S3 Ep145: UPDATE: Dan Davis Has Been Located

0:00This podcast is sponsored by IQBAR. I've got good news and bad news. Here's the bad news. Most protein bars are packed with sugar and unpronounceable ingredients. The good news? There's a better option. I'm Will and I created IQBAR plant protein bars to empower doers like you with clean, delicious low sugar brain and body fuel. IQBars are packed with 12 grams of protein, brain nutrients like magnesium, and lion's mane, and zero weird stuff. And right now you can get 20% off all IQBAR products, plus reshipping. Try our delicious IQBAR sampler pack with seven plant protein bars for hydration mixes and for enhanced coffee sticks. Cleaning ingredients, amazing taste, and you'll love how you feel. Refuel smarter, hydrate harder, caffeinate larger with IQBAR. Go to eaticubar.com and enter code bar20 to get 20% off all IQBAR products plus free shipping. Again, go to eaticubar.com and enter code bar20. The Toyota Tundra and Tacoma are built to keep going,

1:02blending rugged muscle with precision engineering, all supported by Toyota's time-tested legacy of dependability. Step into a Tundra and feel the unyielding capability with the available iForce Max engine. Tundra puts out impressive power, torque, and towing performance and the roomy high-tech cabin keeps you connected on the go. Or take a look at Tacoma made for drivers who push past the path. Agile, tough and relentless with available features like crawl control, portable JBL speaker, a power lift gate, so gear goes in fast and the adventure keeps moving. The Tacoma and Tundra are engineered to endure season after season, mile after mile. So drive one home today, visit toyota.com or stop by your local Toyota dealer to find out more Toyota. Let's go places. Hey everyone, welcome back to Crime Weekly News. I'm Derek Lavasser.

2:02And I'm Stephanie Harlow. And today we have a side update. A lot of you are on it. You've been DMing us. You've been in our comments section and this happened a little over a week ago but we're giving an update on the story of Dan Davis. We talked about it at the end of January. This was something where we wanted to put a bowl out there to try to help bring him home. And this is not the outcome we were looking for. Yeah, so Dan Davis, who was 59, he disappeared November 25th after being involved in a multi-vehicle accident. He refused treatments. We saw in surveillance footage that for two days. He was wandering around the area and then he kind of just disappeared. The weather was terrible. It was freezing. His daughter Wendy was very much involved on Facebook and social media trying to raise awareness for her father's disappearance. She pulled together a huge community, a huge support system.

3:02They were doing searches for him out there over Thanksgiving weekend. They were constantly communicating every day and recently this past week his body was found. When he was found, he was found wearing the same clothes that we saw him wearing in the surveillance footage. He had on his Harley Davidson jacket, his Indiana University sweatshirt, his wallet was located in his back pockets. So they want to, again, they don't believe that there was any foul play here. They're not around. We gone wrong or something like that. They're doing an autopsy, but the cause of death won't be available still for several weeks. But they did say the police reported there was no outward apparent signs of trauma and they don't believe that there was foul play or that anything happened. The body was discovered this past Monday. So a week ago, as we filmed today by a truck driver who was on break, this truck driver contacted 911, Blue Island police, along with the Illinois State Police,

4:03the Marionette Park Police and the Chicago Police Department responded to the scene. And it kind of looks like he was found in the water. I would venture to say in an area where there is water. And we're going to talk about it, but there were a lot of people who were saying, hey, Dan was behind a business. There should have been people who found him. His body was moved. This suggests foul play and the Finding Dan Davis Facebook page, which is run by his daughter, Wendy. They did respond to this and we'll talk about it in a minute. Basically, that's where we're at right now with Dan Davis. He was found in Blue Island. They don't believe that there was foul play. Wendy and all of the people that kind of organized this community of people and a lot of that community has reached out to us. They wanted us to talk about Dan Davis when he was missing. They have let us know that he was found. And they were appreciative of the coverage we gave it in January.

