A man is found murdered; his body in a ditch
In the late afternoon of Valentine's Day, 1981, William Davis, a 52-year-old Caucasian male, was working his shift at the Junior Market, a small convenience store situated at the entrance of Lake Placid on London Bridge Road in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He had started his workday at approximately 3:00 p.m. and was last seen alive inside the store at around 7:00 p.m. The evening took a dark turn when, about half an hour later, a customer arrived to find the store unlocked and eerily unoccupied. This customer reported hearing a noise from the rear of the building and witnessed a dark-colored vehicle departing from the back parking lot.
Upon being summoned to the scene, the Virginia Beach Police discovered that money was missing from the cash register, indicating a robbery had likely occurred. Despite the apparent theft, Mr. Davis's personal vehicle and other belongings were found still at the store, adding a layer of mystery to his sudden disappearance. The search for William Davis came to a tragic end the following day, on February 15, 1981. His body was discovered in a ditch along the 2700 block of Salem Road.
An autopsy performed by the State Medical Examiner's Office determined that William Davis's death was a homicide caused by a gunshot wound. The investigation into his murder has been ongoing for decades, but as of now, no arrests have been made, and no suspects have been publicly identified. The case remains an active cold case with the Virginia Beach Police Department's Cold Case Homicide Unit, a lingering mystery from a Valentine's Day that ended in tragedy.
