Hi there all, I figured since I'm finding myself more and more interested in this case specifically with this UID and Mr. Davis, I'd share what I've discovered from both a reporter who did a secondary story in 2021 and a Detective Turner with the Leon County Sheriff's Office in Florida.
So this mainly started because I was watching old Forensic Files re-runs in my hotel room while on a work trip, got curious if anyone in my county (I do live in Lee County, NC) had ever been reported missing or an unsolved case, and low and behold I come across Mr. UID. Some digging around into Mr. Harrell, considering how unique the name is, has sort of revealed some information to me. So get ready, because this is gonna be a bit of a wild one...
Mr. Harrell served in the US Army in Korea, identified by the record found on this website here listing various militaria related records that are publicly available. The cemetery in Warner Robins, GA confirmed to me that their records of Mr. Harrell state that he was "cremated in 1998 and his brother paid for the entire funeral. All military records were lost and the only thing provided was an SSN, there was no attending funeral home listed but the most likely candidate went out of business over 20 years ago". So the UID cannot be Mr. Harrell, due to the death certificate from Texas and the verification by the cemetery in Georgia.
According to a familysearch.org look,
(and as many pages as I had open it'll be impossible to add all the links so I'll just add the one I'm 100% certain is Mr. Harrell himself), He was married to several women throughout his life, but as someone mentioned above, there was a very short, 6 month marriage in 1980,
(while this doesn't link directly to Mr. Harrell himself, the very unique name is mentioned in Texas in 1980). Supposedly, from what I can see about Ms. Justice, she had (and I cannot find the exact record right now but I'm almost certain I saw it), she either lived, or had a very close relative live, in Lexington, NC as of 2015; but like I said, I cannot find this record so I cannot 100% prove that point but I know I saw it somewhere in those archives.
So, with that short information that I was able to grab about Mr. Harrell, I went off the earlier statements here, that the Harrell family name is very prominent within Western NC, parts of TN, SC, and GA, so it wouldn't be entirely out of the question for him to have known family around NC; but that is entirely conjecture.
Moving onto Mr. Davis, going off the information I could find about him.
According to this post on Facebook in 2019, Mr. Davis was last seen on Feb. 5, 1981 at a work site in Tallahassee, FL working on his soon to be home for himself and his wife.
Later that day his truck would be found in the parking lot of Tallahassee Regional, with only a parking stub. According to his family, he had no mentioned travel plans, no history of drug usage, no mental health crises, or anything that would've convinced his family he was not sound of mind. He was described within his Doe Network page as a White Male, 32 years old, 5'11, 165lbs, and with brown hair and blue eyes. He was described to be an avid writer, hunter, and fisherman, with ties to Montana and Idaho in the 70's. His family had owned property in Maine at one time. He was also described to have had a "successful contracting business" in Tallahassee and was a graduate of FSU.
So, with this information about Mr. Davis, information is spare on him, but I can give a piece of information from Detective Turner with the Leon County Sheriff's Office:
Mr. Davis' wife at the time made it clear to the LCSO(FL) that she did not want to be interviewed unless she was suspected of having involvement, and immediately lawyered up.
Now, I'm not trying to say anything by that, however, people don't
typically lawyer up when their spouse goes missing, especially wives.
Moving onto the UID now.
This UID was found in September of 1981, with gunshots in his head (I cannot remember the caliber but information regarding the state of the body was in the September 16, 1981 edition of the Sanford Herald, which is linked in an above post), wearing faded blue jeans size 32x32, dark brown leather belt, white briefs size 30-32 small, and a light blue short sleeved collared shirt with breast pockets. He was estimated to be between 30 years old and 50 years old, with a PMI of 6 months. Described as having brown, curly hair, and being approximately 5'11 in height with an unintimated weight. He was described as a white male in the article, and found off US 421 near Old McNeil Rd(I've tried asking the old timers at the diner about this place but no one seems to have a clue as no modern maps list an Old McNeil Rd).
Jason Harbour, a 7 year old boy at the time, discovered the body while he was on a walk with his family on a dirt road near a wooded area. Mr. Harbour would graduate from Lee Senior and NC State, dying in 2004 after a battle with leukemia at age 30. mtDNA and nucDNA were recovered from this UID along with evidence of dental work, restoration of the #30 and a partial bridge.
The most important piece of information in the case however, was a spiral notebook found on this UID with the very unique name Rozar Marvin Harrell as well as "number"(these have never been publicly clarified as phone numbers, measurements, etc..), a pack of Winston 100's, and a black cricket lighter, all found with this UID, and important to him in some way.
