Peggy A. Davis

Davis, circa 1995

  • Missing Since 08/09/1995
  • Missing From Murphysboro, Illinois
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 06/10/1959 (64)
  • Age 36 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'4, 120 pounds
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Davis has a scar on the bridge of her nose. She may use the last names Cram, Etherton, Hufstutler and/or Johnson.

Details of Disappearance

Davis was last seen on August 9, 1995. That evening after week she went out drinking in Murphysboro, Illinois and spent time at Gene's Tavern with two local men. When they got up to go to a coworker's house in DeSoto, Illinois, she asked to come with them and they agreed. At the house in DeSoto, Davis kept drinking mixed drinks and then point she passed out. The three men in the house wanted to go back to Gene's, and one of them volunteered to take Davis home.

According to the man, during the ride, Davis woke up and said she wanted food, so they stopped at the Hardee's fast food restaurant on Walnut Street in Murphysboro. She paid for their food in the drive-through and they sat in the parking lot and ate it. The man said after they were finished eating, Davis saw one of her friends walking towards the car. The man wanted to go to Gene's Tavern where his two friends were, and Davis got out of the car. She was very drunk at the time and could hardly walk. He said he last saw her leaving with her friend, and that she took her purse with her.

The morning after Davis's disappearance, a man dropping his wife off at the local unemployment office saw a man with longer hair sitting in an older model vehicle, his head down as if he was looking at something. When the witness came back outside, the man and his car were gone and a woman's purse was lying on the ground where they had been. It turned out to be Davis's. The description of the unidentified man and his car matches the man last known to have been with her, and his vehicle.

Investigators have repeatedly interviewed the three men Davis was with on the night of her disappearance, none of whom had been named publicly. There were some discrepancies between their stories.

Although the man who said he would take her home said she was so drunk she couldn't walk from the DeSoto house to his car and he had to carry her there and put her in the backseat, the other two men said she walked to the car and sat in the front seat. The first man said after parting ways with Davis he arrived at Gene's Tavern between 10:30 and 11:00 p.m., but his two friends said he arrived later, sometime between 12:30 and 1:00 a.m., shortly before closing time.

Police don't believe the account of man who was last known to have been with her, and characterized him as the primary suspect in her disappearance. Investigators think Davis was likely the victim of a homicide. Her case remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency

  • Murphysboro Police Department 618-684-2121

Updated 3 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated September 28, 2020; two pictures added, details of disappearance updated.