Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad helping solve homicides 60 years after formation
Meghan Drakas
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad continues to help out local law enforcement agencies 60 years after its formation, lending resources to the most high-profile investigations.
“It’s comprised of a bunch of detectives from different agencies to make a criminal investigation division of their own,” Columbia Police Department Lt. Matt Gremore said. “If you have a big incident, they’ll activate the Major Case Squad [where] multiple detectives from different agencies come in.”
Gremore said typically, the Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad is activated for homicides and the number of people asked to join the investigation depends on the amount of work for each case.
According to prior reporting by ABC 17 News on the Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad, the group was formed in 1965 and is made up of 11 sheriff’s offices, 13 police departments and agencies including the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the FBI. These agencies include the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, Audrain County Sheriff’s Office and Columbia Police Department.
Agencies included in the highlighted cities signify involvement in the Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad.
The group continues to be used to help solve cases, particularly in smaller communities.
In late February, a man was charged in connection with the shooting death of 17-year-old Mason Sheets in Fulton. Earlier in the month, the Fulton Police Department said the Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad followed up on more than 250 leads. Authorities said this led the Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad five days later to identify other possible suspects, who were juveniles from outside Fulton.
Capt. Brian Leer with the Boone County Sheriff’s Office said he believes the last time the department had a full activation of the Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad was in 2010 for the investigation into Aletha Turner’s murder. Leer said the sheriff’s office has had other “partial activations” where it asked for a couple of people to assist on some cases.
In 1994, the squad was activated for the Virginia “Ginger” Davis homicide on Patsy Lane in west Columbia. Police say Davis was found dead inside her home on June 6, 1994, with a bag over her head and marks on her arms and legs.
Photo of Virginia ‘Ginger’ Davis on an unknown date (Columbia Police Department)
“I believe that there were several factors there,” Gremore said. “She had blunt force trauma to the head as well as the bag. My theory would be that the bag was absolutely a weapon that was used. I don’t know if that was the only thing that was used to cause [her] death.”
The Boone County Coroner’s Office determined Davis suffocated to death, but Columbia Police believe strangulation and injuries to her head may have also played a part.
After the death was ruled a homicide on June 7, 1994, Columbia asked for assistance from the Major Case Squad for at least June 9 and June 10 due to “an increase in calls from individuals giving us information that needs to be checked ASAP.” A news release also stated that police received “information from numerous individuals requiring follow-up investigation.”
According to the 1994 CPD release, the Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad provided two additional investigators. This brought the total number of investigators on the case to 12 people. Columbia Police were unable to say how long the additional two investigators worked on the Davis case.
“The amount of information that they were receiving on this case I think is significant compared to some of our other homicides,” Gremore said.
Thirty-one years later, Columbia Police have yet to make an arrest in connection with the 43-year-old’s death.
Watch the latest “Mid-Missouri’s Cold Case Files: The Case of Virginia ‘Ginger’ Davis” at 10 p.m. Tuesday on ABC 17 News.