So, a lot of information to take in, here's where the physical evidence lies:
The UID and Mr. Davis share very many physical characteristics, such as age range, height, and weight. Comparing the pants found on the UID with a chart, would put them within
range for 165lbs, underwear as well; possibly a little bit under, but within enough of a range for it to be taken seriously. The PMI of the UID was estimated to be 6 months, Mr. Davis disappeared in February of 1981 and the UID was found in September of 1981, 7 months, only 1 month off and at the time forensic technology wasn't nearly as advanced as it is now so the timeline is within an acceptable range for it to be taken seriously, and Detective Turner seems to think so as well which his why he told me he would be working with the FLE and his superiors to reopen the case in Florida. Going off the clothing, what's described, between the pants, shirt, the type of shoes(
when looking them up this is what came up), and the contents of his pockets, it could seem that based upon the physical evidence alone, there's reason to believe there
is reasonable suspicion that this UID could be identified as Mr. Davis.
Now, this part is speculation on my part, and trying to link everything together so bear with me on this, it does make sense in the grand scheme of things.
Lets take the settings, all three of them. Warner Robins, GA, Broadway, NC, and Tallahassee, FL. All three are within a semi-short distance of
regional airports. I don't believe the one currently in Lee County, NC was active in the 80's, but Charlotte and Raleigh both have had airports for quite some time. Warner Robins, I have never seen nor really gone into detail about, but a quick map search shows three of them. Tallahassee has always been big, so I'm not surprised there in the least. It's not
impossible for these two to have crossed paths, simply because of their proximities to regional airports. Mr. Harrell's parents are both buried in Warner Robins, GA in the same cemetery as him. So his ties to there, are there, six feet under, but there.
Taking the information we know about both parties, Mr. Davis and Mr. Harrell, a few things can be
possibly crossed against one another. Mr. Harrell served in the Korean War in the US Army. Lots of veterans after WWII and Korea would find themselves becoming avid sportsmen, hunters and fishermen. Mr. Davis was described to have had hobbies with hunting and fishing, and Montana and Maine, places he's known to have had links to, are infamous for their hunting opportunities. North Carolina and Georgia all as well have massive wildlife reserves and game lands, some of the best and most renowned on the East Coast in fact. There's a possibility that Mr. Harrell and Mr. Davis could have met during a hunting or fishing incursion, by either man, and with Georgia and Florida bordering one another, there's the chance Mr. Davis could have went white tail hunting in Georgia or Mr. Harrell could have made a trip down to Florida to fish in the keys. The possibilities are there, it's just a matter of determining how
plausible the interaction between these two could have taken place.
Then of course, there's the matter of Mr. Davis running a successful contracting business, which presents an angle that adds in the information from the UID. The notebook, specifically, with Mr. Harrell's name, and "numbers". I've personally traveled out of state before when doing HV/AC work, as far north as Danville, VA, and as far south as Colombia, SC, all several hours away from my home of Lee County, NC. If Mr. Davis had some sort of reputation,
this presents another angle of interaction between Mr. Davis and Mr. Harrell. It's not unheard of at least, if you have a good enough job, to travel hours for work. Warner Robins, GA is 3 hours approximately from Tallahassee, definitely something you'd leave at 0600 to get to if traveling between one of the places to the other. The numbers could have been anything, from measurements for a project, to phone numbers, to even GPS coordinates. The possibilities are endless really.
So with the conjecture in there, it's not
impossible to see the link between these two in their own rights, given the evidence and their respective backgrounds. It is a long stretch, even now I myself have reservations about the connection to these two, but there's a bit of good information I can share regarding this.
So, in my searching in this, I thought, with the physical evidence at least,
that I should call someone, so I did. I called pretty much every agency that would've been involved and here's how things went:
Lee County Sheriff's Office:
I do not remember his name, but I spoke to the head of the detectives division at the LCSO(NC), a captain, and he did not even know this case existed at all. The LCSO(NC) is very rural by Tallahassee's standards, so I'm not surprised they wouldn't have any interest or in depth knowledge of this cold case. This captain himself to me, did not seem that interested in this case either, and was more than happy to finally hang up after the 20 minute explanation I had made about the possible link. He also said, more than likely, the physical evidence like clothing, items found, and the original reports even, were likely either buried deep within the archives, or did not exist anymore. I have yet to follow up with the LCSO(NC), but they also have two other pending UID cases from this decade they are working on, so I doubt one from 1981 would take precedent. Sheriff Thomas passed away in the 2010's (my grampa was in the honor guard for his funeral), and any original deputies involved are likely either passed on, or in their 70's or above and would most likely not remember much information about this case, but I am trying to find anything I can on their whereabouts. The LCSO(NC) is not very helpful in my opinion, and my own dealings with them would describe them as a very shady bunch.
