Julie Davis has spoken out about the tragic disappearance of her son (Image: The Mirror / David Cummings)
For two harrowing years, Julie Davis has been living every mother’s worst fear, not knowing whether her missing son is dead or alive. Levi Davis, 24, a star of rugby union, disappeared on October 29, 2022, leaving his mother in a terrifying state of uncertainty.
Julie expresses: “It feels worse than a bereavement. When someone’s missing, you are constantly grieving. But I will never give up hope of finding Levi alive.”
The final conversation she had with Levi replays endlessly in Julie’s mind. He had just landed in Barcelona and had phoned to inform her he was out of money and needed £30 for a hotel.
Julie had reprimanded him for ignoring her advice not to travel without saving enough for the journey. The next time she tried to reach him, there was only silence.
She hasn’t heard from him since, reports the Mirror.
The Mirror’s ‘Missed’ Project For more info please contact: Lynda Moyo – Head of Emerging Content (Mirror) or Sarah White – Shoot Producer (OK!/Mirror)COLLECT FROM JULIE DAVIS (Image: JULIE DAVIS)
Julie recalls: “He phoned and said, ‘Mum, can you send £30?’ But I said, ‘Look, Levi, you know I’ve been supporting you more than enough over the past number of months. You’ve got to learn to stand on your own two feet’.”
She later sent a text asking if he had managed to get the money for the hotel.
Julie shares: “There was no reply.”
Like the families of the 170,000 people who go missing in the UK each year, including 75,000 children, Julie, 53, from Solihull, West Midlands, is battling to find answers about what happened to her son.
While many missing person cases slip under the radar, The Mirror has taken a stand with its Missed campaign, aiming to cast new light on such stories, including that of Julie’s. Rugby sensation Levi, known for his swift moves as a Bath winger and his stint on The X Factor: Celebrity in 2019 with Try Star mates Thom Evans and Ben Foden, was last captured by CCTV cameras departing The Old Irish Pub on La Rambla around 10pm.
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The pub staff recall him having just a drink or two. Strapped for cash, Levi reached out to loved ones for £30 to afford a hotel stay.
His final message, a WhatsApp sent post-midnight to a pal, remains the last whisper of his whereabouts.
Following a devastating knee injury that threatened his rugby career, Levi had set off to explore Europe, contemplating a switch from sports to his other passion, music. His mother, a devoted mum-of-six, shares: “Levi wanted to travel Europe because of his anterior cruciate ligament tear. He’d been in Ibiza for a couple of weeks to work on music, and he said he planned to stay at a hotel in Barcelona overnight before going to his next destination, which was left open. But he had run out of funding.”
In a chilling twist, the day after Levi’s disappearance, cruise ship passengers near Barcelona’s port claimed to have spotted a man in the water. Julie adds a haunting detail: “It was dark at the time and this person had a white T-shirt on, which we know Levi did.
“Whoever saw him in the water said he looked to have been dark-skinned and aged around 30.”
Spanish police initiated a search but later abandoned it when no one from the boat was reported missing. They concluded that Levi had drowned.
However, Julie contends: “They left so many questions unanswered. They said his phone last pinged by an underground station near to the port.
“What was he doing there at half past six in the morning?” His passport was discovered a week later in the cargo area of the port. His bank account has remained untouched.
Catalan Police assured Julie that all her inquiries would be addressed in their report. She reveals: “When it finally arrived last year, half of it was in Spanish and half in Catalan, so we had to get it translated – all 250 pages of it.”
The police now insist she must hire a lawyer to pose further questions.
Bath Rugby’s Levi Davis during the Premiership Rugby Cup Third Round match between Bath and Leicester Tigers at The Recreation Ground on October 5, 2019 (Image: CameraSport via Getty Images)
Julie laments: “We’re now crowdfunding to find a solicitor. The cheapest one we’ve been quoted is £5k, and this is for preliminary work. As far as the UK police are concerned, we’ve just been totally forgotten.”
Levi, who had openly discussed his bisexuality, had previously fallen prey to a “sextortion” scheme before his vanishing act, but Julie suspects a link between the two incidents. She alleges that Levi was assaulted and the ordeal was recorded, which led to him uploading a video claiming his life was at risk.
Julie has spoken out about the chilling ordeal that preceded her son’s disappearance, revealing: “The blackmail video was a while before he went missing – around the time of X Factor. I think he innocently got drawn into something.”
Her discovery of the sinister blackmail came through her eldest son, Nathan, with Julie recounting: “Levi had confided in Nathan that he had been drug raped and photographs had been taken and he was being blackmailed.”
The details of the threats are harrowing as she continues: “They told him, ‘We’ve got this on camera and we’re gonna do XYZ to your family if you don’t pay’.”
Nathan conveyed another horrific incident to his mother, in which Julie elaborates: “Nathan said to me, ‘Mama I’ve got something to say and it’s not gonna sound very nice’. He said Levi found himself sort of chained to a chair with his feet in a bowl of water, attached to some kind of electricity.”
Recounting the difficulty in decision-making as a parent, Julie shares: “Levi had gone to live with foster parents aged seven, but he stayed close to his mum and siblings.”
She reflects on those times, saying: “Sometimes I look back and think, ‘was that the right thing to do?’ I just wanted to protect my child, but the poor boy didn’t know what was happening to him.”
In a poignant memory reflecting Levi’s bond to his family, Julie explains: “Levi missed us so much. Aged eight, he made his way back from Aston in Birmingham all the way to Chelmsley Wood. He said he walked a lot of it and then got a taxi the rest just to be with his mum and brothers.”
Shortly after settling with foster mum Suzanne, he received a sports scholarship to Denstone College in Staffordshire, and then attended university in Bath, where he played for Bath Rugby Academy. But the trauma of Levi’s disappearance persisted.
Julie claims that Spanish authorities have confirmed there are no new developments in the case.
A spokesperson for West Midlands Police stated: “The investigation is being run by the Spanish authorities, and we are supporting it when required. Our thoughts remain with Levi’s family and we will continue to provide them with any updates from the Spanish authorities as their investigation continues.”