BILLINGS, Mont. — A man from Montana who had been living with a teenager that went missing from Arizona several years ago has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term for having child sexual abuse materials, according to authorities on Tuesday.
District Judge Kaydee Snipes Ruiz from Hill County sentenced Edmund Davis to 100 years in state prison, with a stipulation that 50 of those years are suspended. He will have the opportunity to apply for parole after serving 25 years, as disclosed by Attorney General Austin Knudsen.
Davis entered a guilty plea last year after illicit content was discovered on his cellphone during an investigation related to Alicia Navarro, who disappeared from her home in 2019, shortly before her 15th birthday. Navarro left behind a note that prompted an extensive search effort, which was supported by the FBI.
Navarro had reportedly been living with Davis for over a year when she approached the Havre, Montana police department in July 2023, requesting to be taken off the missing persons list. Authorities have not publicly stated whether Davis was considered a suspect in her disappearance. At the time of her visit to the police station, Navarro was 18 years old and legally an adult.
While looking into how Navarro ended up in Havre — approximately 1,400 miles from her home in Glendale, Arizona — law enforcement acquired search warrants for Davis’s residence. Upon their arrival, officers observed Davis discarding his phone into the trash. Forensic investigators later found disturbing sexual abuse material on that device, including explicit images involving infants and toddlers, as well as digitally created content depicting minors in sexual situations, as per court documents.
Shortly after local media reported on their whereabouts, Davis and Navarro fled their Havre apartment, as recounted by neighbors. He was charged in October 2023 in connection with the child exploitation materials found on his phone.
Davis’s lawyer, Public Defender Casey Moore, did not provide a response to requests for comments made via email and phone.
In the context of Navarro’s disappearance, her mother, Jessica Nuñez, has suggested that her daughter might have been drawn away by someone she encountered online. A private investigator hired by Nuñez has not replied to requests for comments regarding this case.