5:06Just obviously, like Derek said, this isn't what we wanted. That's what we were hoping for a different outcome. The concern was that when Dan had been involved in that car accident and then the police showed up and he said, no, he was fine. He refused treatment that there had been a head injury. And I believe that Wendy did also mention that she had seen the body cam footage from the police officer who had talked to her father after the car accident. And she said that he was acting pretty normal, but there were some signs that maybe things weren't okay with him that his face was dripping a little bit. And he wasn't totally acting normal as somebody who knew him and saw him regularly would have seen him to be acting normal. And then after that, he went back into his work place and he was kind of bumping around. And people noticed that his behavior was off but then he kind of left before anybody could really do anything about it. And, you know, sadly,

6:06I'm sure that everybody who saw him that day wishes they could have interfered, but I don't think they really knew what they were doing. Well, I don't think they knew what they were dealing with. I don't think they understood what was happening. How can you predict that, right? I mean, that's your professional. I mean, listen, when we covered it on the surface, it didn't look great. You can kind of speculate in your own mind. Obviously, we didn't share those thoughts because you want to keep hope alive. But the writing was kind of on the wall with this one where you can see some of the videos unless it was a robbery gone wrong. Maybe you have a different outcome, but it still probably ends up with a similar ending to where we are now. So there is a silver lining in that that this wasn't some brutal attack or it doesn't appear to be where Dan is no longer with us. Either way, it's an unfortunate set of circumstances. The only thing I will say, and it's just based on a lot of the families that we've had the privilege of speaking with and all of them have said that the unknown is the worst part. Not knowing what happened to the person you care about,

7:07whether they're alive or dead, whether they're out there hoping that you're going to find them, that is what keeps them up at night. This allows human beings to process and go through that grieving period where they can go through the different stages and maybe not like the outcome, but come to terms with it and know that they're tasked of being out there on a daily basis looking for that person, that part of this is over. And they can start to go through those stages and to get where they need to be so they can move on in their lives. Not forget about this person, but start to live for themselves again because when you think about it, we think about Megan Trussle, even though Megan Trussle has been found, but I think about Vanessa and Joe and how their life is kind of in a holding pattern right now where there's these unresolved questions that doesn't allow them to move on. They just can't do it. And I can completely understand where they're coming from. And that's the circumstance for a lot of people. And then from an investigator standpoint, you got to put those resources into it, right? There's any lead that you have, any phone call

8:08or email that comes in or message you get. You got to treat it like it's valid and you got to follow it up until it's no longer credible anymore. And that takes a lot of time and effort and resources. So I was hoping we were going to have a situation where he had a severe head injury. Maybe like memory lost it and who he was. And we were going to find him in a homeless shelter or with a family or a hospital or something. Something but the more days that went by, the less likely that became because there's so much coverage on it at this point. If he was in a facility, someone at one of those locations would have said, hey, I recognize that person and would have reported it. So I'm just glad that we were able to find him because Stephanie, I were talking before we started recording. Just one thing going the opposite direction we may have never found him. It could have been the same outcome, but we would never know it definitively. And so that's in a way we're lucky that we have some answers to this question because a week ago, we didn't. I think that we talked about that when we covered this at the end of January that we thought,

9:08you know, that was what kind of giving us hope because it was like, okay, if he had a head injury, if it was some sort of medical thing, you would think that he would just collapse in the middle of the street. And then you would have found him by now. So the fact that we hadn't, you were hoping that somebody had taken him in, somebody had gotten him help. And maybe he just didn't remember who he was, but then we said there's been a ton of media coverage. And speaking about the fear of the unknown and the stress of the unknown, which I think we've heard a lot from people, especially the parents of missing children. And also how much the community came together to get Dan's story out there. His daughter, Wendy, did give a statement that kind of addresses both of these things. And she said, quote, it's an eerie feeling. Thank God, this terrible chapter of constant unknown is finally over. But now starts a new terrible chapter without my smarter goofier and relentlessly selfless other half. This is the news we've all been expecting in a way, but nothing really prepares you for it. And I've never laughed harder with anybody

10:09than I have with my dad. I can't wait to do it again someday. She also said, I don't have many words right now besides thank you. The virality of our dad's case is something none of us expected. The support from millions of people across the world carried our spirits high throughout these last few months. Without you, we would be nowhere. End quote. So she's saying, yes, the chapter of not knowing is over. And she really is appreciative for how many people together in the true calm community and in the her local community and Dan's local community came together to care about him and to put their time and their energy into searching for him, sharing his story and trying to get his name and face out there. And although this is not the outcome any of us wanted, it's better than not knowing. Yeah, and I love the message in there as well. It's what we try to promote every single week. There are some stigmas around true crime and covering these tragedies, but I think you and I have always focused in many other creators as well where we are the biggest gang in town.

