Found Deceased OH - Cheryl Coker, 46, Riverside, 2 Oct 2018 *husband suspect* #2

[wyome]

Friend of Cheryl's that posts youtube snippets. This one is poignant.

 

[Tillicum]

I just want to thank you all for trying to renew interest in Cheryl's case.

 

[tb24oh]

This case is really tough. They cannot move forward without some new big revelation coming out, the girlfriend turns on him, her body is finally found, etc. They aren't going to prosecute this without a body the way it stands now. It's never going to happen. In the few cases where it's been done, there's been a ton of other evidence: large amount of blood, murder weapon with finger prints of killer and DNA of victim. That doesn't exist here. The prosecutors would have to be fools to go forward with a weak case like this and no body. And Mat Heck is NOT a fool. He's a damn good prosecutor with over 45 years of experience as a prosecutor and he isn't going to let his office take a weak case to court just because the public wants vengeance when he knows that it's a losing case.

 

[Jethro4WS]

This case is really tough. They cannot move forward without some new big revelation coming out, the girlfriend turns on him, her body is finally found, etc. They aren't going to prosecute this without a body the way it stands now. It's never going to happen. In the few cases where it's been done, there's been a ton of other evidence: large amount of blood, murder weapon with finger prints of killer and DNA of victim. That doesn't exist here. The prosecutors would have to be fools to go forward with a weak case like this and no body. And Mat Heck is NOT a fool. He's a damn good prosecutor with over 45 years of experience as a prosecutor and he isn't going to let his office take a weak case to court just because the public wants vengeance when he knows that it's a losing case.

If they had some kind of evidence that was indicative that Cheryl was dead law enforcement/prosecutors would go to court to have her declared dead. The Presumption of Death statute allows for that. I would think that they may be waiting for one year to expire, combined with what they do have, to make a better case for a judge to make such a declaration. In the absence of such evidence or at least insufficient evidence, the period of time required with no contact is 5 years before a declaration of death can occur.

Lawriter - ORC - 2121.01 Presumption of death.

 

[Tillicum]

If they had some kind of evidence that was indicative that Cheryl was dead law enforcement/prosecutors would go to court to have her declared dead. The Presumption of Death statute allows for that. I would think that they may be waiting for one year to expire, combined with what they do have, to make a better case for a judge to make such a declaration. In the absence of such evidence or at least insufficient evidence, the period of time required with no contact is 5 years before a declaration of death can occur.

Lawriter - ORC - 2121.01 Presumption of death.

I've felt for a while now that they were waiting on something. I hope you're right.

 

[Jethro4WS]

I've felt for a while now that they were waiting on something. I hope you're right.

Even with doing this, I am not sure how the State will be able to prove Murder over Voluntary Manslaughter, even with a body but especially without a body. They may have evidence of such premeditation whether it be purchases, or online activity, or communications or a person that can testify, but we have no indication of that. What we do have is what appears to be activity after the fact and that, in and of itself, isn't indicative that premeditation occurred.

Hopefully law enforcement/prosecutors have something in this regard.

 

[tooltimetim]

I am very glad we as a group are re-examining this case, there is still a thousand unanswered questions....

Like, I still have a large gray area when it comes to Cheryl’s company vehicle, on the day she went missing what was William doing to the vehicle?
How did the company vehicle get back to The Centerville Office?
Did a employee come and get it?
If so did such employee try to inquiry about the whereabouts of Cheryl when they retrieved the vehicle upon arrival at her home?
Who witnessed him messing with the vehicle?

 

[tooltimetim]

Next gray area, approx. 10 days after Cheryl’s reported disappearance, the day the police finally decided to search the home ( I think this was big mistake #1, waiting 10 days, unacceptable, I think a lot of critical evidence was removed, cleaned up......

What happened that morning of the search?, was William there?, what did they remove from the home? And where did William make his first affidavit, at the home or station?
Why did they elect to wait 10 days, I think that seems kinda of odd, I won’t think and I hope the police weren’t that stupid to believe William on the first day when he spoke of “open marriage” and Cheryl’s conduct.
I certainly they did not believe him, and that’s why the delay in searching the home......

I still believe if the home was searched within the first 24-48 hours , the case would have a different outcome today.....

 

[tooltimetim]

In the above posting which spoke about the presumption of death statute, just so I can be clear about the law, if LE goes to court and she is presumed dead, does that mean, William can reap the benefits, her life insurance, her portion of the home, and any monies that are hers now that are frozen,
Or is a different statute, I always thought families had to wait seven years to legally declare dead, before money and property transfers can take place....

