The views and opinions expressed in Cold and
Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All
parties mentioned are considered innocent until
proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing
also contains adult themes and languages. Listener
discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin
-Sulkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Sulkowski.
And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover
cold cases and missing person cases. Hello and
welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your host,
Ali . And I'm your co -host, Eli. Welcome back,
everyone. Thank you to everyone who has started
following us on our Instagram at coldandmissing.
We've gotten a lot of followers over this past
week and people sharing and commenting. So just
thank you to everyone who is reaching out and
following us. And if you've been following us
for a long time because you're an original fan,
then thank you. Yeah, as the podcast continues,
it's always... Wonderful to see the followers
number tick upwards because we know that you
all are sharing the cases that Ali covers and
that we discuss and it really means a lot. So
thank you. But with that, I think we should just
go ahead and get into this week's case. We are
on episode 129 this week and we are covering
a cold case. Yep, cold case. And just as a quick
content warning at the top, this case does involve
a young person. Today, we are talking about the
cold case of Joshua Matthew Davis. And this takes
place in January of 2004 in Garner, North Carolina.
But first, a little bit about Joshua. Joshua
had just turned 16. His 16th birthday was a week
before in December of 2003. He was a student
at Gardner High School and was a popular kid
there. Josh lived with his dad, but his mom is
only a few blocks away, so he was able to walk
back and forth between the two homes to see them.
He spends a lot of time with his dad. They would
ride dirt bikes and work out together. His dad
admittedly spoiled him. As I mentioned before,
Josh was well -liked at school. He was popular,
especially amongst the girls. His family painted
a picture that Josh was like a peacock. He was
particular about his appearance and knew that
he was popular. Our relatives of Joshua said,
quote, a ladies' man, a legend in his own mind,
end quote. For a period, he had a new girlfriend
every month, and then he started dating somebody
steady for around six months. Right before our
timeline picks up, he had just broken up with
his long -term girlfriend and had started dating
a new girl. Also in the months leading up to
the timeline, Josh and his friends would experience
altercations with other people when they were
out together. Him and his friends had been assaulted
by people in a sport utility vehicle, and then
there was another altercation at a Garner movie
theater and they were chased by people in a car.
And now a timeline of events. Tuesday, January
6th, 2004. It's unclear exactly what Josh was
up to during that day. Our timeline, however,
picks up that evening of Tuesday, January 6th.
Joshua and his 17 -year -old cousin Michael wanted
to go play basketball at Joshua's dad's house.
The house was close by, only a 10 -minute walk
from where they were, so they set out around
6 .45 p .m. Just a few minutes after leaving
the house, Josh's cousin Michael realizes that
he forgot a CD that he wanted to bring with him.
He tells Josh to wait for him there and he'll
run back to the house and grab it. They were
still close to the house. They weren't even at
the end of the road yet. Michael turns around
and runs back to the house and leaves Josh standing
there. When he returns just a few minutes later,
he finds Josh laying on the ground, unconscious,
on a bed of pine needles and bleeding from his
head. Michael immediately runs to the house of
the Andrews and bangs on their front door. When
Daphne Andrews answers the door, She says, quote,
he said, please call 911. I think my cousin has
been hit by a car, end quote. And then Michael
takes off running for the family home to get
others. Josh's dad is also quickly alerted, and
he walks over from his house. When his dad, David
Davis, gets there, he sees Josh with a large
wound above his ear. His dad says, quote, looked
like he got hit upside the head, end quote. Josh
is rushed to the hospital, where he will die
from his injuries. Back at the scene, police
are investigating it. Because Josh was found
on the side of the road, they start working the
case as a hit -and -run. But after taking a closer
look at the evidence, or lack of evidence at
the scene, police announce that it's a homicide
investigation. Police say, quote, Everything
was in an area that led us to believe something
other than that occurred, end quote. So police
believe, based on the evidence, that something
else happened to Josh, not just a hit and run
with a car. However, they also point out that
there were no signs of a struggle at the scene.