11:10And what I mean by that is we're the biggest network on this planet where we can come together and spread information rapidly with the platforms that we have. And so when you have a case like Dan Davis or even like when I just mentioned Megan Trussell, we can take something that's obscure and local and make it a national story in a day. Just like that. And that's what we should be doing with what we have here with how prevalent true crime is in our society right now. Yes, I know some people want to listen to it because they like a good mystery or they like the investigative process. But at the same time, we can use our reach to spread a message. And I'm glad to hear that Dan's family felt that that they saw the community get behind them. And unfortunately with that exposure does come the rumors and speculation. And we're going to talk a little bit about that because this case wasn't absent of it. So we'll take a break. We'll be right back. This episode of Crime Weekly News is brought to you by Wildgrain. Yeah, which honestly feels like the easiest way to make your kitchen smell like a bakery.

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14:14I've got good news and bad news. Here's the bad news. Most protein bars are packed with sugar and unpronounceable ingredients. The good news, there's a better option. I'm Will and I created IQ bar plant protein bars to empower doers like you with clean, delicious, low sugar brain and body fuel. IQ bars are packed with 12 grams of protein, brain nutrients like magnesium and lion's mane and zero weird stuff. And right now you can get 20% off all IQ bar products plus reshipping. Try our delicious IQ bar sampler pack with seven plant protein bars for hydration mixes and for enhanced coffee sticks. Cleaning ingredients, amazing taste and you'll love how you feel. Refuel smarter, hydrate harder, caffeinate larger with IQ bar. Go to eaticubar.com and enter code bar 20 to get 20% off all IQ bar products, plus free shipping. Again, go to eaticubar.com and enter code bar 20. The Toyota Tundra and Tacoma are built to keep going. Blending rugged muscle with precision engineering

15:16all supported by Toyota's time tested legacy of dependability. Step into a Tundra and feel the unyielding capability with the available I force max engine. Tundra puts out impressive power torque and towing performance and the roomy high tech cabin keeps you connected on the go. Or take a look at Tacoma made for drivers who push past the path. Agile, tough and relentless with available features like crawl control, portable JBL speaker, a power lift gate, so gear goes in fast and the adventure keeps moving. The Tacoma and Tundra are engineered to endure season after season, mile after mile. So drive one home today, visit toyota.com or stop by your local Toyota dealer to find out more Toyota. Let's go places. All right, we're back. So now officially, authorities have not released the specific location of a dance remains. But the Finding Dan Davis Facebook page did kind of respond to some people who were not convinced that the Dan had been in the location the entire time.

16:17When the news of Dan's body being discovered came out, obviously people close to the case and maybe people even locally were aware of the location. And so it did seem like some of these people were saying, hey, it doesn't make sense given where he was found that he's been there this entire time. Was it possible that his body was moved? So the Finding Dan Davis Facebook page which I believe would be run by the family and I think that this is Wendy and people close to Dan. So they said that Dan was found behind the building by someone who was on a smoke break. So this trucker was possibly out there on a smoke break and they said for months, people have been asking what I would post once we found him. I practiced, I dreamed about it yesterday after finding months of no Dan posts, I finally got to type Dan apologies for the delay and the official announcement. But after the roller coaster week we just been on, you can understand why we had to follow orders and not publicly post until we got the go ahead

