What happened to Jayne Winship Davis? A 26-year-old mystery
This article is the result of more than a year of research — interviews conducted with principal and secondary sources, as well as information gleaned from numerous public records. Some people involved in the story have since died, could not be located, do not remember much or declined to comment.
---
Born on July 26, 1968, Jayne was adopted by John and Judy Winship when she was 8 years old. Unfortunately much of Jayne’s history could not be confirmed prior to her time in Brenham
---
According to Washington County records, Jayne was 21 years old when she and Steven, 27, were married on Feb. 1, 1990.
---
Less than a year after their son was born, Steven and Jayne separated on Sept. 12, 1991, according to a divorce petition filed in the Washington County 335th District Court.
---
With the divorce pending, Steven traveled to Jayne’s Houston residence on Oct. 31 and raped her at gunpoint, Jayne told police.
According to Harris County records, Steven was charged with felony sexual assault on Nov. 5 and was arrested by the Houston Police Department. He was later released on a $25,000 bond.
---
The judge sentenced Steven to 10 years in state prison.
---
In those early months, she was living with a new boyfriend while still coordinating visits between the 2-year-old Johnny Clay and his grandmother Amy and his uncle John Alan at their home in the Washington community.
Several witnesses say that despite a strained relationship and the alleged potential for retaliation against Jayne for pursuing the sexual assault charge, it was important for her son to have a relationship with the Davises because she herself was adopted and placed great emphasis on family.
---
According to Wright, on Friday, April 30, 1993, at approximately 3 p.m., Jayne called the Brenham Bindery.
Wright claimed Jayne told her she had no money and needed to relay a message to John Alan that she was ready to be picked up in Houston.
“It was a pre-arranged visit and John was expecting the call,” she said. Jayne did not have access to a working vehicle at the time and was relying on others to make the trips.
---
Jayne was scheduled to return with Johnny Clay in Houston on May 3.
---
John Winship (her father) filed a missing persons report with the Houston Police Department on May 8.
---
A few days prior to her disappearance during a visit with Johnny Clay here at Jackson Street Park, Amy (her mother in law) claims that Jayne announced her plans to work as a prostitute in Las Vegas and wanted to bring Johnny Clay with her.
---
Steven (ex - husband) said he was certain Jayne was working as a “
” in Las Vegas and had simply abandoned her child and family.
---
Steven denied having knowledge of her disappearance and stated that even if he did, he would not provide any information to investigators regarding her whereabouts that may jeopardize his future release from prison.
---
Because her car had broken down and she had no money, Judy (her mother) handed Jayne a check for $200 before she left the apartment that day. It was never cashed and she never saw her daughter again.
---
Hanak (detective of the case) maintains the young woman “met her fate at the hands of a person known to her and that her untimely disappearance was not a random act of violence.”
---
Jayne’s son also met with investigators twice regarding his mother’s disappearance in 1998 and in 2009.
In both interviews, Johnny Clay told the Texas Rangers that Jayne “needed a break” when he was 3 years old and he was abandoned after his father went to prison for “doing something to his mother.” Amy said that Jayne had lied about the sexual assault as well.
He believed everything his grandmother told him.
---
Now 28 years old and living in Tennessee, Johnny Clay is beginning to doubt the narrative, finding what he has known to be true is a piece of the puzzle that doesn’t quite fit.
He, too, now questions what happened to his mother 25 years ago (Johnny Clay’s own account will be featured in an upcoming edition of
The Banner-Press).
---
At the time of her disappearance, Jayne was 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighed approximately 130 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. She has a scar on the bridge of her nose between her eyes and birthmarks on her hip and right calf.
What happened to Jayne Winship Davis?