Police spend the rest of the evening combing
the area. They bring in dogs to search to try
to find any other evidence or even a murder weapon,
but they're not able to find anything in the
sweep. The next day, Wednesday, January 7th,
police start talking to friends and family of
Josh to learn more about him. It's here that
police first start hearing rumors about boyfriend
-girlfriend drama that Josh was involved in.
In fact, police find a first round of suspects
but quickly are able to eliminate them when they
all have strong alibis. It's also during these
interviews that a friend of Joshua's comes forward
and says that he had a cell phone message on
his phone from Josh's cell phone. There was no
talking, but the friend heard what sounded like
a struggle, footsteps, and moaning. However,
the friend accidentally deleted the message before
police are able to listen to it. On Thursday,
January 8th, Josh was killed on Tuesday. Police
still do not have any possible suspects at this
point and are asking anyone that knew of any
conflict that Joshua was involved in to please
come forward. Police say, quote, we know about
the boyfriend -girlfriend situation and we're
looking into that, end quote. Police also reaffirm
to the media that they believe it's a homicide.
But they do leave open the possibility that perhaps
a car with something sticking out of it hit Joshua.
though they say that this scenario seems very
unlikely. A memorial springs up in the area where
Josh had been found. Notes left by friends, stuffed
animals, and around 50 candles all mark the spot.
Garner High School students leave notes for him,
some reading, quote, I'm going to miss you always,
and remember, you'll always be my husband, end
quote. And another said, Heather, your hot mama,
P .S., we'll make that picture of us together
when we meet in heaven. The next day on Friday,
just three days after his murder, and just a
little over two weeks since his 16th birthday,
Joshua is laid to rest. Police are still talking
to his friends, and they also mention that they're
looking into the incidents that happened prior
to this, where Josh and his friends were chased
by someone in a car and then assaulted by some
people in a sports utility vehicle. On Wednesday,
January 14th, So it's been over a week since
Josh was found on the side of the road, and police,
for the first time, go through his room and computer
for evidence. His family is frustrated that it's
taken police this long to look through his room.
Lots of Josh's friends had come over to his dad's
house after his funeral and had spent a lot of
time in his room. His dad says, quote, any incriminating
evidence that was in that room that would have
incriminated anyone in that group is probably
gone now. On Friday, January 16th, the medical
examiner says that Joshua was likely killed by
a moving vehicle. The medical examiner said that
Joshua's hit at an angle above the right ear
with, quote, a great deal of force, end quote.
The hit peeled back tissue and fractured his
skull in a radiating pattern. The medical examiner
says, quote, To cause a fracture like that, it
usually has to be a direct blow or something
that is moving at a high rate of speed, end quote.
The medical examiner believes that the impact
resembles injuries with a car or, quote, possibly
a side mirror or something hanging off or onto
the vehicle, end quote. The medical examiner
said that he spoke with others who agreed with
his opinion, but he also acknowledges that he
can't rule out that something else caused the
blow. like a bat or something else rigid, and
that the scene itself was not consistent with
a car accident. The medical examiner says that
police were left with, quote, with absolutely
no evidence at the scene, end quote, which is
unusual for a car accident. Normally there would
be debris of some kind, paint transfer happening,
but that was not found to be the case here. Police
don't comment on the medical examiner's opinion.
They just say that they have a very difficult
case and they're still interviewing people in
Josh's life. In the middle of February, so it's
been over a month now since Josh was killed,
and police arrest an 18 -year -old for lying
to police about Joshua's case. The 18 -year -old
is charged with one count of obstructing justice.
Police say that the teen told police that he
knew who killed Josh because he was there when
it happened. He gave a written and oral statement
to police that police were able to determine
was a lie. The person that he accused of murdering
Josh had no connection to him or the crime. Police
are frustrated that they have gotten false information
in this case. They say, quote, This kind of behavior,
for whatever reason, is counterproductive and
can result in criminal charges of persons willing
to provide false or misleading information, end
quote. In March of 2004, so it's been over two
months since Josh's murder, and police release
a composite sketch of a person who was seen close
to where Joshua was found. The person was seen
by several witnesses, quote, tripping over himself,
end quote, as he ran away from the scene right
about the time that Josh's body was discovered.
