Missing Persons Cases Not Easily Solved

The missing person investigation of Cori Baker has gotten a lot of attention lately.  It took four long months for her remains to be found.  As hard as that was on her family, many families wait even longer for answers.  The News On 6's crime reporter Lori Fullbright reports one Pryor woman has been awaiting word on her missing sister since 1976.

They believe she's been murdered, but there's no way to know for sure where she is or what happened.  That's the worst part about these cases:  the not knowing.

Linda Davis was 29, married and the mother of three on January 7th, 1976, when she went to work in Claremore and never made it home again.  Her car was later found in Oklahoma City, her purse and coat in the trunk.  The coat had blood stains on it and had some 20 stab marks in it.  Her family has lived with unanswered questions for 32 years.

"It's something you read about in the newspaper that don't affect you and it happened to us. It was kinda hard and unbelievable and still is to this day," said Linda's sister, Sharon Burk.

Some believe Linda is in the federal witness protection program, although her children were left behind.  Others believe she fell victim to a serial killer who's now in prison in Colorado.  Others think she was killed because she was about to testify in an assault case.

"Linda saw him beat a deputy sheriff with a tire tool, almost killed him," said Linda's sister, Sharon Burk.

The Doe Network is a volunteer organization that helps law enforcement solve cold cases involving unexplained disappearances in North America, Australia and Europe.  It's a valuable resource for families desperate for any help.  There are so many faces and the stories are heartbreaking.  Their families never stop wanting them home, and Linda's family is no different.

"It matters to me because I feel like she needs to rest and my mom has a place beside my dad that is for her," said Linda's sister, Sharon Burk.

Claremore Police have put cameras down wells and sent scuba divers into abandoned mines looking for Linda, but what it will most likely take to find her will be information from someone who knows what happened.

Anyone with information about what happened to Linda Davis can anonymously call 825-3820.

In Tulsa, police take about 50 missing persons report every month.  They say only a few turn out to be victims of foul play.

Because there have been three in the past year, they are revamping their missing persons protocol so they'll know faster, which cases are urgent.

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