Mahogany Washington’s family had not seen or heard from her or her 8-year-old son since July 2022. On June 19, 2024, they filed a missing person report with the Leon County Sheriff’s Office in Texas. Police entered the information into the National Crime Information Center and began investigating.
Their search led them to a home in Buffalo, Texas. While on the property, they discovered human remains. Due to the time that had passed, they sent the evidence to The Center for Human Identification at The University of North Texas.
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Scientists were able to positively identify the remains as having belonged to Washington, Laredo Morning Times reports. Detectives began searching for the person responsible. They eventually received a tip that Michael Dean Davis Jr. was living with his missing son south of Laredo.
On November 12, police issued an arrest warrant for Davis, accusing him of Washington’s murder. Davis, who had been living in Laredo, Texas, for about two years, is the father of Washington’s son, who had been missing since July 2022.
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On November 12, police, who assumed Davis was a threat to his child, waited until he went out to check his mail to detain him, KGNS reports. The son he shared with Washington was safe inside the home. Once police searched the property, they found several rifles, an armor suit, and gas masks. The home was in such a state of disarray, police filed additional charges against him for the endangerment of a child.
“Multiple agencies worked together in order to coordinate the arrest of Davis and the safe recovery of a missing and endangered child,” the Laredo police wrote in a press release shared on Facebook.
Davis faces murder charges. The sheriff’s office has not released any further information. The office says the investigation is ongoing.
The formerly missing child was physically unharmed. Authorities took him to Child Protective Services. Police transported Davis to the Webb County Jail. He will eventually be extradited back to Leon County. For now, he is being held on a $3,000,000 bond.
