Montana Girl, 5, Was Abducted Near Home and Found Dead in Drain — and Killer ID'd 46 Years Later

For 46 years, the family of Siobhan McGuinness waited to find out who killed the spunky 5-year-old back in 1974

By KC Baker October 28, 2020 01:16 PM

On a frigid February afternoon in 1974, Siobhan McGuinness was walking the short distance home from a friend’s house in Missoula, Montana, when she vanished. ... Two days later, the 5-year-old’s body was found in a snow-covered drain culvert near the exit for Turah on I-90, just outside the city limits. ... She had been sexually assaulted. She also sustained trauma to her head and stab wounds to her chest, according to the FBI.

Detectives at the time searched tirelessly for the little girl’s killer, but came up empty. ... The case went cold for decades.

On Monday, authorities announced that after 46 years, the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Squad, detectives from the Missoula Police Department and others had finally identified the man who took the life of the spunky child who was always smiling.

Richard William Davis was 32 when he was traveling through the area at the time of Siobhan’s murder, Missoula Police Chief Jason White said at a press conference on Monday]. ... Davis died in 2012 in Arkansas at age 70.

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