Mysteries Muddle Case of Missing Mother

Jun 19, 09:50 PM

Current Headlines: AKRON, Ohio _ The investigation into the disappearance of Jessie Marie Davis ended its fifth day with a curious twist: the discovery of an infant girl in a basket left on a doorstep in Wayne County's Wooster Township.

Investigators looking into the disappearance of Davis, who is due to deliver a girl any day, say they are using DNA testing to determine if the 1-day-old infant is Davis' child.

However, there is little optimism being expressed by investigators that the girl is Davis'.

An East Messner Road couple found the baby Monday night when they returned from dinner. The girl, dressed in a yellow jumper and wrapped in a white blanket, appears to be Caucasian with brown hair. She is 18 inches long and weighs just under 6 pounds.

Investigators say the baby was about 12 hours old when left on the doorstep. Her umbilical cord was wet and fresh, wrapped off with a black rubber band.

The baby was taken to Wooster Community Hospital.

DNA samples from the baby were given to Stark County Sheriff's Office officials investigating the disappearance of Davis, a 26-year-old Lake Township woman, Wayne County Sheriff Tom Maurer said.

Stark County Chief Deputy Rick Perez on Tuesday would only say that officers are investigating the possible link. He would not provide details.

"We're planning on continuing our investigation," he said.

Davis has not been heard from since her mother, Patty Porter, talked to her at 9:20 p.m. on June 13.

Porter went to her daughter's home at 8 a.m. Friday and found Davis' son, Blake, alone and his heavily-soiled diaper. She suspects the boy was alone since at least late Wednesday or early Thursday morning.

Blake told his grandmother that his mother was gone, had broken a nightstand, was crying and is "in the rug," an apparent reference to a missing bed comforter. Areas of the bedroom carpeting were soaked in bleach.

The investigation is still termed a missing person's case and no suspects or persons of interest have been identified. However, detectives have focused a great deal on Davis' boyfriend of five years, Canton Patrolman Bobby Cutts Jr. He was supposed to have a visit with Blake on Thursday, but he said Davis never answered his calls.

Allstate Insurance co-workers say Davis failed to arrive at work at 8 a.m. Thursday.

Cutts, 30, is the father of Davis' son and her unborn child. He has also been married since July 19, 2001 and is the father of two girls. The couple is currently separated.

Kelly Cutts, 28, is said to have known of her husband's infidelity and his fathering of Davis' children.

Bobby Cutts gave police per mission to search his home on Friday and his car and the car of his wife as late as Monday. He has also been interviewed, but Perez said Cutts has not yet taken a polygraph test. Investigators, including the FBI, also re visited Davis' Essex Road home on Monday to search for evidence. Cutts was placed on leave from his job due to the stress of Davis' disappearance.

He has not been labeled a suspect.

"He's an associate of Jessie Davis as is everybody else we're looking at right now," Perez said.

Perez said investigators have "received some" cell phone records connected to the investigation. They want the records to try to establish a timeline for Davis' last known contact.

As part of establishing that timeline, Perez gave reporters a surveillance photo taken of Davis pushing a grocery cart with her son inside around an Acme store at 6:24 p.m. June 13.

Meanwhile, Porter continues to take her case nationally. She has appeared on network and cable television to keep her daughter's case in front of the world. She has talked with reporters nonstop since Friday. By Tues day evening, her attorney said she was tiring.

"It's a little harder today," Porter said to reporters around noon Tuesday. "And each day gets a little harder."

Porter said a national group, Texas EquuSearch, has volunteered to come to the area to assist in the search. Group members were expected to arrive Tuesday night and begin their work Wednesday.

The group has been involved in several high-profile searches, including the recent abduction and killing of Kelsey Smith, who was taken from a parking lot at a department store in Kansas.

Porter said she is hopeful the group will offer some ideas on where to look.

"That's one of the reasons we didn't do another search, be cause we don't know what to do or where to go," she said. "Everyone is really supportive and wanting to help, but we don't know what to tell them to do. I think (EquuSearch volunteers) are professionals at this. They'll know what to do."

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(Akron Beacon Journal staff writer Katie Byard and correspondent Sallie Cook contributed to this report.)

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