Family praying for Shelby woman’s safe return
SHELBY — The sister of the missing Shelby woman said an effort is underway to distribute flyers in hopes of locating the local resident who authorities have been looking for since Thursday, Feb. 25.
Lisa Davis of Shelby said that the flyers would be distributed in Shelby and Mansfield and other locations such as truck stops in hopes of finding Melinda Kay Davis, 33, of Shelby.
“We are praying she just gets returned safely,” Lisa Davis said by telephone Monday night.
A Facebook group “Melinda Kay Davis MISSING” also has been formed as part of an effort to locate the Shelby resident.
As authorities continue to search for Melinda Davis, detectives obtained an arrest warrant on kidnapping for her former boyfriend, John Henry Mack Jr., the Richland County Sheriff’s Office reported Monday.
Lisa Davis said that her sister and Mack had broken up about eight months ago. Her sister had gone to Mack’s Mansfield location Feb. 25 to pick up some belongings she had been looking to retrieve for some time and had notified a friend in advance of the plan, Lisa Davis said.
Melinda Davis had contacted the friend and said “I’m at Johnny’s, if you don’t hear from me in a couple of hours, things didn’t go well,” Lisa Davis said in summarizing the interaction and text communication.
After hearing that, the friend had cautioned Melinda Davis, the sister said, and reported that “if you’re feeling that way, don’t go.”
In summarizing the situation, Lisa Davis said that her sister had told the friend: “I’m sure everything will be fine. I just want someone to know I’m here.”
Melinda Davis also had planned to have breakfast that day with a relative at a Mansfield area Denny’s but did not arrive, the sister reported.
Shelby Police were then immediately were notified.
Melinda Davis had been looking forward to breakfast, Lisa Davis said. “She was very excited to go,” the sister recalled. “She had talked to me about it Wednesday night at 11:30 what
her plans were for
Thursday.”
In discussing her sister’s case, Lisa Davis spoke of Gaberien Clevenger, 22, of Greenwich, who was stabbed to death in February 2020. Lisa Davis said that Clevenger had been staying with her household at the time of that case.
Clevenger’s body was found in a wooded area of Jackson Township near Shelby on Feb. 11, 2020. Clevenger’s estranged husband, Alec Blair, 22, recently was sentenced to 45 years in prison in the death on multiple charges including aggravated murder and other various counts of kidnapping, felonious assault and abduction.
Clevenger had been stabbed 14 times, Davis noted.
“Gaberien Clevenger lived with us, and she was murdered,” Lisa Davis said. “She was kidnapped from our house.”
“We were all devastated over that incident as a family,” Davis said. “It was a very emotional time for all of us.”
Davis described the aftermath. “My heart is still broken,” she said.
“When Melinda didn’t show up (to Denny’s) and what has already happened, you can just imagine our family anyway,” Davis said. “I am trying to give you a feel of what we are going through.”
See shelbydailyglobe.com for more about the Melinda Davis case.