Events planned to keep the public informed of woman's disappearance
By: Kelly Kyle and Web Staff
Central Texans continue to keep news of Rachel Cooke's possible kidnapping in people's minds.
It has been three-and-a-half months since the 19-year-old Georgetown woman left her home for a jog and then disappeared. The search for a suspect involved in her disappearance continues.
"It's still the thing we think about when we wake up in the morning and the thing we think about when we go to bed at night," said Robert Cooke of his daughter.
"I spend everyday thinking about the next search, about the next fliers we can post, activities to keep it in the media."
The Cooke family believes Rachel was abducted from the roadway during her morning jog or possibly from her house when she returned. After months of searching her Northlake subdivision and most all of the Georgetown area no evidence has been recovered.
"Personally I think it was premeditated," Robert Cooke said. "I don't think that someone could have carried this out in the broad daylight in a subdivision without thinking about it first or else some evidence would have been left."
"Through tips from the general public we were able to identify every individual that we put out composites or descriptions of, which is a good thing," said Sgt. Mike Lummus of the Williamson County Sheriff's Office.
He said investigators were successful in tracking down witnesses in the area at the time Rachel disappeared. "It was very necessary for us to identify them if for no other reason to eliminate them."
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Although investigators are keeping an open mind as to what may have happened, there are just too many unanswered questions and still no suspects.
"At this point we haven't been able to answer the main questions and obviously the main questions are, 'What happened? Where did it happen? Where did it happen along her route? Did she get back home before it happened? Is this someone that she knows? Or stranger on stranger?' Those things are still missing," said Sgt. Lummus.
Investigators said keeping the public informed about the case will stimulate additional information about the disappearance.
This Saturday there will be a 5K run and walk honoring Rachel, who was an accomplished cross country runner herself. It will be held at Old Settler's Park in Round Rock. Register for the run/walk at any RunTex location or visit www.rachelcookesearch.org.
On Sunday, there will be a self defense class for women at Southwestern University in Georgetown.
University Police Chief Deborah Brown formed the class after Rachel Cooke’s disappearance sparked concern in the community.
"The women are coming to all of us an saying, ‘What can we do different, as far as jogging, as far as walking in public?’ Some of the tips we're giving people is to not jog alone, to definitely, if you are jogging alone, not wearing the headphones because sometimes that gets you into the mindset where you don't realize what's going on in your environment,” Brown said.
The Self Defense Class will be Sunday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Southwestern University gym.
Donations collected at the class will go to the Rachel Cooke Reward Fund.