Police would like to talk to the person. They
describe him as being in his mid -teens to mid
-twenties, broad in the shoulders, and had an
athletic build. The suspect was wearing a white
hooded sweatshirt, Carolina blue athletic pants
with white stripes down both sides, and white
tennis shoes. There are also rumors that a rival
of Josh's at school rode by in a car and hit
him with a baseball bat. That boy lawyered up
and never spoke to police, according to Josh's
dad. Despite the initial coverage and leads in
the case, Joshua's case quickly falls out of
the media and appears to go cold, though police
are working on it in the background. Because
in January of 2007, so it's been over three years
since Josh was killed, and police say that they
now believe that Josh was hit by a car. They
say they hired a private firm to recreate the
accident and the scenario was that most likely
he was hit by a car. However, years later, when
police and his family talk about the case, like
in 2014 and 2018, there is no mention of it being
a hit and run. There's no mention of a car being
involved at all. Police say, in later years of
2014 and 2018, that they're still trying to figure
out what happened and list his cause of death
as something hitting him in the head. The case
today on the state police website lists his cause
of death as a blow to the head. However, I think
his mother sums it up perfectly. His mother says,
quote, So with that, if you know anything about
the murder of Joshua Davis in January of 2004,
please call the Garner Police Department at 919
-773 -6070. So that is the cold case of Joshua
Davis. This is one of those cases where I immediately
upon listening experience quite a bit of anxiety.
mostly because of the way it almost seems he
was blinked out of reality because of how quickly
it happened. You know, his cousin stepped away.
It was just a handful of minutes and he was hit
and then he was gone. And with cases like these,
I just, the questions can't come out of me fast
enough the timeline and what was happening in
that moment. So I'm very eager to cover and discuss
this case. And just hearing about Josh in general,
I don't know, most of us, I assume, listening
have been to high school or in a high school
environment, and there's always a boy like Josh.
He sounded very sweet and like a lover boy. I
liked hearing about him. I liked hearing that
he had a good relationship with both of his parents,
even though they weren't together anymore, that
he had a strong relationship with his dad. I
wish so more for him. Yeah. You know, I loved
the description that Josh's family and friends
gave of him. And it quite honestly reminded me
a lot of my brother in high school. The way that
Josh was described is exactly how I would have
described my brother in high school, like a peacock
walking around. And I, like you, when I came
across Josh's case, the timeline of it brought
up a lot of questions for me, which is really
why I wanted to dig into the case and start researching
it, because I just had so many questions myself.
Because like you said, it's a very quick amount
of time. I think his mother sums it up really
great. I'm not quoting her exactly, but she says
something along the lines of he left at 645 and
he was dead by 705. Like that is really how quickly
the time was in all of that. Yeah. So just jumping
in here, this doesn't immediately correlate with
his timeline. But to start at the top, I wanted
to know what you made of the attacks slash chases
by other school rivals. Yeah, that was an interesting
piece that. didn't come up as much as I thought
it would in my research, but I'm not sure if
it is rivals from other schools or rivals within
the schools. The people in these altercations,
it's never clear if it's like other students
or like adults or what exactly it was. But one
question that I had around that was, did Josh
like give the impression that these two incidents
were the same people or did they seem to be caused
by two different people? Separate groups. That's
something that I question because to me, if they're
the same people that I mean, that gives me a
direction to like look at and investigate for
sure. Yeah, I think it's absolutely something
worth paying attention to. I'm glad that police
did because in other cases we've covered before,
they tend to not really listen to the kids or
just chalk it up to regular teenage drama. And
the fact that. He was someone who did have experience
like pointed attacks on him or maybe his group
of friends. I think it's worth paying attention
to, especially in this case. Yeah, for sure.
