UPDATE: Sam’s remains were found on February 14, 2019 by a Croft Community Elementary School teacher, who was “retrieving a ball that had gone over a fence while students were playing outside,” according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Authorities told Dateline detectives determined foul play was not involved in Sam’s death.
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June 27, 2018 was like any other day for Carol Mejia, until she had a feeling about her son, Sam Davis, which she couldn’t ignore.
“I just had a premonition that something was wrong. I’ve never felt like that before,” Carol told Dateline. “And then a song came on the radio that reminded me of him. And then another song came on the radio that reminded me of him.”
Carol told Dateline her son Sam, 25 at the time, does not have a phone number but does have a phone that he uses for Wi-Fi. Carol messaged him on Facebook Messenger, their typical form of communication, to ask him if he was OK.
“He replied and said, ‘Aw, I love you, Mom. But yeah, I’m OK,’” Carol said. She shook off the feeling that had been bothering her and went on with her day.
Unfortunately, things would soon not be OK.
Sam’s mother would later learn that just two days later, on Friday, June 29, her son Sam messaged his girlfriend around 4:00 a.m. He said he had had a fight with his roommate and wanted to go for a walk outside to calm down. It’s unclear if Sam ended up leaving the home then, but his roommate and his roommate’s parents, who also lived in the house, would later tell authorities they saw Sam inside several hours later, around 9:00 a.m.
“He told them he was going to a Walmart in Huntersville,” Carol said. “He doesn’t have access to a car, so he would have either been walking or riding his skateboard.”
According to Carol, security footage shows that Sam never arrived at the Walmart, or anywhere else nearby.
Carol told Dateline that Sam’s girlfriend and his roommate realized Sam was missing later that day, but waited until Sunday evening to tell her the news so as not to alarm her over what might have been nothing.
“I sent Sam a Facebook message on Sunday around 10:00 p.m. to see whether he looked at it. And when I looked at it the next morning, it hadn’t even gone through,” Carol said. “That realty concerned me, because Sam is never far from his phone. I contacted all his friends to see if they had seen him. And when nobody had, I knew something was wrong.”
Carol told Dateline she tried to report Sam missing that day, but authorities wouldn’t file the report since Sam was an adult and could leave without telling anybody, if he chose to.
“I knew something was wrong. I went down to the police station one day that week, and I took Sam’s girlfriend with me and we were both really upset,” she said. “That’s when they started to take us seriously.”
On July 3, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department issued a press release on Sam’s disappearance, saying Sam was last seen leaving his residence on Poplar Grove Drive in Charlotte, North Carolina en route to an “unknown destination.”
Sam Davis is listed as a Missing Person by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Dateline was unable to reach the department for comment by Monday evening.
For the past five months, Sam’s mother Carol she has searched high and low for her son.
“I have gone through his Facebook page and contacted people on his friend list who I don’t even know,” she said. “The police have searched numerous times around the subdivision. My husband and I have walked the routes. We’ve put up posters along those routes.”
Despite their efforts, there has been no sign of Sam since he left his home that June morning. Carol added that since Sam doesn’t have a phone plan, authorities are unable to ping his location.
“It’s just awful,” Carol said. “He’s a wonderful person. He is kind and thoughtful. He is affectionate and very loving.”
Carol also describes Sam as a trusting young man.
“If anyone needed help in any way, he would help them. If you’re a friend of Sam’s, you’re a friend for life,” she told Dateline.
Carol’s family is the one needing help now, and she urges anyone who thinks they may have seen Sam to call the authorities.
Sam Davis is described as being 5’11” and weighing about 150 lbs. with brown hair and blue eyes. If you have any information on Sam’s whereabouts, please call the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Missing Person Unit at 704-336-4978 or Crime Stoppers at (704) 334-1600.
