Updated 07/10/2002 03:47 PM
Community remembers Cooke, now missing for 6 months
It was six months ago this week when Rachel Cooke left her home for a morning jog and never returned. Police are still investigating what happened, and her family wants your help.
"It has been six months today since Rachel disappeared, and we want to get the word out to people that she is still missing,” said Rachel’s aunt, Elaine Cooke-Hettenhausen, while placing a bumper sticker on a car. “And we want whoever has her to return her. We want people to remember Rachel today of all days."
After numerous searches, investigations and help from the community to find her, the Cooke family is now asking for a different type of assistance – emotional support.
Specifically, her father, Robert Cooke, asked people "to take a little pause in their day today around 11:30 [a.m.], to take a moment of silence. Or maybe if you're in your car, [you can] turn your headlights on, [or] put a yellow ribbon on for Rachel and all the other missing people that are out there now."
Rachel's neighborhood wasted no time responding to the family's wishes. Together with the Cookes, they took that 11:30 moment, walking in silence from the spot where Rachel was last seen jogging near her home.
"There is no immunity to being abducted; there is an awareness we need now. It can happen, and it can happen to you," said Janet Cooke, Rachel’s mother.
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Police say a full-time detective is still assigned to the case, but right now there are no new leads. That's why the Cooke family hopes this type of emotional support from the community keeps Rachel's case alive in the minds of people who can help find her.
There is a reward of up to $50,000 if you can help solve Rachel's case. Police are still looking for a blue Camaro with a white stripe. It was seen near the location where she disappeared.
If you have any information about Rachel's case, call the Williamson County Sheriff's Office at (512) 943-1300, or submit tips to www.rachelcookesearch.org.