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Jun 24, 2007 2:54 pm US/Eastern
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Body ID'd As Missing Mom, Officer Arrested
Pregnant Woman Had Disappeared June 15; Police Officer-Boyfriend To Be Arraigned For Murder
CANTON, Ohio (CBS News) ―
A medical examiner says the body of a nine-months pregnant woman found Saturday has been positively identified as Jessie Marie Davis, the 26-year-old mother who has been missing since June 15.
The cause of death has not yet been determined, pending further investigation, said Lisa Kohler, the Summit County medical examiner.
The baby was still inside the womb of Davis, Kohler said as she left her office Sunday. She declined further comment. Davis' identity was released on a recording from the medical examiner's telephone hotline.
Kohler said the cause of death would not be announced on Sunday.
CBS News correspondent Teri Okita reports that Sheriff's deputies arrested Davis' boyfriend, Bobby Cutts Jr, an officer in the Canton, Ohio police department in connection with her death. For days, Cutts — the father of Davis' son — denied knowing anything about her disappearance.
Davis, the mother of a 2-year-old boy, was nine months pregnant when she disappeared.
"Our hearts go out to the family of Jessie Davis and we will do anything we can to help ease their burden at this difficult time," said Chief Deputy Rick Perez of the Sheriff's office.
Attorney Rick Pitinii spoke on behalf of Davis' family: "They have gone through an absolute roller coaster of emotions. I've seen them laugh, I've seen them cry. I've seen them be angry, upset, everything you can imagine."
Davis' grieving family remains in seclusion. Cutts will be arraigned in court on Monday, charged with two counts of murder.
A church service to show support for Cutts that was scheduled before the body was found was closed to the media. Cutts' pastor, the Rev. C.A. Richmond, declined to comment on his way into the service.
Davis was due to deliver a baby girl on July 3 but 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.
An autopsy was being performed Sunday, the Summit County Medical Examiner's office said.
Thousands of volunteers had searched for Davis over several days, while investigators continued to question Cutts, 30, who is the father of Davis' son but is married to another woman.
Sheriff's deputies on Saturday 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 Saturday, 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.
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. They have not stated whether they would seek the death penalty, according to CBS affiliate WOIO correspondent Ed Gallek, but it is possible the grand jury might return with further charges, such as moving a body.
The Stark County Sheriff's Department 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 showed 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.
The medical examiner's office said it would perform an autopsy Sunday and try to use dental records to identify the body, but that it might be difficult to determine the cause of death because of the advanced state of decomposition.
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.
About 30 volunteers gathered around a television at the Greentown Volunteer Fire Department Saturday evening as news of the discovery and Cutts' arrest was announced.
"The mood just dropped," said Andrea Humphrey, 47, of Akron. "It was very sad and somber. People were crying."
An attorney for Davis' mother on Sunday said the family had no comment. A woman answering a cell phone belonging to Ned Davis, the father of the missing woman, said he wasn't taking calls.
Cutts, a Canton police officer since 2000, has said he and his wife are separated and that she knew about the affair with Davis. His attorney, Bradley Iams, did not return a telephone message left at his office, and his home number is unlisted. Iams was not at his home or office Sunday morning.
Chief Deputy Rick Perez said the case was still being investigated. He would not comment on whether there were any other suspects.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)