A Montana man linked to the case of Alicia Navarro, a teenager who was missing for four years after she vanished from her home in Arizona, was sentenced to 100 years in prison in an unrelated child sex abuse case, authorities said Tuesday.
Edmund Davis, 38, was sentenced to 100 years at the Montana State Prison with 50 years suspended, Attorney General Austin Knudsen said in a news release Tuesday. Davis will not be eligible for parole for 25 years.
Davis pleaded guilty to one count of sexual abuse of children in September after authorities discovered illicit material on his electronic devices while searching his apartment in Havre, Montana, according to the Montana Department of Justice. Navarro had been living with Davis when she showed up at the Havre Police Department in July 2023 and asked to be removed from the missing persons list, authorities said at the time.
Navarro was 14 years old when she disappeared from her home in Glendale, Arizona, in September 2019. Her disappearance sparked a yearslong search that included the FBI and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Glendale police said the department investigated thousands of tips years after Navarro's disappearance. It was also the first time Arizona issued a Silver Alert for someone who was not an elderly person with dementia, The Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported.
Authorities have not said whether Davis was considered a suspect in Navarro's disappearance and have not revealed the circumstances leading to her disappearance. Navarro was 18 when she stopped at the Havre Police Department and identified herself as the missing teen.
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During an investigation into Navarro's reappearance, police executed a search warrant on July 26, 2023, at the apartment Davis and Navarro resided in, according to court documents. Investigators said Davis was seen with Navarro before she went to the Havre Police Department and he was later identified as her boyfriend.
"Upon making contact at the door, Alicia stated no one was present at the apartment but her," court documents state. "Officers observed Edmund in the kitchen behind Alicia. Edmund was seen throwing a cellphone into the trash and placing items on top of said phone."
While searching the apartment, officers seized three cellphones, one laptop, and a video game console, according to court documents. The electronic devices were transferred to a computer forensics unit and a separate warrant was obtained for the devices, the Montana Department of Justice said.
Investigators identified a "known child sexual abuse material photo series" as well as other evidentiary images on the devices, according to the Montana Department of Justice.
"A review of the content determined the individuals depicted to be under the age of 13, with two images of children under the age of 5, including images of infants and toddlers and other computer-generated or animated content showing children being sexualized," the Montana Department of Justice said.
Navarro vanished from her home in Glendale on Sept. 15, 2019 -- a week before her 15th birthday. The morning of her disappearance, Navarro left a handwritten note in her bedroom saying she would come back home, according to the Republic.
"I ran away. I will be back, I swear. I'm sorry. - Alicia," the hand-written note read.
At the time of Navarro's disappearance, the teen was diagnosed as "high functioning" on the autism spectrum, the Republic reported. Jessica Nuñez, Navarro's mother, had said her daughter needed to be cared for by an adult, which prompted the state to issue a Silver Alert.
Nuñez told the Republic that she suspected her daughter may have been abducted by someone she met while online gaming. Navarro had spent the majority of her time playing games, a hobby she had taken up at 11 years old, Nuñez said.
Following her daughter's disappearance, Nuñez worked with private investigative agencies, put up billboards, appeared on television programs, and used social media to find Navarro. USA TODAY previously reported that Nuñez had documented her search efforts on a Facebook page titled "Finding Alicia" and an audio podcast.
On July 23, 2023, Navarro walked into the Havre Police Department and identified herself, authorities said. Police in Glendale were then notified and worked to verify her identity.
At the time of her reappearance, Glendale police said Navarro was safe, healthy, and happy. Police in Havre and private investigator Trent Steele said that when Navarro walked into the police station, she also talked about wanting to move forward in life as an adult, including getting a driver's license.
The town of Havre is in northern Montana, about 35 miles south of the border with Canada and nearly 1,400 miles northeast of Navarro's native home in Glendale, Arizona.
Contributing: Claire Thornton and Amaris Encinas, USA TODAY