WMVO Good Times Great Oldies
On December 20, 2009 at approximately 10:54 A.M., the Knox County Sheriff’s
Office received a call that Jean Davis, residing on Dennis Church Road, Gambier was
found unresponsive in the back yard of her residence. It was determined that Ms. Davis
had a gunshot wound to the head and was deceased. While at the Dennis Church Road
residence, detectives discovered that Ms. Davis’s 2002 tan Chevy Avalanche Z 71 truck
was missing. The following day, the Chevy Avalanche was located in the City of
Newark.
Since that time, detectives along with investigators from the Ohio Bureau of
Criminal Investigation have continued to pursue leads and respond to tips in an effort to
solve the murder. In March of this year, detectives met with the Bureau of Criminal
Investigation Cold Case Division to update the case with the latest forensic DNA
analysis. This analysis works to build a DNA profile of the suspect using recovered DNA
samples.
In November, Sheriff Shaffer learned that the Stark County Sheriff’s Office
successfully utilized Parabon Nanolabs to assist with a cold case investigation in the
Canton, Ohio area. Knox County Sheriff’s Office detectives have contacted Parabon
Nanolabs and have requested assistance in the Jean Davis case. We are hopeful that
utilizing technology that is now available, we can build a DNA profile to identify a
potential suspect in the case.
Anyone with additional information is encouraged to leave a tip or contact the
Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation at (330) 659-4607, or the Knox County Sheriff’s
Office at (740) 399-3959.