William Davis was 52 when he was murdered while working at the Junior Market, a small convenience store at the entrance of Lake Placid on London Bridge Road in Virginia Beach. On Valentine’s Day 1981 he began his shift about 3:00 p.m. and was last seen inside the store at around 7:00 p.m. Roughly half an hour later a customer arrived to find the store unlocked and empty, heard a noise from the rear, and saw a dark-colored vehicle leaving the back parking lot.

Police found money missing from the register but Davis’s personal vehicle and other belongings remained at the store. His body was found the next day, February 15, 1981, in a ditch along the 2700 block of Salem Road. The State Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide by gunshot wound. The case remains an active cold case with the Virginia Beach Police Department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit and no arrests or public suspect identifications have been announced.

Are there any readers who remember the Junior Market or that area of Lake Placid on Valentine’s Day 1981 and can share information that might help the investigation?