Fisher’s grim Eel River find solves 4-year-old Calif. disappearance

More than four years after a Northern California hunter vanished during a storm-swollen camping trip along the Eel River, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office confirmed through DNA testing that a human bone discovered in the area earlier this year belonged to him. 

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Police announced on Tuesday that the bone, found by a fisher along the Eel River in February, belonged to McKinleyville resident John Thomas Davis III, then 48, who disappeared while hunting near the Dos Rios Bridge in October 2021. 

The bone was discovered about 2 miles north of the bridge and collected by detectives who sent a photograph to the forensic anthropology department at California State University, Chico, which determined it was human. Then, detectives contacted the California Department of Justice Missing Persons DNA Program to have the actual bone analyzed for genetic testing, which later confirmed the bone belonged to Davis through familial DNA. 

The breakthrough discovery prompted the latest large-scale search in a case that has spanned a dozen search operations.

On Oct. 23, 2021, Davis left home with his son around 4 a.m. to hunt bear and deer near Mile Marker 8 on Highway 162, according to the sheriff’s office. The pair hiked about 3 miles from the highway, established a campsite along Eel River and spent the day hunting before returning to their tent that evening. 

Hours later, a powerful rainstorm flooded the campsite. 

According to investigators, Davis decided to remain in the area while his son walked back toward the vehicle parked at the bridge. After waiting for hours for his father, the son returned to the campsite but found neither Davis nor the tent. Family members searched the area unsuccessfully before the disappearance was reported to the sheriff’s office on Oct. 25, 2021. 

When deputies arrived, the Eel River was running too high for crews to safely search the riverbanks. 

That afternoon, the sheriff’s office launched an extensive search, deploying about a dozen search and rescue volunteers alongside deputies and detectives. Teams searched the area from the bridge to roughly 3 miles upstream along the Eel River but still found no trace of Davis.

The search expanded into a yearslong effort. 

Over the next 10 weeks, search and rescue teams from across Northern California participated in seven operational periods totaling hundreds of search hours. In the following years, investigators exhausted resources from the National Guard, California Highway Patrol and Butte County. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office conducted a 10th search operation in July 2022 before suspending active searches pending new investigative leads. 

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After the remains were confirmed to be human, detectives contacted Davis’ family and organized an 11th search operation on Feb. 3. During that search, investigators recovered personal belongings that family members said appeared to match items Davis may have been carrying when he disappeared in 2021, according to the sheriff’s office.

Following the DNA confirmation in June, authorities organized another large-scale search on July 11 involving more than 70 search and rescue volunteers from multiple counties, including a large contingent from the Marin County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team.

Crews searched from Davis’ last known location to the 8-Mile Bridge and Dos Rios Bridge before continuing north along the Eel River to where the bone had been found.

Searchers photographed and collected numerous additional bones during the operation, but preliminary review by Chico State’s forensic anthropology department determined they were nonhuman, according to the sheriff’s office. The bones are being sent to the university for additional analysis and formal identification.

The investigation remains open. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office at 707-463-4086, option 1, or leave an anonymous tip by calling 707-234-2100.