1,800 Search for Missing Ohio Woman

Whitney Davis speaks at a news conference at the Stark County Sheriff's Department in Canton, Ohio, as Tim Miller of EquuSearch looks on, Wednesday, June 20, 2007. Davis is the sister of 26-year-old Jessie Marie Davis, the pregnant mother of a two-year -old missing from her home since last week. EquuSearch is a private missing persons search company joining the hunt for the missing woman. (AP Photo/Phil Long) (Phil Long - AP)

UNIONTOWN, Ohio -- Combing back yards, vacant fields and a Christmas tree farm, about 1,800 volunteers on Thursday searched for a woman who was nine months pregnant when she disappeared last week.

Some were on horseback, driving golf carts or riding all-terrain vehicles. Those on foot were told to walk three feet apart to ensure they didn't overlook a tire mark, fresh dirt or some other clue to the disappearance of Jessie Davis.

"You just can't go home and assume somebody will take care of it," said Barb Schollaerd, 51, of North Canton. "We look after our own."

Davis, whose baby is due July 3, was last heard from in a phone call with her mother on June 13. Two days later, her mother checked on her home in nearby Lake Township and found it in shambles, with the furniture overturned, a comforter missing and her 2-year-old grandson wandering around alone.

The little boy told investigators: "Mommy was crying. Mommy broke the table. Mommy's in rug."

Authorities have repeatedly talked with and searched the home of the man who fathered Davis' son, although investigators have said Canton police officer Bobby Cutts Jr. is not a suspect. Cutts, 30, says he had nothing to do with Davis' disappearance. The woman's family says he is also the father of Davis' unborn baby.

Volunteers searched the area around Davis' northeast Ohio home for about 4 1/2 hours before the effort was suspended because of heavy rain.

"I can't believe how many people are out there. It's amazing," said the missing woman's younger sister, Whitney Davis, who wore a T-shirt with her sister's picture and the word "Missing" in red letters. "I think we're going to find her."

Authorities gave no indication that Thursday's search had turned up any evidence. A patch of freshly dug dirt found around noon about a mile from Davis' home caused search dogs to react, but it turned out to be a marijuana plot, said Stark County sheriff's Capt. Gary Shankle.

"It's very frustrating, but we just can't leave any stone unturned," Shankle said.

The turnout made the search the largest of hundreds conducted by the internationally active group Texas EquuSearch. "We've never had that many show up at one time," said EquuSearch director Tim Miller.

The group brought in sonar equipment to check ponds and a remote-control airplane equipped with a camera to look for any sign of Davis, 26.