I'd love to know if anything came out of that,
if they were able to pinpoint who the people
were involved in those altercations or if they
were ever able to get more information. Just
getting back into the timeline a little bit,
I'm curious to know what the terrain and road.
looked like. I'm blanking on where you said this
happened, so I couldn't even fill it in in my
mind. So this happened in Garner, North Carolina.
So in this area, tall, tall pine trees everywhere.
The particular road where this happened. There
are no sidewalks. So I thought that was something
important to note when I was looking at Google
Maps. No sidewalks in this area. So you would
be walking next to the road kind of like in a
ditch if you were walking along the road. But
it does appear to be like more of a rural country
road, but something with heavy traffic. Like
even when I was looking at Google Maps, like
there was constantly traffic and like even...
I saw somebody like out walking a dog in Google
Maps. So it's like it is a walkable area, it
seems, but lots of traffic still. Thank you.
And that makes sense to me. I mean, even if the
city that you are living in itself isn't a rural
area, there are lots of roads in big city spaces
that appear that way just within a short space
of time. I'm thinking of even roads in Chicago
where we are that. Sometimes you'll round a corner
and it is just a large stretch of tall trees
where lots of cars are turning that corner. But
that's really all there is happening. So really
what I was trying to nail down was, is this a
space where it wouldn't be visible to anyone
else as the crime was happening? And I think
that kind of answers my question that, yes. For
this small moment of time, someone driving by,
walking by, whatever it is that happened, they
could get away with not being seen while doing
it. Yeah, there are houses, you know, all along
the street where Josh was found. But like you
said, if somebody wasn't looking out the window
or walking by or a car passing by, it would be
easy to go unnoticed. And just to continue in
the timeline as my questions were bubbling up,
one of the first things I wrote down was, Was
something thrown at him? And obviously you've
covered that in tying the timeline together that
there is probability there, but there's probability
in a lot of different scenarios. So I'm glad
that my mind is naturally asking the questions
that law enforcement did to just pinpoint the
area of where and or how this could have happened.
Another question I had was, was he initially
responding at all or was he after being hit,
was he unconscious or just incapacitated? And
I don't know if you know, but I'm just curious
to know that information. So from my understanding
and from everything I've read, it does seem like
by the time his cousin gets back, he is unconscious
and not. talking to anybody um or responding
vocally in any way but there is that mention
of like a phone call or like a voicemail left
where that person said that he heard like moaning
that was literally my next question and i don't
really know what to make of it but what i wrote
down was what do you make of that phone call
i'm so sad that it doesn't exist anymore yeah
i um It's one of those things I wonder. I have
to think that the technology existed to retrieve
deleted messages even in 2004, but maybe it didn't.
But yeah, that voicemail. You know, did Josh
have a cell phone on him when he was found? I
think that's like a question that I have. It
seems like there might have been one at the scene.
It's mentioned a little bit in the beginning,
but kind of falls out of the details throughout
the years. Yeah, it's a hard case because we
know that a lot of people came forward trying
to be helpful or whatever, but gave false information.
I would think in this case, you know, his friend
wouldn't lie about hearing this thing. You know,
the other case where we have somebody lying,
it seems like they were trying to point the finger
and get somebody in trouble. But there's no reason
to lie about this message. So I am very curious
about it. And I'd be interested if Josh did have
a cell phone. So did that number dial this friend?
I think it's easy to see. tell if this did happen.
So I would just be curious what came of that
because it's never mentioned again. Do you think
that, and go with me here because I, again, I
think this is speculation, but as if we're kind
of navigating this case as if it was a hit and
run or that it was a hit and run and or someone
passing by him and causing a great impact to
his head. Do you think that the timing of their
walk was somehow coordinated? And by that, I
mean, did someone know that they were going to
be walking that section of the road? Did they
know that his cousin was going to step away momentarily?
