members of her family were called together and told about the body in late afternoon.

“A lot of the community stopped their lives to looked for Jessie and that meant so much to her and the entire family that they knew they were not alone in this,” he said.

During the investigation, a newborn baby girl was left on the doorstep of a home in a nearby county, raising questions about whether it belonged to Davis. DNA tests were being conducted when another woman confessed to leaving the child at the home.

An attorney for Davis’ mother said the family had a roller coaster ride of emotions and had no comment.

“I’ve seen them laugh, cry, be angry — everything you can imagine,” Rick Pitinii said. “They need to be together, and they need to be alone, and they need to grieve.”

Cutts, a Canton police officer since 2000, has said he and his wife are separated and that she knew about the affair with Davis.

Chief Deputy Rick Perez said the case was still being investigated. He would not comment on whether there were any other suspects.

Telephone messages seeking comment were left at the office of Cutts’ lawyer, Bradley Iams, and the home and office of the Rev. C.A. Richmond, who is Cutts’ pastor. Iams’ home number is unlisted. Cutts’ wife also did not return a phone call.

Cutts has been on paid administrative leave from his job.

Disorderly conduct charge

“There is no denying that this has resulted in giving a black eye in the opinion of the local community as well as the opinion of the rest of the nation,” Canton Police Chief Dean McKimm said of Cutts’ arrest.

The police department had tried to fire Cutts in 2003 when authorities conducting a drug raid on his cousin’s home found Cutts’ handgun hidden under a mattress. Canton police officials said Cutts gave the gun to his cousin for protection and said Cutts was lying when he reported the gun stolen. A federal arbitrator ordered the city to reinstate the officer, saying police had not proved the allegation.

Cutts pleaded no contest to a disorderly conduct charge in 1998 after he was accused of breaking into the home of a former girlfriend. He was sentenced to three years’ probation.

Popularity:   message viewed 1118 times
URL:   http://www.curezone.org/blogs/fm.asp?i=985058

<< Return to the standard message view