NC Wanted: Hand-drawn map fails to solve 1987 disappearance of Dunn man
Seventeen years after the disappearance of Jimmy Davis, a map allegedly showing where his body could be found was sent to Dunn investigations.
After an exhaustive search, nothing turned up, leaving investigators empty-handed in the now 29-year-old case.
“It’s just like the Earth opened up and swallowed him in and just wiped him from the face of the Earth,” Davis’ sister, Gaylena Harris said.
Harris remembers the last time she saw her brother; Christmas morning 1987.
“He came on his own terms and we would go see him, you know,” Harris said.
Two years later, on Nov. 17, 1989, Davis’ boss dropped him off at his home off Spring Branch Road in Dunn. When his boss came back to pick him up two days later, Davis’ live-in girlfriend said Davis had left the home that morning and never came back.
Davis’ family and investigators need someone to come forward to break their nearly 30-year silence.
“Maybe it’s a person that can’t live with what they know, can’t continue to live with what they know,” Harris said.
It’s a case with bizarre twists, but no resolution. In the summer of 2006, a hand-drawn map was sent to the Dunn Police Department, showing where Davis’ body might be buried.
Geologists used high-tech scanning equipment and backhoes, looking for clues, but they came up empty and were forced to start back at square one.
“If they could send us another map with more detailed information, we’d appreciate it,” said Sgt. Bill Brady with the Dunn Police Department.
Detectives believe Davis was murdered. Court records show he shot a man in 1985 and may have had enemies.
Davis’ family said they just want to know what happened to him, so they can have a homecoming or proper burial.
Anybody with information is asked to call the N.C. Wanted hotline at 866-439-2683.