Or if not, were they watching? That's kind of
how I have filled in the details in my head.
to make it possible for this crime to happen
so quickly without anyone being there the moment
his cousin walks back up to him. So I know there's
a lot to expand on there, but I'm just curious
to know what your thoughts are. The timing of
it does feel really important. You know, if there
was, like you said, somebody watching, waiting,
and then saw the moment when the cousin turned
around to grab the CD. And then took the opportunity
to confront Josh when he was by himself. Or,
you know, the other idea of him being hit by
a car. It's like, okay, then a car just passes
by momentarily in that moment and hits him on
accident and doesn't stop. The timing of it is
so, like, it's so small when his cousin is not
there. And nobody heard anything. You know, the
Andrews. house is right there from my understanding
it seems like Joshua was in the Andrews yard
and they didn't hear anything they were having
dinner at the time and they didn't hear shouting
a car screeching to a halt a car hitting you
know they didn't hear anything until they heard
the banging on the door so the timing is so slim
and it makes you wonder if there is intention
in it or if it's just like the timing was just
like all and it just happened that way. Yeah,
I think there's room for deep speculation on
both ends of that, that because the timing is
so, it's such a short timeline, it could absolutely
be an accident or it could be a very pointed,
coordinated attack on him. I think you summed
it up kind of perfectly. That's what's so heartbreaking
about this case is that it could so easily be
one or the other or a multitude of different
possibilities. I also just wanted to echo here.
It was mentioned a couple times that they were
just in his bedroom after he had passed away.
There were a lot of teens or people just moving
in and out of his room. There are a lot of moving
parts. And that there were a lot of people spoken
to about this case. A lot of people came forward
and gave wrong information, whether it was intentional
or not. And I just have to echo here that there's
a lot of congestion for law enforcement to kind
of sift through. And the sifting just becomes
bigger and bigger and bigger as more time passes.
I think it makes finding an answer in this case
all that much more difficult. It does, for sure.
The time passing, you know, it takes them a while
to go through his room, which that to me was
surprising that it took over a week for police
to go through his room just to look for evidence
and to take his computer. I think today police
would take, you know, electronics first thing,
but they waited for a week. His family can't
help but think, did something go missing during
that time that could have helped solve this case?
Yeah, there's just a lot to move through. And
then there's also the witnesses who saw the composite
sketch that we'll have up on our Instagram, who
saw that man running away from the scene about
the same time that Joshua was found. So it's
like, what came of that? Did they ever find that
person? Did they talk to him? Like, who was that?
That was my very last question. It kind of shocked
me that it came at the end that there was someone
who was possibly a suspect or a witness and in
very bright clothing. I specifically took note
of that because if you were in bright clothing,
to me, it would seem like you were there accidentally
or forced to be there. A lot of speculative motions
in my head started going once I heard that. And
his mom summed it up. I mean, it's heartbreaking,
but beautifully of. I just want to know what
happened. It's of course, you know, I would imagine
she wants her son back, but like it seemed like
even moving past that. I just want to know what
happened in those final minutes. I could not
echo her more. I think this case is solvable,
especially now with technological advancement.
I'm hoping that there are records we can comb
through that uncover something here. What his
mom said was perfect. It all ends the same with
Joshua being gone and her and his family just
wanting to know what happened to him. Whether
this is... an intentional act or like an accidental
hit and run whatever the case is it's a crime
still happened here and a 16 year old was still
left for dead and that is a crime and joshua's
family his parents his cousins his sister they
all deserve to know what happened to him and
they they want to know those answers and i agree
i think this case is solvable i hope that Someone
comes forward with information that's been maybe
sitting on them for years. To be able to give
the family the answers that they are looking
for, I think would be very healing. But again,
if you know anything about the murder of Joshua
Davis in January of 2004, please call the Garner
Police Department at 919 -773 -6070. As always,
I will be providing the graphics for Joshua's
case. We will have a picture of him and the suspect
sketch that Ali described at the end of the
timeline. And you can find those graphics at
Cold and Missing on Instagram and on our website
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So make sure you're following us, sharing, subscribing,
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That's all I have for you this week, though.
Thank you so much for listening to Cold and Missing.
I'm your host, Ali . And I'm your co -host,
Eli. Have a good week and stay safe, y 'all.
Stay safe, y 'all.