17:19from our detective. I need to address the overwhelming guilt I'm reading in your private messages and feeling in your hearts. I get it, you looked everywhere, you hung flyers, you put yard signs up, you talked about him, you theorized and investigated how could he possibly have been right there the whole time. The simple answer is he was hidden. Yesterday, BIPD's detective personally escorted me alone to the exact spot where Dan was found. It's on a private business property in a place that even the employees of the facility could not have seen without truly carefully looking. He was found in a shallow creek hung up in cat towels. This creek is not a true creek, it's more of a retention bed that collects rainwater and is even dry sometimes according to locals. It does not flow to or from the Cal Sag, the little Cal or any tributaries or waterways connected. He did not fall into one of the main waterways and float to his final resting place. It appears that he wandered onto the property and simply fell or collapsed on that spot. It appears he had been there for quite some time.

18:21I promise you, with all my heart, there is no way he could have been spotted by someone simply walking past. Could a drone have spotted him possibly? Would a dog have found him definitely but remember, we couldn't send to the canines without a specific search area. We didn't have a specific search area because we didn't have a strong lead anywhere, let alone on that business property. We all did everything we possibly could have done, let that gill to go. So basically, and I think the weather probably had a lot to do with it as well because remember, in a lot of areas right now in the Northeast, especially for the past several, it's been a rough winter. Lots of snow, frigid freezing temperatures, not a lot of people out walking around to say the least. So if the weather had been different, would we maybe have seen him be found earlier? Yes, and I think the weather did warm up, at least in my area in yours, these past few weeks, we had finally able to go outside and this could have led to this person taking a smoke break

19:21and maybe walking a little bit further than they normally would have and spotting Dan because the police do say that they believe his body has been in that spot this entire time. Yeah, I'm sure most of you have heard this saying when it comes like baseball and football and golf, that it's a game of inches. And true crime investigations are also a game of inches or a game of scenarios. And what I mean by that is, it's a series of circumstances that are unfortunate, that unfortunately result in a bad outcome as far as maybe not being able to solve the case. There are 40 to 50% of the homicides in this country go unsolved and is a lot of different variables that play into that, some of it just bad police work, but there are circumstances where we're unable to locate the person, not due to lack of effort, but just those game of inches, those unfortunate circumstances. And in Dan's case, you had the car accident, which more than likely led to a head injury, the weather, the foliage and the vegetation where he was ultimately found, it all led to him being very difficult to find. It's nothing he did, it's nothing law enforcement did.

20:21It's just those unfortunate scenarios that are compounded that lead to an impossible situation. We're lucky that we were able to find him here, but just an inch to the left or an inch to the right, we may be still sitting here wondering where Dan Davis was. And that's the case for a lot of the other investigations that we've covered. So sometimes you can have every single man and woman looking for the person and yet not get those answers. And it could be just one thing that the weather, traffic patterns, like I said, foliage, all of that, just one variable could be the reason you can't solve it. But you also have the double edge sort of true crime, right? Where you have this community, this network that I just described before the break, but you also get some people who go overboard a little bit and now they become trained investigators. And now they're putting out speculation and conjection. I think 99% of the time, it's coming from a good place where they just want to help, but sometimes with that network, if you share an opinion, it can become fact.

21:21And now you have people building a house on a foundation. So there is a balance there and it's great to have a family member come out and say, hold on a second, here's what happened here. I've been to the location which, by the way, great move by law enforcement. Be transparent in your investigation. Allow the family member to come out and see for themselves because they can be your biggest advocate for supporting whatever finding you've come to. So bring them there. Allow them to see it for themselves. Let them come to their own opinion. So overall, very glad to see his daughter come out and kind of put the kabosh to this one. Yeah, I mean, I think it was more people being like, hey, we really came out in droves. Like we went everywhere. We did everything we could. There was no shortage of people looking for him. Right. How did we miss this? And then there was the guilt associated with that and almost like, well, you know, I think somebody even said like, I wish somebody from this community had found him because we had put so much time and effort and our hearts were in it so hard. It's basically a dude smoking a blunt behind the building. I think he was smoking a blunt.

