SHERIFF HANAK DETERMINED TO SOLVE JAYNE DAVIS COLD CASE
Jayne Winship Davis - Would be 49 years of age July 26
For over 24 years, local, county, and state law enforcement agencies have been awaiting witness testimony or evidence to surface that would assist authorities in solving the disappearance and likely death of Houston woman Jayne Winship Davis. On 04-30-1993, the day of her disappearance, she told her mother she would be travelling to Brenham to pick up her two year old Johnny Clay Davis (now 26 years of age) from a grandmother and would return to Houston shortly thereafter. After not hearing from Jayne for several days, her father filed a Missing Person report with the Houston Police Department. At the time of her disappearance, the father of the then 2 year old child, who was divorced from Jayne, was incarcerated in prison after being sentenced to ten years on charges filed by Jayne. Even though Ms. Davis had local connections, those connections, then and now, have failed to display any interest or support in determining the fate of Ms. Davis, other than Jayne’s mother and father, John and Judy Winship. “For any parent to have gone through such heartbreak in not knowing where their child is would be devastating. But for these parents to not have any form of closure is certainly something none of us could live with”. “For the heartless person or persons responsible for the disappearance and obvious death of Jayne, and for those that have information leading to the arrest of the responsible party or parties, always know there is no statute of limitations on Murder and Jayne’s disappearance and death will not be forgotten”.
Sheriff Otto Hanak, as the Texas Ranger assigned to Washington County for over 13 years during this period of time, would like nothing more than to see this cold case solved as that would provide closure for Jayne’s family, including her now 26 year old son. Sheriff Hanak believes that Jayne met her fate at the hands of a person known to her and that her untimely disappearance and probable death was not a random act of violence.
Hanak said there continues to be “people of interest” in the case and authorities won’t close the books on it. As with any unsolved disappearance of this nature, authorities know there is someone out there that can provide information necessary to assist in solving this crime.
Davis was about 5-6, weighing approximately 130 pounds, with hazel eyes and brown hair at the time of her disappearance.
Anyone with information in the case and does not want to reveal their name are asked to call Washington County Crime Stoppers at 836-TIPS (836-8477), Houston Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS (222-8477), or the Missing Persons Clearinghouse at (800) 346-3243. Information can also be provided to either the Brenham Police Department or the Washington County Sheriff's Office by calling Washington County Dispatch at 979-277-7373.
Background: originally published by KWHI July 15, 2015
This month, Jayne Davis would have turned 47. But instead of celebrating, her parents, John and Judy Winship, will make a call to Washington County Sheriff Otto Hanak. They call every year to see if any new leads have developed in the disappearance of their daughter. Jayne Davis disappeared April 30th of 1993 after telling her mother she would be traveling from her apartment in Houston to Brenham to pick up her 2 year old son from his grandmother. She has not been seen or heard from since.
The story of what transpired before and after her disappearance is both tragic and sad. Jayne lived in Brenham for only about 6 months in the early 1990’s but her parents resided in Austin County. She and her boyfriend, Steven Davis, moved to an apartment in Houston and she gave birth to a son in 1991. Shortly after their son, Johnny Clay Davis was born, Jayne and Steven Davis separated. On Halloween night, 1991, he returned to her apartment and raped her at gunpoint. Steven Davis was convicted of aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to 10 years in the Texas Department of Corrections. He entered prison in March of 1993.
Through all of this, Jayne and her son had maintained a relationship with Steven’s mother, Amy Davis in Brenham. At that time, Amy Davis ran a small business on Peabody Street and the now 2 year old Johnny was with her visiting. Jayne’s mother had given her a check for $200 to take to Brenham, because Jayne did not have a car and may need the money to get her and her son back to Houston. That check was never cashed. It’s uncertain how she traveled to Brenham, although Sheriff Hanak speculates that it was Steven’s brother, John Allen Davis, who drove her to Brenham. John Allen Davis denies this and says he didn’t speak with nor give a ride to Jayne on that day.
During Steven Davis’s incarceration, Sheriff Hanak, then a Texas Ranger, went to question him at the prison. Hanak says that Steven told him he didn’t know anything about Jayne’s disappearance, and that all he was interested in doing was getting released and moving to Honduras, where his mother Amy now lived. Steven Davis was released from prison in October of 2002 and only a few weeks later, on November 17, he was hit head-on by a gravel truck in Honduras while riding a motorcycle and killed.
In the years following her disappearance, Jayne’s son was raised by his grandmother, Amy Davis. Jayne’s parents felt that they did not have the financial ability to fight for his custody in court. He is now 24 years old. In 2009, he was asked to give a DNA sample to help identify his mother’s remains, if they were ever located. At that time he told the investigator that his mother abandoned him and when asked if he wanted a photograph of her, he said no.
Sheriff Hanak says he has long speculated that Jayne was murdered and her body buried on Amy Davis’s property on Doe Run Creek Lane near Old Washington. But without solid evidence, he never requested a search warrant. In 1997, he did ask Amy Davis for permission to search the property, and she agreed. But before Hanak could put together a search team, the property was transferred to the control of Steven and John Allen Davis.
The Davis family has always maintained that Jayne ran off with a boyfriend, leaving them to raise her son, and that they had nothing to do with her disappearance. No evidence of Jayne’s life has surfaced since April 30th, 1993. Hanak believes there is someone out there with information that could solve this cold case. At the time of her disappearance, Jayne Elizabeth Winship Davis was 24 years old with Brown hair, Hazel eyes, 5’ 6” and 130 lbs. She had a scar on the bridge of her nose and a birthmark on her hip and the calf of her leg. Anyone with information about this case and wants to remain anonymous can call Washington County Crime Stoppers at 979-836-TIPS, or the Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS, or the Missing Persons Clearinghouse at 800-346-3243. You can also contact either the Brenham Police Department or the Washington County Sheriff’s Office by calling dispatch at 337-7272.