North Carolina Chief Medical Examiner's Office:
I spoke with a lady at the CME's office about this case, and she indeed confirmed they do have a DNA profile for this case, but none of their original files have been digitized for public access, including the autopsy report. They however, made it very clear, that despite the access to the DNA profile,
they themselves do not actively send these profiles for UIDs out to places like Othram, and instead they only release it to Law Enforcement agencies for them to test with as they desire. The lady with the CME's office was also somewhat rude and not helpful, and was once again, more than happy to hang up with me.
North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations Cold Case Unit:
I spoke with an agent with the NCSBI Cold Case unit, and information that he provided me, was more then abysmal. He informed me that most likely, in accordance with NC law, the UID was most likely cremated and buried at sea in the 90's, well after his DNA was taken and profiled and an autopsy report was done. They give it approximately 10 years, and if nothing's come up, they dispose of the body via cremation and burial at sea. He could not confirm this, but he said it was the most likely outcome. He also stated, the NCSBI Cold Case unit was a very small unit within the larger NCSBI, and even then, it was primarily a secondary goal for them for actual cold cases, they typically focus on things that are cold within the last 10 or 20 years. He then proceeded to spout off to me about how places like Othram, if they did decide to run a genealogy test, would be in the ballpark range of $12,000 to $15,000 for just
one sample, which is absolutely a lie. According to my own research, and that of the very nice Mr. Lindell who wrote the 2021 article about the UID, the average testing for something with a full DNA profile available, would at most run them around $6,000 on a bad day. So to me, once again, a theme with North Carolina law enforcement,
they were obviously uninterested in this cold case and the chance to solve it and the agent was more than happy to hang up with me.
Leon County Sheriff's Office:
The only bright light in an abysmal sea of despair, a Ms. Tupper, whom I cannot remember what division she belongs with, answered my call. I gave her the same story, pretty much verbatim, that I had given to the LCSO(NC), NCCME, and NCSBI. Her response to all of this information?
"Please email me with everything you have because we were actually discussing this case last week in a meeting." I could not have been happier to hear something of that nature, so, doing my due diligence, I emailed her with all of the information I had up until that point, which at the time, I did not know about Mr. Harrell's actual whereabouts, his presence in Texas, Korean War service, marriages, or anything that I've posted about above. So, I gave her what I had, and I waited. It took a month, but a Detective Turner calls me out of the blue today, and asks me to go over everything in the email, and I add in with him what I've learned since the email, and all the original details. At the end, I asked him his opinion on the ordeal, he agrees, the physical evidence is enough to warrant a serious look into by the FLE and the LCSO(FL), and while he also agrees that the possible links are, stretchy at best, he told me the physical evidence that I was able to gather from online, was sufficient enough to re-open this case. He informed me that he would keep up with me,
and that's when he dropped the bombshell about Mr. Davis' wife lawyering up after his disappearance. So, after the conversation today, and thanks to my own ADHD, I couldn't sleep, and came here to make an account and post what I've done, and what I've learned, about the possible connection between Mr. Harrell, Mr. Davis, and the UID.
Mr. Lindell:
The author of the 2021 article, I was able to get in contact with. The original intention was to see if he would re-run the article to a wider audience and see what would come out of it. He provided some valuable information about this case, from a certain point of view. For one, he had nearly an identical experience with the LCSO(NC) and the NCCME's office, regarding an uninterested and annoyed view on this UID's case. Mr. Lindell no longer works with the Wilson Times paper, but his colleges pointed to me in the direction to get ahold of him. Mr. Lindell grew up around Lee County, NC and has done several other articles about some local unsolved cases,
including one in Siler City, NC, and the infamous
Kay Files for WHIGTV, a series about unsolved and cold cases in NC. He has been very passionate about this case since beginning our correspondence, and even informed me the original name for the CME's office, a one Clyde Gibbs, still works there! Now, I'm not 100% certain if Mr. Gibbs is the
original ME for the autopsy, but I do know Mr. Lindell informed me he was given a gag order by the CME's office, basically telling him to not talk to journalists or the media. Mr. Lindell recently stated he was going to file a FOIA form in order to get the original autopsy report, so when that comes in I'll provide an update.