22:22Yes, he was in that area. He wasn't smoking a cigarette. Stephanie, come on. No, that's, that's a, that's a wild assertion. He was having a good, he was having a good break. He's a truck driver. I hope not. Wouldn't be the first time, but yeah, you're probably right. No, listen, think about Robin Pope real quick, right? Robin Pope, everybody was out there looking for her. And ultimately it was the water currents and something breaking underground that she had been caught on, which allowed us to find her. But if it had gone just a slightly different way, just an instead of left where she doesn't come off that obstruction or that tree limb or that tire, she never comes to the surface and we're still sitting here wondering if she's alive or dead. That's how much these situations can change as far as the outcome, just based on one or two little variables. Yeah, absolutely, but he's found now and they can start seeing what life looks like. Rest in peace, Dan. And we're thinking about the friends and family. I'm glad they got answers. And you can tell that the daughter in a weird way is happy that this search is over and she can properly marry her father.

23:25So great for her. Can I in this crime weekly news on kind of a good story? Would you mind? Sure. So we recently covered the shooting at the Rhode Island ice hockey rink, terrible outcome, multiple people were killed and that hockey game that they were at was because one of the sons was playing on the ice rink, right? Well, his name's Colin Dorgan and he came back and he's in the semifinals of his high school division two championships right now, the playoffs. And the game went into overtime. Colin comes back after this tragedy, right? Many people would have said, you know what, I'm done playing hockey, it's over. Not Colin, he comes back, the game goes into overtime and he scores the game winning goal to advance his team to the championship three to two. And after the game, this was a local story, didn't get as much national attention because unfortunately the world we live in, nobody wants to cover a good story, right? It's all about doom and gloom, but locally people were all over it. Colin said after the game, it was the greatest experience of his life,

24:26the highest point in his entire life for this high school kid who just went through the worst situation, having in his opinion the greatest moment of his life up to that point. And I'm just so happy for him. Like life is never going to be the same, but I'm so happy to see he's moving forward on with his life. He's not allowing this tragedy to define him. We just had Elizabeth on. I felt like similar situation, very different, but also similar in a sense that he's going to move on and live for his family and friends and he just had this pivotal moment where he'll remember it for the rest of his life. So shout out to Colin and the Blackstone Valley School that is now advancing to the championship game. Absolutely, absolutely. Colin, we are proud of you. Absolutely, we're thinking of you, buddy, for sure. I think of you and your family. Do you want to get to our new Patreon birthday shout outs for our partners in crime? And yet we have three March birthday shout outs for Patreon today. And we've got two Pisces and one Aries in our March birthday lineup. And I'm partial to both signs.

25:26I know a lot of Pisces and I love them. They're creative, empathetic, sensitive people. And my father is an Aries, a same birthday as Clyde Barrow of the infamous Bonnie and Clyde, March 24th. So let's give our happy birthday shout outs to our two Pisces, Chris Cochran, March 19th and Kimberly Wesley, March 10th. Love you guys. And then our one Aries, bold natural born leader, very ambitious. And that is Yerate Varanavichus, March 27th. And I want to give a congratulations to Stephanie because you didn't see the outtakes, but that took us 10 minutes to try to pronounce that name. Yeah, let me know if I said it, right? That's a tough one. You're even testing when Stephanie can't pronounce it. You're, you got a challenging name. So that's a good one. That's not true. I'm actually terrible with not creating names. I feel like you're better, better than me. That's for sure. But overall, I think you, I think you nailed it. I think you nailed it. Let us know. Happy birthday to all three of you. We appreciate you supporting our patrons.

26:27We appreciate you being a part of the crime weekly Patreon family. And we will, as always, put the link to our Patreon in the description box below. If you're watching on YouTube or if you're listening and you too can be a part of the family. If you choose to be. Yes, partner and crime is completely sold out. We may open up more slots in the future, but the weekly web sleuth and the day one or plus plenty of spots available. We're going to be having our first Patreon live by the end of this month and our bonus episode. We're going to be recording this week. So all of that's available. The link will be in the description box below. And just a final quick shout out to my brother, Matt, March 14th. Happy birthday, buddy. That's all I got. Guys, we'll be back later this week with a new series. Until then, everyone stay safe out there. And we'll see you soon. Bye. Bye.