TX TX - Rachel Cooke, 20, Georgetown, 10 Jan 2002

[Texas Mist]

Thinking of Rachel & her loved ones on this 9 year anniversary

 

[watergirl]

Family, friends and detectives gathered Monday to reflect on the loss of Rachel Cooke, who vanished from Georgetown nine years ago at the age of 19.

Cooke was visiting her parents in Georgetown over winter break on Jan. 10, 2002 when she went on a run and never returned.


http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories/276037/rachel-cooke-disappearance-case-marks-9-years

 

[geojeffrey]

Human skeletal remains found in Milam County

Not a ton of information, and also not terribly close to Georgetown, but you never know....

http://www.kxxv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13840525

 

[Billylee]

Gosh what a pretty girl, she reminds me of Brooke Wilburger. Rachael's circumstances sound similar, disappearing in broad daylight in the morning. They think that brook's murderer, Joel Patrick Courtney, may be a serial killer, I wonder if they have looked at his timeline for 2002. He seems to have traveled around a lot. I did see it mentioned he went to Mexico via AZ, I wonder if he came back via TX and when he went there? So sad, my heart goes out to the Cooke family.

 

[concentric]

I thought I heard on the news that the bones were from a male.

Preliminary autopsy report:

http://www.kxxv.com/Global/story.asp?S=14012818

 

[MaryLiz]

Rachel's case is going to be featured on the show "Disappeared" this coming Monday, 4/4 at 9:00 p.m. EST on the Investigation Discovery Channel.

 

[peeples]

She kind of reminds me of Jodi Husentruit (the reporter from Mason City Iowa that disappeared and has never been found).

 

[MaryLiz]

Just a reminder to watch Rachel's case on "Disappeared" tonight on Investigation Discovery. It's on at 9:00 p.m. EST!

 

[dog.gone.cute]

I just watched Rachel's case on "Disappeared". This is so heartbreaking !

Hopefully, someone will come forward with information on what happened to this young, beautiful girl.

Prayers for Rachel and the Cooke Family, and Prayers that she will be found soon !

 

[cluciano63]

I watched the "Disappeared" episode last night and don't know what to make of the confession that was later retracted. He is certainly a good suspect, as far as his criminal history and his access to the area where Rachel was last seen. If he is guilty, I doubt he will ever be charged, but at least he is in prison for life. I do wonder why he retracted, since he was barely going to get any time at all-just another 18 months added to his sentence.

What is so sad, besides the obvious loss of Rachel of course, is that LE just can't find any clues at all in this case. When the special task force was assembled a few years after she vanished, hopes were renewed, everyone said they would not give up, Texas Rangers and FBI on the job etc...but nothing really changed. Sometimes there just isn't anything to be found, no matter how dedicated LE is.

 

[concentric]

Can someone please fill me in on what the confession was that was later retracted since I missed the program?

I tried to find a transcript with no luck.

Thank You.

 

[MaryLiz]

Can someone please fill me in on what the confession was that was later retracted since I missed the program?

I tried to find a transcript with no luck.

Thank You.

Michael Keith Moore, a career criminal who was in the area at the time, confessed to Rachel's murder in August 2006. They worked out a deal if he would plead guilty, and when they went to court the judge asked him how he would plead and he said "not guilty."

cluciano63, I agree Moore is a very good suspect, especially since he was in the area at the time. But I think he just wanted the attention. At the end of the program, he had agreed to speak on camera for the show and then walked in and changed his mind about that too. So I felt by the end of the program that I really didn't think he was guilty. I'm still kind of on the fence about it, but he just seems like the type who really wanted to kind of insert himself into the case and get all the media attention. He also didn't seem to mind jerking Rachel's family around the way he did. I really felt bad for them. They just wanted some resolution to the case and then he gets up there and changes his plea at the last minute!

Someone who I wish they would re-investigate and take a closer look at is Rachel's ex-boyfriend, who apparently made all kinds of threats to her at a party not long before she disappeared. They really didn't say much about him, but I kind of saw a red flag when they mentioned him.

 

[geojeffrey]

Unfortunately, I missed the show. Did they provide any details about her ex that made the threats? Was he from Georgetown? I've been to Georgetown before and her neighborhood doesn't seem to be a place that a random abductor would happen upon; the perpetrator would be from the local area.

 

[OldSteve]

Wife and I watched the ID show last night. Neither of us have any prior knowledge about this case so all is based upon what we saw:
We both very surprised that mentioned of RC's BF and trouble she had with him didn't happen till sometime after she had gone missing. Was it just the way the show presented it, or was this information really not known for as long as it seemed on the show?

Considering it was said the BF was banging on the parents house door at 3AM, etc... that should be the first thing mentioned to LE.