Also since we are re-examining this case from day one, does anyone know if the police interviewed Williams coworkers at Costco, or is there any indication that LE will reinterview coworkers to see if the time period from her disappearance until now , William has had lose lips, stated things oddly , or just acting weird, saying or doing that gives the appearance of guilt in her disappearance or presumption of murder...

As indicated above we got clarification that his son is employed at Costco also, so between the three of them it’s quite a family affair......

Also with the three of them employed there would this hinder other employees from coming foreword with any new evidence, out of fear or retaliation , if this statement is true, Costco of Centerville would have which is called a hostile work environment......as I see it Costco is stuck between a legal hard place and a wall, my research shows they could be sued from either direction.......oh boy.....

 

[mks762]

I am very glad we as a group are re-examining this case, there is still a thousand unanswered questions....

Like, I still have a large gray area when it comes to Cheryl’s company vehicle, on the day she went missing what was William doing to the vehicle?
How did the company vehicle get back to The Centerville Office?
Did a employee come and get it?
If so did such employee try to inquiry about the whereabouts of Cheryl when they retrieved the vehicle upon arrival at her home?
Who witnessed him messing with the vehicle?

I'm trying to figure out how to put this in a polite way because I don't mean it as rude whatsoever but what does him messing with her vehicle have to do with anything? The vehicle didn't go missing, the brakes didn't give out causing her death, the vehicle wasn't in undriveable condition when found (as far as we know), etc. Unless maybe people are suggesting he was taking off a GPS tracking device??? Now there's a road (no pun intended) I don't think we've gone down yet.
But other than that, not sure what he could have been doing to the vehicle that would also have to do with Cheryl disappearing- but I would love to hear other theories about what one has to do with the other.

 

[wyome]

I'm trying to figure out how to put this in a polite way because I don't mean it as rude whatsoever but what does him messing with her vehicle have to do with anything? The vehicle didn't go missing, the brakes didn't give out causing her death, the vehicle wasn't in undriveable condition when found (as far as we know), etc. Unless maybe people are suggesting he was taking off a GPS tracking device??? Now there's a road (no pun intended) I don't think we've gone down yet.
But other than that, not sure what he could have been doing to the vehicle that would also have to do with Cheryl disappearing- but I would love to hear other theories about what one has to do with the other.

I don't think Tooltime was implying he may have been messing with work vehicle as a way of killing her. It's an interesting part of the equation only in the fact that a neighbor had witnessed him doing something with it around the same time he told a reporter he was sleeping.

I've got to go back through this entire thread again, because it was brought up way early on.

 

[tooltimetim]

Wyome, I appreciate your take on the work vehicle, I was not implying that was the murder instrument but it’s part of a pattern of lies that the suspect was caught in , like Wyome stated he told LE he was sleeping but a neighbor witnessed him by the vehicle, and my question was why was he messing with the vehicle in the first place, first off if Cheryl had determined vehicle problems and especially what she did in her job, she simply would have called her employer and the vehicle would have been towed away.....
This incident may seem tiny in the overall scope , but I am studying this case from the very minute she was reported missing, and as tiny as this may be a big piece of the puzzle, I guess the question is what was his purpose in life messing with her work vehicle, was he disgarding evidence or planting evidence, remember he was trying to build the story of her being “loose” , building a story which put her as the “bad guy” and himself as the sweet angel innocent party....

 

[tooltimetim]

I did find out that Cheryl’s mom is celebrating her 79 th birthday on 11 July, it’s a damn shame that her mom should be happy at this point of her life enjoying her family, I can’t imagine the torment her moms going through, and I hope and pray with the grace of God, that Cheryl’s mom can live to see her daughter coming home....

 

[wyome]

tb24oh posted this 12/22/2018 in regards to work truck:

One thing that hasn't been mentioned here is that there was an issue with her work truck that morning. Cheryl was a crash scene investigator. While she sometimes worked from home, a coworker said that Tuesdays is the day that they would receive their new cases and Cheryl was always in the office on Tuesdays for that purpose. The coworker texted Cheryl shortly after 9am and asked where she was, she received no reply, which was also completely out of character for her. Police were given this info. Cheryl had a work truck and the personal SUV which is what was left in the parking lot. When her employer went to get the work truck the day after she went missing, it wouldn't start. The hood latch was broken and the pully mechanism in the car had no tension at all, so it couldn't be opened to jump start either. They had to tow it. The most interesting fact though is that a neighbor saw Bill trying to use Cheryl's SUV that morning to jump the work car, which was pulled on to the street. The keys to the work truck are still missing according to the coworker.

So the speculation by one of the closed FB group members that I think is very very interesting, since she never answered text from work maybe he saw it and went about staging a few things like disabling her work vehicle, making sure he was seen trying to start the truck for her. Then loading all her work stuff into the Highlander and driving it to the parking lot to make it seem like she stopped there on her way to work and something happened to her in the parking lot, but as we know, staying far to the back of the lot so he wasn't visible on camera.

