Human remains found in Bayview identified as Coeur d’Alene man

Human remains found by a hiker near Bayview in early February are those of Billy Vaughn Davis, a Coeur d’Alene man whose family reported him missing last fall.

The King County, Washington, medical examiner, working with the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, identified the skeletal remains.

Davis, who was 44, was last seen by his family in July 2014. His sister in Texas reported him missing last November.

The case is being investigated for now as an “unattended death,” said Lt. Stu Miller of the Sheriff’s Office.

The forensic investigation continues into the circumstances and cause of Davis’ death. Detectives hope to speak to anyone who may have had contact with him, especially in the spring and summer of 2014.

Davis lived a transient lifestyle and was commonly out of contact with his family for long periods of time, the Sheriff’s Office said. He had been living with his grandmother, as had two of his brothers, until she died, according to a Nov. 18 missing-person report taken by the Coeur d’Alene Police Department.

Davis had been in the Kootenai County Jail eight times since 2006 for drug and alcohol violations, theft and other misdemeanors, records show.

Davis was last seen wearing black jeans, a blue plaid hooded sweatshirt and brown hiking boots. A hiker who was looking for antler sheds found his remains Feb. 4 in a forested area above Cape Horn Road near Bayview, on Lake Pend Oreille.

Anyone with information is asked to call Kootenai County Sheriff’s Detective Jerry Northrup at (208) 446-2237.