Richard William Davis

In 2018, genetic genealogy helped with the identification of the Golden State Killer, bringing more attention to the method as a means for solving cold cases. As DNA had been preserved in the McGuinness case, the Missoula County Sheriff's Office, BODE Technology and the FBI contacted Othram to develop a genetic profile of the suspected perpetrator. On October 26, 2020, the killer was officially identified as Richard William Davis, who had passed away from natural causes at his home in Cabot, Arkansas on August 24, 2012.

In the early morning hours of February 5, 1974, 5-year-old Siobhan McGuinness went missing from her neighborhood in Missoula while en route to her home. On that same day, another young girl had reported that a stranger had attempted to lure her into a shed and molest her, but she managed to flee unharmed.

In the aftermath of his identification, he was additionally linked to an attempted kidnapping in Bath, New York in 1973. Due to the fact that he traveled extensively around the country, multiple state agencies and the FBI are currently investigating whether Davis can be linked to other violent crimes committed around the country.

At the time of the crime, David was 32. It is believed he was just passing through the state. Shortly after this announcement, he was additionally identified as the prime suspect in an attempted abduction of an 8-year-old girl from Bath, New York in 1973.

Richard William Davis (November 7, 1941 – August 24, 2012) was an American child murderer, rapist and possible serial killer who was posthumously linked via DNA to the abduction and murder of 5-year-old Siobhan McGuinness, who was found raped and strangled near Turah, Montana on February 7, 1974. Davis had never been convicted or considered a suspect in any violent crime during his lifetime. He died of natural causes in 2012.

Davis, a native of Galeton, Pennsylvania, was born on November 7, 1941. He had never been suspected or convicted of any violent crime throughout his lifetime, and at the time of his death he was a born-again Christian who lived with his wife at their rural home in Cabot, Arkansas. He lived in Pennsylvania in the early 1960s before moving to several cities in South Dakota during the end of the decade. After living in Bath, New York, for some time, he moved to North Little Rock until the 1980s, whereupon he moved to Cabot. Until his death, he was a volunteer for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America program.