Body is found; boyfriend of missing woman arrested

A massive search ended in sadness Saturday when authorities announced they had found a body believed to be that of a pregnant woman who had vanished from her home a week earlier. A police officer believed to be the father of the unborn child was arrested on two counts of murder.

Jessie Davis, 26, who was due to deliver a baby girl on July 3, was reported missing June 15 after her mother found Davis’ 2-year-old son home alone, bedroom furniture toppled and bleach spilled on the floor.

The boy gave investigators the first clues. “Mommy was crying. Mommy broke the table. Mommy’s in rug,” the boy said.

Thousands of volunteers had searched for Davis over several days, while investigators continued to question Bobby Cutts Jr., 30. Cutts, the father of Davis’ son, is married to another woman.

Investigators were mum on many details of their work until they announced that Cutts had been taken into custody Saturday and was to be arraigned on murder charges in the deaths of Davis and her unborn child.

The Stark County Sheriff’s Department also said a woman’s body had been recovered in Summit County at 3:30 p.m. Authorities did not give a location but said they believed it to be the body of Davis.

Television news footage taken from helicopters above Cuyahoga Valley National Park showed investigators riding off-road vehicles to 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 that a body was found at the southeast edge of the park, about 25 miles from Davis’ home in Lake Township.

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 told about the body in the late afternoon.

“A lot of the community stopped their lives to look for Jessie, and that meant so much to her and the entire family that they knew they were not alone in this,” Miller said.

During the investigation, a newborn girl was left on the doorstep of a home in a nearby county, raising questions about whether it belonged to Davis. DNA tests were being conducted when another woman confessed to leaving the child at the home.

An attorney for Davis’ mother said the family had gone through a roller coaster of emotions and had no comment.

“I’ve seen them laugh, cry, be angry -- everything you can imagine,” Rick Pitinii said. “They need to be together, and they need to be alone, and they need to grieve.”

Cutts, a Canton police officer since 2000, has said he and his wife were separated and that she knew about his affair with Davis.

Chief Deputy Rick Perez said the case was still being investigated, and would not comment on whether there were other suspects.

Cutts has been on paid administrative leave from his job.