Another question is since we know that Bill was home that morning with both of Cheryl's cars, why isn't he listed as the last person to see her before she went missing?? The reports have always said the daughter was the last person when she was dropped off at school. But that's clearly not the case since they've said Cheryl came home and we know he was spotted there too.

 

[tb24oh]

tooltimetim, most of your questions can't really be answered. Either we have no knowledge because police have been extremely tight lipped, or answers come from the FB groups, which isn't allowed on this site. The quote of mine that wyome posted above is accurate, but since it came from FB, it may be deleted by admins here as it doesn't really fit the rules

 

[tooltimetim]

Another very hot and humid day here so I decided to investigate the different locations that are important to this cas:
A) I parked in the area where Cheryl’s SUV, was located at the Kroger parking lot, trying to get a vantage point of what can and cannot be seen from there, where the suspect left her SUV was selected carefully , your pretty hidden from the shoppers at Kroger, plus this store being a very small one there’s not many shoppers that early, so the suspect felt confident, no one would pay attention, I just wished the security camera next to the computer store was made in the 21st century..

B) I travelled various routes that the suspect in the black hoodie would have walked, I wish the extra route was mentioned where the witness reported it, if the suspect went east from the store it’s all residential but a longer walk...if the suspect walked down Buckhart Rd , he had to walk past a video store and a shopping plaza, then apartment buildings to work his way to Cristy Lane.
I wish I knew which way he took to get to the school parking located behind Cheryl’s home...

C) I drove onto school grounds up to the fence line behind Cheryl’s home, there is many cameras on the school building and him hopping the fence would have been noticed in October, since school would have been in session..

D) I drove to Cheryls home, on Cristy Lane, I think the home is starting to look run down compared to the photos in October when the LE search was in progress...there was a SUV and and car in the driveway, all shades or binds were closed, I went by around 0915am, today..
I noted his neighbors outside working on either side, I wondered how friendly the neighbors are now towards William, I did note William has to drive past about 4 Cheryl strong signs nearby, he probably doesn’t see them anymore...

E) I would like to check the Montgomery County Tax Office to see if he’s current on all property and school taxes, the local paper usually posts tax liens.....trying to determine if he’s taking care of the home or just playing house...

F) I also noted there was many dumpsters located within a mile of the home with little or no security cameras.......I still believe he disposed of Cheryl in the trash , and to me I was skeptical until the story of the man from Springfield who was put in a dumpster transported to the Montgomery Solid Waste site where dumpster garbage is hydraulically compacted, he was spotted at the last moment because of his movement before he was compacted, he survived, ....so if William had wrapped Cheryl up tightly her body would have never been noticed, just my theory...

G) I am going to fat check our posting again to double check this case timeline........

 

[MissMalowe]

Another very hot and humid day here so I decided to investigate the different locations that are important to this cas:
A) I parked in the area where Cheryl’s SUV, was located at the Kroger parking lot, trying to get a vantage point of what can and cannot be seen from there, where the suspect left her SUV was selected carefully , your pretty hidden from the shoppers at Kroger, plus this store being a very small one there’s not many shoppers that early, so the suspect felt confident, no one would pay attention, I just wished the security camera next to the computer store was made in the 21st century..

B) I travelled various routes that the suspect in the black hoodie would have walked, I wish the extra route was mentioned where the witness reported it, if the suspect went east from the store it’s all residential but a longer walk...if the suspect walked down Buckhart Rd , he had to walk past a video store and a shopping plaza, then apartment buildings to work his way to Cristy Lane.
I wish I knew which way he took to get to the school parking located behind Cheryl’s home...

C) I drove onto school grounds up to the fence line behind Cheryl’s home, there is many cameras on the school building and him hopping the fence would have been noticed in October, since school would have been in session..

D) I drove to Cheryls home, on Cristy Lane, I think the home is starting to look run down compared to the photos in October when the LE search was in progress...there was a SUV and and car in the driveway, all shades or binds were closed, I went by around 0915am, today..
I noted his neighbors outside working on either side, I wondered how friendly the neighbors are now towards William, I did note William has to drive past about 4 Cheryl strong signs nearby, he probably doesn’t see them anymore...

E) I would like to check the Montgomery County Tax Office to see if he’s current on all property and school taxes, the local paper usually posts tax liens.....trying to determine if he’s taking care of the home or just playing house...

