An air of quiet concern surrounds the disappearance of John Davis, an 81-year-old man who was last seen on July 7, 2002, in Wendell, Idaho. At the time he went missing, Mr. Davis was a resident of the Magic Valley Manor, an assisted living facility where he had been living since September of the previous year. Suffering from Alzheimer's disease, he had a history of wandering away from the facility.
On at least a dozen occasions prior to his final disappearance, he had left the manor, but was always found or would return on his own after a short time. The facility's administrator had even suggested that he might be better cared for in a different environment due to these repeated incidents. However, on that summer day in 2002, after he wandered off, he was never seen or heard from again.
John Davis is described as a white male with graying, balding hair and blue eyes, standing at 5'10" and weighing around 146 pounds. One of his most notable characteristics was his strong eastern accent. He also had several distinct tattoos: a snake on each leg and a bird on his right arm. When he was last seen, he was wearing white pants. Mr. Davis often spoke of being a painter and it was thought that he might have been attempting to travel to California from Utah at the time of his disappearance. The circumstances of his case led to it being classified as an endangered missing person case due to his age and medical condition.
The years following John Davis's disappearance have been filled with uncertainty for his family. In 2007, they made the difficult decision to have him declared legally dead. The following year, his two stepsons filed a lawsuit against the parent company of Magic Valley Manor, alleging that the facility had not met state and federal regulations and had failed to provide a safe environment for him. Despite the passage of time, his case officially remains unsolved, a lingering question for his loved ones and the community. The Wendell Police Department continues to hold the case file for his disappearance.Last Seen: Jul 7, 2002
