Search Continues for Pregnant Ohio Woman

[June 23, 2007]  UNIONTOWN, Ohio (AP) -- About 600 volunteers turned out to search for a nearly nine months pregnant woman Saturday, the third straight day searchers picked through rural areas of eastern Ohio.

Ned Davis, the father of 26-year-old Jessie Davis, begged volunteers to continue their efforts.

"Please help," he said Saturday in an interview with MSNBC. "Please don't quit. Please don't quit until we find Jessie."

Searching on Thursday and Friday of an area near Davis' home yielded nothing more than a marijuana patch. On Friday, a baby found three days after Davis was reported missing was ruled out as a clue to her disappearance.

Authorities have said they're working around the clock on the case, trying to find the comforter and cell phone that vanished with Davis from her home in nearby Lake Township, and they're collecting information through a tip line.

Investigators have been mum on many details of their work, but they have released a short statement from Davis' 2-year-old-son, Blake, who may be their only eyewitness.

"Mommy was crying. Mommy broke the table. Mommy's in rug," the boy said.

Davis was reported missing one week ago Friday after her mother found the young woman's bedroom in disarray, the furniture overturned and Davis' young son home alone.

Davis' mother, Patricia Porter, was the last person to speak to Davis on June 13 and said she's focused on finding her daughter.

"We are not stopping and whoever's done this, I hope they don't think that we're going home," she said Friday. "No one's going home and we are not stopping until we find her and find who did this to her."

When Porter was asked Friday by NBC's "Today" show if she considered Bobby Cutts Jr., the father of Davis' 2-year-old son and unborn baby, a suspect, she replied: "Yes, he's a suspect."

"I still pray that it's not him," she said.

Authorities have talked with Cutts, a Canton police officer, and searched his home, but investigators have repeatedly said he is not a suspect. Cutts, 30, says he had nothing to do with Davis' disappearance.

Porter's attorney, Rick Pitinii, said later that her comments about Cutts were based more on her emotions than on any evidence in the case.

The pastor of the church Cutts attends has been praying with him every day and said Friday that Cutts, as a police officer, understands why the boyfriend of a missing woman would be under scrutiny.

"He understands what goes with the territory," said C.A. Richmond Sr., pastor at Logos Baptist Assembly. "Of course he is anxious for a resolution and disposition of the whole matter and he is confident they will find he had nothing to do with her disappearance."

[Associated Press]