It was mentioned that the BF did live in Georgetown, and that RC's mom saw his vehicle drive slowly by their house after RC had gone missing - if my memory serves me.. I might be wrong, instead of the BF it might have been man who later confessed and then denied it.. Someone else remember?

Considering how unlikely a random stop-and-grab would be in a place like Georgetown - LE should have been all over the BF as soon as the MP report was files.

Once again, as in so many other cases - time was lost when something like this happens in place where it hasn't happened before and LE is a bit naive IMO.

Don't know what to make of the man who "confessed" and then recanted... and then said he would be interviewed for the show and then cancelled that too.. The show did not say much about what he said in his confession...

At the end of the show the sheriff (Larry ?) mentioned repeated searches being conducted on a big piece of local property, but did not say who owned it. Only that he has been receiving ongoing tips about the property.

 

[ThePhantom]

It sure looked like they were pointing the finger directly at the ex boyfriend. I, too, was not aware of him harrassing and pursuing her. Wow. Was he willing to take a lie detector test, I wonder? Her Dad did, why not the ex BF?

 

[cluciano63]

They said a white truck drove by slowly...I did not hear that the ex had one, but they did say that M. Moore had access to one at the time.

They did not really seem to say much about the ex early on, but that could be due to the editing of the show. Still, it would be nice to know if he had an alibi, etc...or was willing to cooperate at all, take a LD test...

 

[geojeffrey]

I lived in Austin when this happened and have followed the case closely though far from expert knowledge. IIRC, the boyfriend was excluded early on. The attention to him must be due to new information. Also, early in the case there were sketches of a person who was seen driving in the neighborhood at the time of the abduction. I dont believe any additional info came from the sketch.

The known murderer who confessed to rachels abduction, is certainly an evil sociopath, but nothing he said could be validated with the scant pieces of physical evidence--and her body has never been found, even after extensive searching. The emphasis on the ex is the most promising lead I've heard of in a a long time.

 

[MaryLiz]

I saved the show on DVR and will watch it again. She had a current boyfriend who lived in San Diego where she went to school. The way I understood it, he had been there with Rachel and her family for Christmas, then he went back to SD early and Rachel stayed there to attend a wedding. I know they gave a polygraph to the boyfriend from SD when he returned to TX to help search for Rachel, but can't remember if the ex who lived in Georgetown took a lie detector test. I just remember thinking it was kind of strange that they dismissed the ex so quickly. He had made threats to her and was driving slowly past her house. I agree, it had to be someone local who was familiar with the area who abducted her.

They did mention 2 guys that drove past Rachel while she was jogging, but ruled them out later when they checked their car and found no DNA evidence, and said they had been skipping school so that's why they weren't too forthcoming when first questioned. They also talked about the white truck cluciano63 mentioned that was similar to one Moore had at the time.

I love the show, but sometimes it's kind of hard to follow. You really have to watch the episodes a couple of times to get all the info straight. I will definitely have to watch it again and see what they said for sure about the ex.

 

[Sharyne]

Can someone please fill me in on what the confession was that was later retracted since I missed the program?

I tried to find a transcript with no luck.

Thank You.

Unfortunately, I missed the show. Did they provide any details about her ex that made the threats? Was he from Georgetown? I've been to Georgetown before and her neighborhood doesn't seem to be a place that a random abductor would happen upon; the perpetrator would be from the local area.

Investigation Discovery repeat all their shows a number of times. Check your guide often, and if you can do a search or can get a menu at INFO, you can look for upcoming shows with this title - at least I can do that on Time Warner.

I followed this case years ago on another MB that had closed down and was glad to see there are still efforts being made on her case. It was so sad, as one of the last times I was at that MB, Rachel's father was posting about how he asked Sylvia Browne if she could "see" anything about Rachel, and Sylvia gave him a 'quick' reply that she is in the water, but didn't know where...that poor man almost lost it while posting that. I had never heard about the ex bf either, he sounds like a POI to me.

 

[MaryLiz]

I watched it again..But I found it on Youtube in four parts. I will post the episodes below.

According to the family, Rachel saw the ex and he made a scene. Rachel's sister said she thought it was plausible that they could have gotten in an argument and something could have happened, given his temper. They were at a Christmas party and he made a scene there as well and started arguing and yelling at her, saying he couldn't live without her and they should be back together. He apparently went to their house around 3:00 one morning drunk and made a scene there too. Rachel's Mom threatened to call the cops and he left. They didn't say he drove by the house slowly. That was the white pickup truck that did that, the one that was similar to the one Michael Moore apparently owned. They didn't give the ex's name and did not mention whether he took a polygraph or not.

That's about all they said about the ex.