Editing Richard Allen Davis (section)

== Murder of Polly Klaas ==
{{BLP sources section|date=June 2023}}
On October 1, 1993, [[Murder of Polly Klaas|Polly Klaas]] and two friends were having a slumber party at her home in [[Petaluma, California]]. Around 10:30 p.m., an intoxicated Davis entered their bedroom carrying a knife from the Klaas' kitchen. He told the girls he meant them no harm, and was only there for money. Davis tied both of Klaas' friends up, pulled pillowcases over their heads, and told them to count to 1,000. Davis then kidnapped Klaas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pollyklaas.org/about/pollys-story.html|title=Polly's Story|work=pollyklaas.org|date=May 11, 2021 }}</ref>

An APB ([[all-points bulletin]]) with the suspect's information was broadcast within 30 minutes of the kidnapping. The broadcast, however, only went out over Sonoma County Sheriff's Channel 1.

Within hours of the kidnapping, in a rural area of Santa Rosa, about {{convert|20|mi}} north of Petaluma, a babysitter on her way home noted a suspicious vehicle stuck in a ditch on her employer's private driveway. She phoned the property owner, who decided to leave with her daughter. As she drove down the long driveway to Pythian Road, the owner passed Davis. She called 911 when she got to a service station and two deputies were dispatched on the call. The deputies did not know of the kidnapping or the suspect's description, due to [[Sonoma Valley]] units being on Channel 3. 

The deputies ran Davis's driver's license{{huh|date=July 2023}} and license plate number, but they came back with no wants or warrants. The deputies tried to convince the property owner to perform a [[citizen's arrest]] for trespassing. Under California law, a civilian may make an arrest for this type of misdemeanor. The property owner would have had to go to the car with the deputies and say "I arrest you." The deputies then would have taken Davis into custody. The property owner refused.

The deputies called for a tow truck to get Davis' car out of the ditch. They searched it thoroughly before the arrival of the tow truck and did not find evidence of anyone else in the car. The only possible violation was an open container of beer, but Davis was not driving at the time of the deputies' contact and mere possession of an open container was not illegal. Before Davis was allowed to leave, he was instructed to pour out the beer and the deputies filled out an FI (Field Interrogation) card with his information and the FI card was filed.

On November 28, 1993, the property owner was inspecting her property after loggers had partially cleared the area of trees. She discovered items that made her think they may be related to the kidnapping. She called the sheriff's department to report her discovery, and deputies and crime scene investigators were dispatched. A torn pair of ballet leggings were found that were later matched by the [[FBI Laboratory|FBI Crime Laboratory]] to the other part of the leggings which were taken as evidence on the night of the kidnapping. A review of calls in the area the day of the kidnapping turned up the contact with Davis, who had only been identified because both deputies had filled out and filed the FI card. Once the identity of Davis was revealed, his palm print at the scene of the kidnapping was also traced to him. Authorities had been unable to match the partial print earlier due to the poor quality of the print left.

The [[Sonoma County, California|Sonoma County]] Sheriff's Department, in cooperation with Petaluma Police and the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], launched a search of the property and the Pythian Road area during a heavy rainstorm. The first two days of the search were kept as low-key as possible, since Davis was under surveillance at an Indian rancheria near [[Ukiah, California]]. When nothing was found during the initial search and the surveillance of Davis also produced no results, the decision was made to arrest him for the kidnapping of Klaas.

While Davis was being interrogated by Petaluma PD and the FBI, a massive search was launched on Friday, December 3. The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department was assisted by over 500 search team members from 24 agencies, coming from as far away as Kern County, California, and Washoe County, Nevada. The mutual aid effort was coordinated by the California State Office of Emergency Services (now known as the [[California Governor's Office of Emergency Services]]), FBI Crime Scene teams, and numerous other state and federal agencies. The search remains today as one of the largest ever conducted in California.<ref name="LA Times"/>

The search continued through Saturday, December 4. The search effort produced other items of evidence but did not produce any evidence of human remains. The search was planned to continue on Sunday, December 5, but on the evening of December 4, Davis confessed to kidnapping and murdering Klaas and led investigators to her body.<ref name="LA Times">{{cite news|title=Graphic Testimony in Klaas Trial Forces Family Out of Court|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-05-07-mn-1395-story.html|access-date=April 24, 2017|agency=Associated Press|work=Los Angeles Times|date=May 7, 1996|location=San Jose, CA.}}</ref> He had buried her in a shallow grave just off Highway 101, about a mile south of the city limits of [[Cloverdale, California]]. The gravesite is about 20 air miles and about 30 road miles from the search site.

Although Davis admitted to strangling Klaas to death, he refused to give investigators a timeline of the events from October 1. Investigators thought he was fearful that both people who passed him would call the sheriff's department. It is believed that Davis killed Klaas before the arrival of deputies and hid her body in the thick brush on the hillside above where his car was stuck. Davis then waited for an undetermined period of time after being escorted back to Highway 12, about 1.5 miles from where his car was stuck, and drove back up to retrieve her body. 

He was reportedly out of breath, sweating profusely, despite it being a cool night, and had twigs and leaves in his hair when contacted by deputies. It is also believed that Davis had chosen the gravesite in advance, since it would not have been discovered by a casual observer. The gravesite area would be directly visible from Highway 101, but not the grave itself. Davis had to drive from the Indian Rancheria in Ukiah once a week to meet with his parole officer and he would have seen any police activity in the area.