Vali E Davis:Last Seen at Lucifer’s Disco
Vali E. Davis was born on July 27th 1955 in Michigan. She grew up in tiny Clayton, Indiana. It’s a small town about 30 minutes west of Indianapolis. It is south of Danville, Indiana.
Vali married John R. Morrison on December 19th, 1977 in Danville, Indiana. I could not find anything about how long the marriage lasted but by the Summer of 1979, when she disappeared, she was using her maiden name again.
On June 24th, 1979 she went out dancing with friends at Lucifer’s in Indianapolis. Disco was the thing to do then. Everyone was learning the dance moves and was eager to try them out. The music was fun, positive and playing in heavy rotation on the radio. She was at the northeast side club, which was at 86th and Keystone, with friends enjoying the music and dancing until the early morning hours. One friend saw her walking toward her 1976 brown/copper colored Ford Pinto as they were all leaving at about two in the morning. No one has seen Vali since.
Vali did not make it home. Her car was found in the Lucifer’s parking lot. The driver’s side door was unlocked. So, it would seem that she made it to her car and managed to get it unlocked. And then what happened?
The area around the Fashion Mall then was not very developed. All the hotels, condos, restaurants and sprawl that is there today was not there in 1979. A promotional film for the development of the Fashion Mall that I found has an aerial view and it is pretty barren around there. It was surrounded by cornfields. She didn’t just walk away from there. She was taken.
The nightclub was a busy place. It was a very popular disco that had live D.J.’s and advertised regularly in the newspapers. It drew a crowd.
Was Vali taken by a stranger? What was the situation with her ex-husband, John R. Morrison? Were they divorced already or was that still underway?
Let’s also talk about who the perpetrator cannot be. Steven Timothy Judy is already in jail for the murder of Terry Lee Chasteen and her three young children earlier that year.
It isn’t Jeffery Lynn Hand because he was shot in January of 1978 while attempting to abduct a woman in Kokomo.
It isn’t Donald Forrester. He was out on parole in 1979. He had been convicted of rape. But, while paroled he and a cousin would abduct and rape women late at night as the women left bars. He was in custody from April of 1979 until he was convicted and sentenced to life behind bars. I checked so many newspaper articles to make sure he was not out on bail while awaiting his trial. He and his cousin were not free when Vali E. Davis was abducted.
The newspapers tell the saddest story of Vali and her family. Her mother, Willa, reported her missing and then in the following weeks placed a regular ad in the personal column offering a $500 reward for information or the return of Vali. She later raised it to $1000 dollars. They put the ads in the Indianapolis papers and also in the Chicago Tribune.
This attracted the attention of reporters who then wrote a few articles about Vali’s disappearance. Vali’s parents, Willa and Dale Davis weren’t wealthy people. They had already lost a 17 year old son ten years earlier to a car accident. They had an older daughter who lived in Bay City, Michigan. In 1977, Dale had suffered a stroke and was recovering at home. Now their youngest daughter, Vali, was missing.
One sad statistic we know about the lives of women is that we are most likely to be murdered by a romantic partner when we are leaving that relationship. Pregnancy and breakups are the biggest reasons why men murder their wives and girlfriends. Could Vali’s ex be responsible for her disappearance? Was he ever questioned? Where is he now?
Was she dating anyone? Could her friends from that time have any additional information? Maybe something that did not seem important then seems important now.
Has anyone talked since then? Perhaps someone with a guilty conscience has spoken out.
Could any unidentified bodies already discovered be Vali E. Davis?
I hesitate to discuss what victims were wearing because I don’t think outfits are to blame for the actions of murderers. But Vali’s Mother said she wore a black Qiana dress. I had to look up Qiana. It was a type of synthetic silk fabric…not a fashion designer. This makes me think that Vali or her Mom made the dress. It would not have labels or tags. It was said to have lace trim and a matching purse. This makes me think they made the purse as well.
If you have any information about the disappearance of Vali E. Davis please call the Indiana State Police at (317) 899-8577 or 1(800) 582-8440.
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