The quiet streets of Benson got a jolt when agents with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation searched the home of a Four Oaks police officer, a move breathing new life into a 22-year-old mystery surrounding the death of Garner teenager Josh Davis. The March 31 search, part of what officials now openly call a homicide investigation, turned up digital devices that investigators are sending for forensic analysis. For Davis’s family and longtime neighbors, the development is both a long-awaited step forward and a painful reminder of how long they have waited for answers.
According to court documents tied to the warrant, agents seized an iPhone and a laptop during the March 31 operation and identified the Four Oaks officer as a person of interest. The warrant states that the tip prompting the search came from the officer’s former spouse and describes the officer as at times “uncooperative and unresponsive,” with inconsistent statements given in both 2004 and 2025. As of the time of reporting, no charges have been filed in connection with the case, and the Four Oaks Police Department was listed as unavailable for comment. Josh’s father, Dave Davis, told reporters he was “baffled that someone could go 22 years without telling anybody they did this.” As reported by WRAL.
What the warrant says
The search affidavit spells out why investigators wanted access to the officer’s devices and details what they were authorized to seize and preserve for a full forensic review. In language cited in the warrant materials, the officer is described as “uncooperative and unresponsive and gave numerous inconsistencies in statements in 2004 and 2025.” Those specific details, including the description of the officer’s shifting accounts, come from court documents obtained and reported by WRAL.
Family and community reaction
Garner police have now publicly reclassified Josh Davis’s death as a homicide and have posted an appeal for information, urging anyone who knows anything to contact investigators. That notice appears on the department’s Facebook page. For many in the community, the fresh push in the case has reopened old wounds, even as it sparks renewed hope that the investigation might finally move toward resolution. The Garner Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the SBI search. The latest public notice can be viewed on the Garner Police Facebook page.
Case history and next steps
Josh Davis was 16 when he was found injured along Hall Boulevard in Garner on Jan. 6, 2004. In 2007, investigators concluded he had been hit by a vehicle, but officials now classify his death as a homicide and say they are actively pursuing all leads. Forensic analysis of seized electronics often takes weeks or even months, as investigators comb through phones and computers for messages, location data and other information that might line up with witness accounts or place individuals at key locations. Authorities continue to ask anyone with information to contact Garner police or the SBI tip line referenced in prior reporting and stress that a search warrant and a person-of-interest label do not, by themselves, amount to criminal charges.