The Sanford Herald:
I have emailed and called everyone on the contact list about possibly running a new article as an update to their original 1981 article, but no one has responded to any of my attempts at reaching out.
Huston County Sheriff's Office, Georgia:
Just as a 'cover all bases' type ordeal, I did try to reach out to them, but they informed me that it was out of their jurisdiction, and that unless LCSO(NC) or the LCSO(FL) contacted them, or any other agency involved contacted them for mutual assistance, they could not legally do anything. I'm not surprised, I just wanted to cover all bases.
With all this out there, and this being quite a read, I now go to retire for the night and hope that my medication, and satisfied brain, will let me sleep. (At one point I recall the LCSO(NC) captain asking if I had considered a career in forensic analysis, unfortunately, that position isn't something common here in NC or have a common need to have, and I don't want to leave my state).
Before I end this, I've got a few things that still cross my mind, and things I've bounced off and heard that I'm gonna lay out here at the end:
For starters, the cigarettes. Winston 100's, are not a working mans smokes. That would be Marlboro, especially in the 80's. Remember however, Mr. Davis went to FSU, and graduated. That could definitely be something there, and as I don't smoke, I've no idea where Winston 100's sit on the hierarchy, whether they be low end or high end. Grampa seems to think that there's definitely a question to be asked there, that in his opinion, could actually make or break the case.
The notepad, never, at any point, had ever been elaborated on. The numbers? The numbers Mason what do they mean! I mean seriously, nothing in the original 1981 even
mentions the notepad or numbers, or Mr. Harrell, from what I remember reading. However, there's also several inconsistencies with the Doe Network and Namus pages for the UID, such as Sheriff Thomas originally stating the UID was in his 20's, and the gunshots, which are
suspiciously left out of both Doe Network and Namus entries, which only makes this a question of negligence, primitive investigatory skills, or just downright time.
Mr. Davis' wife, is a very real concern in his case. I didn't ask, but I'm now curious, did she ever receive a life insurance payout for Mr. Davis? Was he ever declared dead in absentia? Why would she lawyer up if she would be the one to report the disappearance? Sure, in media and life you typically suspect the spouse of foul play, but you'd think that 40 years later you'd be able to determine if they did or did not have involvement? Did the LCSO(FL) ever investigate her as an angle? What would she have stood to gain from his disappearance? I'm very curious to find out myself.
Mr. Harrell himself, the center of this large mystery, just as much as the UID. In 1981 he was very much alive, and reportedly living in Texas. With a name that unique, don't you think that the LCSO(NC) would have tried to track him down? Sure, 1981 was still far from the digital age where everything is a quick 5 minute search away, but with a name like that, don't you think it would've been in the papers, all over the news? Even now, no one from Mr. Harrell's family, including his brother who did die in the digital age, the same one that buried him, has never publicly come forth with any information regarding this UID and this murder case, because that's what it is. What does his family know? I attempted to get in touch with Mr. Harrell(brother)'s family about this via a country club he was president of prior to his passing, but nothing has come back so far. I'm going to assume either they know something, and aren't talking, or they know about it enough to know they don't want anything to do with it, especially given that Mr. Harrell(original) is dead. Even Mr. Harrell's ex wives, nothing, not a word, even from the one reported to have had ties to Lexington, NC(once again, that's on me for not finding it again, I could be wrong about that detail, but I'm not 100% either way, I just vaguely remember seeing it and it bothers me).
Then the LCSO(NC) and their overall lack of initial investigations(any that were done haven't made public yet), in this murder case. Granted, there was also another murder case being investigated in September of 1981 that was linked to another one in Lee County, and the Sheriff himself headed this UID's investigation, eventually turning it to the SBI, which didn't provide me with any information.
As an addon to this, NC State forensic anthropologist Dr. Ann Ross worked on a case of a
2005 UID who was successfully identified, so there are some small amount of people who are interested in these things, and it mentions a NC Cold Case Initiative, but no idea if it's linked to the NCSBI or not. Mr. Lindell knows Dr. Ross personally and has also promised to reach out to her and her team to see if she could also tackle this case.
All in all, I want to think that my snooping around and running across this forum, and all the added research I've done, that
hopefully something good will come out of this, even if it's not Mr. Davis, maybe the DNA will be linked to someone who hasn't had a name since he died in 1981, and he can finally be properly put to rest, in spirit.
What are your guys thoughts on all this? I know it's a lot to take in, trust me, it was a lot to process and research.
R
