In December 1993, Ginny Miles, a 26-year-old woman, disappeared from Peoria, Illinois. Her remains were discovered three months later in a shallow grave in rural Menard County. Subsequent DNA testing revealed that Miles had sexual contact with Arlie Ray Davis shortly before her death.
Davis, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Laurie Gwinn, was also suspected in the disappearances and deaths of several other women in the Peoria area during the early to
mid-1990s. These women include Stephanie Gibson, last seen in July 1995; Loretta Tinkham, who went missing in October 1994; Sheryl Murwin, reported missing in June 1994 and whose remains were identified in 2003; and Cheryl Murray, who disappeared in the spring of 1994.
Davis was known to target women in the Madison Square area of Peoria, often assaulting them after offering rides. His modus operandi involved picking up women, driving them to secluded areas, and then assaulting them.
While Davis was convicted for the murder of Gwinn, he was never formally charged in connection with the death of Miles or the disappearances of the other women. He maintained his innocence in these cases until his death from natural causes on October 13, 2002, while on death row at the Pontiac Correctional Center in Illinois.
The cases of these missing and murdered women, including that of 26-year-old Ginny Miles, remain a somber chapter in the history of Peoria, highlighting the tragic outcomes of Davis's actions during that period.
