55 replies to this topic

[Kelly]

http://www.statesman...16/16moore.html

Moore said he toyed with investigators

Convicted killer explains why he recanted confession in disappearance of Rachel Cooke.

By Chuck Lindell
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Saturday, June 16, 2007

The last time Michael Keith Moore surfaced in public, he was expected to admit to kidnapping and killing Rachel Cooke, whose 2002 disappearance still haunts her family and Williamson County.  But Moore, serving life sentences for a 2003 murder, pleaded not guilty in November in the Cooke case - reneging on a deal with prosecutors and dragging the Cooke family through another round of bitter disappointment.

Now Moore, in his first prison interview since that surprise plea, said he was telling the truth when he pleaded not guilty. He claims he duped investigators because he was getting special treatment in prison, including extra visits with his ex-wife and having prison infractions wiped off his record, as long as he cooperated.

Investigators, calling Moore a born manipulator, aren't buying his story.

Cooke's father isn't sure what to think.

"It's kind of hard to tell with this guy. He's probably a compulsive liar. He's a predator, and that's part of the way he goes after people is to lie," Robert Cooke said. "He's definitely a suspect, and they have to look closely at him. But based on his history, how much of what he says can you believe?

"I'm hoping somehow we can piece all this together. Either get more evidence on him, or else omit him," Robert Cooke said.

Shortly after his not guilty plea, Moore scheduled - then canceled - interviews with several TV and newspaper reporters. The American-Statesman published a profile of Moore in December that characterized him as a narcissist who craves attention and who believes his intelligence allows him to toy with, and outwit, investigators.

Moore, who has spent most of his adult life in prison, took exception to that article in a January letter to the newspaper, but fell silent when invited to give his version of events.

Since January, no investigators have interviewed Moore in prison, and after four months without contact, Moore sent a letter to the Statesman in mid-May offering to talk. "Earlier the better for me," he wrote. "I will not cancel out this time."

Sitting behind the bullet-proof glass in the visitors lounge of the Hughes Unit in Gatesville, with his thick forearms heavily tattooed, Moore was wary at first and asked if the reporter was acting on behalf of the FBI or Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley.

He warmed to the task of describing how investigators should have seen the holes in his story about kidnapping Cooke, who was 19 when she disappeared. And he apologized to the Cooke family for promising closure in the case and then failing to deliver.

"I can imagine them thinking their daughter, their loved one, just disappeared again right there in that court. That's what I feel so bad about," said Moore, 31.

For Robert Cooke, the apology rings hollow: "That's the part I don't believe. I don't think he cares."

Moore insists that he got caught up in a game with investigators, especially Fred Rhea with the FBI's violent crimes task force. Rhea was the one who brought up Rachel Cooke, Moore said, and he played along, right up to his confession.

"I already went so far, I guess you could say I made my bed, so I had to lie in it," Moore said. "I guess you could say I was basically being an (expletive), thinking about what benefits I could get from this guy coming to see me, this FBI guy."

Changing his story

Moore told investigators that he was driving around Georgetown on the morning of Jan. 10, 2002, in search of businesses or homes to break into. He said he drove past Cooke, who was jogging. He pulled over and parked, he said, and then ran a short distance in front of his truck before turning around. Pretending to be out jogging, Moore said, he timed his run so he and Cooke would meet at his truck, where he hit her in the head with a hammer.

He told investigators he drove her to another location and raped her, hid her body in the truck's large toolbox, and then drove to Matagorda Bay to hide the body.

He changed his plea in court, Moore said, because he didn't want to help "somebody get away with murder."

Bradley, the district attorney, scoffs at that notion.

"I would note that Michael Keith Moore is serving four life sentences, is a psychopathic killer, a proven pathological liar, and has repeatedly used the media to manipulate his circumstances. It would appear to me that he's attempting to manipulate the media once again," Bradley said.

Before his February 2006 trial in the murder of Christina Moore, no relation, Michael Moore made several calls to KVUE-TV, saying he was innocent but knew who had killed the Round Rock woman. He declined to reveal names for fear that his wife would be killed, KVUE reported.

In fact, Moore slit Christina Moore's throat as she kneeled in her bedroom closet on Sept. 23, 2003. She was 35 and three months pregnant.