F) I also noted there was many dumpsters located within a mile of the home with little or no security cameras.......I still believe he disposed of Cheryl in the trash , and to me I was skeptical until the story of the man from Springfield who was put in a dumpster transported to the Montgomery Solid Waste site where dumpster garbage is hydraulically compacted, he was spotted at the last moment because of his movement before he was compacted, he survived, ....so if William had wrapped Cheryl up tightly her body would have never been noticed, just my theory...

G) I am going to fat check our posting again to double check this case timeline........

For the tax info.
Montgomery County

"Cheryl's" property taxes seem to be paid. Most recently in Feb. Due again soon, this month.

 

[tooltimetim]

It was mentioned in another post, if the prosecution is waiting until October to go to court for a Proclamation of Death, does this mean William is entitled to her assets, the home, life insurance, or is this different, I just never heard of this before, all I remember is the wait 7 year rule to declare dead..

 

[Ann99]

Another very hot and humid day here so I decided to investigate the different locations that are important to this cas:
A) I parked in the area where Cheryl’s SUV, was located at the Kroger parking lot, trying to get a vantage point of what can and cannot be seen from there, where the suspect left her SUV was selected carefully , your pretty hidden from the shoppers at Kroger, plus this store being a very small one there’s not many shoppers that early, so the suspect felt confident, no one would pay attention, I just wished the security camera next to the computer store was made in the 21st century..

B) I travelled various routes that the suspect in the black hoodie would have walked, I wish the extra route was mentioned where the witness reported it, if the suspect went east from the store it’s all residential but a longer walk...if the suspect walked down Buckhart Rd , he had to walk past a video store and a shopping plaza, then apartment buildings to work his way to Cristy Lane.
I wish I knew which way he took to get to the school parking located behind Cheryl’s home...

C) I drove onto school grounds up to the fence line behind Cheryl’s home, there is many cameras on the school building and him hopping the fence would have been noticed in October, since school would have been in session..

D) I drove to Cheryls home, on Cristy Lane, I think the home is starting to look run down compared to the photos in October when the LE search was in progress...there was a SUV and and car in the driveway, all shades or binds were closed, I went by around 0915am, today..
I noted his neighbors outside working on either side, I wondered how friendly the neighbors are now towards William, I did note William has to drive past about 4 Cheryl strong signs nearby, he probably doesn’t see them anymore...

E) I would like to check the Montgomery County Tax Office to see if he’s current on all property and school taxes, the local paper usually posts tax liens.....trying to determine if he’s taking care of the home or just playing house...

F) I also noted there was many dumpsters located within a mile of the home with little or no security cameras.......I still believe he disposed of Cheryl in the trash , and to me I was skeptical until the story of the man from Springfield who was put in a dumpster transported to the Montgomery Solid Waste site where dumpster garbage is hydraulically compacted, he was spotted at the last moment because of his movement before he was compacted, he survived, ....so if William had wrapped Cheryl up tightly her body would have never been noticed, just my theory...

G) I am going to fat check our posting again to double check this case timeline........

Tooltime
Great work on this! Above and beyond.
Do you think all recent tornado damage around the general Dayton area could have any effect upon finding evidence or clues?
I know there was nothing specifically in her neighborhood,
But what about elsewhere? Tia

 

[Jethro4WS]

It was mentioned in another post, if the prosecution is waiting until October to go to court for a Proclamation of Death, does this mean William is entitled to her assets, the home, life insurance, or is this different, I just never heard of this before, all I remember is the wait 7 year rule to declare dead..

In the Ohio Statute I linked it is 5 years of no contact before a person can be declared dead, unless someone can offer some evidence that the person is deceased, in Cheryl's case the only ones that can do so are law enforcement/prosecutors. Once declared dead, everything works no different than deaths with a body. As a surviving spouse, William would receive everything of Cheryl's estate unless she had a will. However, if she did have a will then it would have to provide he receive the vast majority of her estate otherwise a court would find the will invalid on its face unless he signed that he agreed to the distributions in the will.

Theoretically, if law enforcement/prosecutors have evidence they can move forward at any time, I just happen to believe that a duration of a year is more likely. Riverside Police have already said they believe Cheryl to be dead. The question is whether or not they have sufficient evidence to prove that Cheryl is dead and that she was murdered.

First it has to pass a judge for an arrest warrant. This is a "more likely than not" evaluation by the judge based only on what law enforcement/prosecutors allege they can prove and where law enforcement/prosecutors present no evidence to the judge, just a set of facts they allege to be true. Alternatively, prosecutors can move forward with a Grand Jury indictment. Either way, it then has to pass a judge in a preliminary hearing where the judge would determine whether there is sufficient evidence (of death and murder) to move forward to a trial and, if not, dismiss the charges. If it actually gets to the trial phase, then double-jeopardy attaches and the risk of an acquittal would be disastrous.