Prosecutors sought a capital murder verdict, and possible death sentence, but jurors declined — finding Moore guilty of murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping.
Before his sentence could be imposed, Moore pleaded guilty and received concurrent life sentences.

Investigators, stumped for years by Cooke's disappearance, approached Moore last year in the belief that somebody who had killed once might have killed before.

Moore's confession was the product of repeated meetings, including a supervised visit to Matagorda Bay, where Moore said he pointed out the cove where he threw Cooke's body, covered in a tarp and weighed down by rocks.

Searches revealed no sign of her body.

Speaking this week from prison, Moore said he lied about the cove, choosing a secluded spot after being driven around the bay for several hours.

He also said his confession about Cooke's disappearance should have raised questions, such as:

How could he have feigned jogging in street clothes?  Wouldn't a hammer-carrying jogger, or one running with one arm behind his back, raise suspicions?

If Moore was casing businesses for a break-in, wouldn't they have been open by the time Cooke disappeared, estimated to be after 9:15 a.m.?

Moore also said he gave away the large metal toolbox, which he had claimed was used to hide Cooke's body, two months before Cooke's disappearance.

Finally, he said, he was so muscular after lifting weights before his 2000 release from prison, "I wouldn't need a hammer. That's something (investigators) would know."

Bradley declined to discuss an ongoing investigation.  "We're going to behave professionally and not have a public debate about Michael Moore," Bradley said.

"We are going to continue to collect evidence in hopes that someday we can prosecute him for the death of Rachel Cooke."  Rachel's Cooke's father said he merely hopes for some finality.

"We just don't know. We've got (Moore) out there, but I don't think we should 100 percent focus on him, based on the lies that he's told in the past," Robert Cooke said.

"It's hard for me to know what part of that story is true right now."

[Kelly]

Rachel has been missing for 6 years today. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family.

Kelly

[Denise]

http://www.news8aust...asp?ArID=197950

Georgetown girl's disappearance spans six years

1/10/2008 5:15 PM
By: News 8 Austin Staff
   
Rachel Cooke has been missing for six years.   

Rachel Cooke disappeared during a jog in Georgetown, six years ago Thursday. No one has seen her since.

She vanished near her family's home there. Since then there have been few leads.

Last year there was a possible break when Michael Keith Moore, who was convicted of killing a Round Rock woman, was expected to plead guilty to Rachel's murder.

At the surprise of lawyers, including Rachel's family, Moore pleaded not guilty.

The Williamson County Sheriff's Office continues to investigate this case, and Michael Moore remains in prison.

Cooke's family is offering a $50,000 reward for pertinent information leading to her disappearance.

[Denise]

http://www.keyetv.co...bc-dc64ef6dd306

Rachel Cooke's family holds memorial

 Reporter: Alexis Patterson
Email: adpatterson@keyetv.com
Last Update: 6:33 pm  

Rachel Cooke disappeared in 2002.

Rachel Cooke's parents say the search never ends

Family and friends gathered to remember Rachel Cooke, the Georgetown college student who disappeared six years ago, at a vigil Thursday night.

They met near a tree planted in her honor at Georgetown High School to remember the exact date of her disappearance.

Rachel was 19 when she mysteriously disappeared. She was out jogging a couple of blocks from her parents' Georgetown house.

Investigators say while they check out every lead, tips are thin right now.

Every day is agonizing for Rachel's parents and sister, but Jan. 10 is even worse.

"Because you think back and it means it's another year with knowing nothing, no more than the first day, and that bothers me. I feel like I should have known something by now," Rachel's mother, Janet Cooke said.

On Thursday her loved ones will visit the tree and tell stories about Rachel, trying to drown out the bad memories with good ones

A convicted killer once claimed he murdered Rachel, then recanted. Rachel's father said Michael Keith Moore is still considered a suspect. There is a 50-thousand dollar reward for information in the case.

[Denise]

http://www.keyetv.co...50-f7ea314b061f

Parents say search never ends for Rachel Cooke

Reporter: Alexis Patterson
Email: adpatterson@keyetv.com
Last Update: 1/07 10:36 pm 

Parest Continue Search for Rachel Cooke

Rachel Cooke disappeared in 2002. A Georgetown college student’s parents are trying to generate new leads in the case of her disappearance six years ago.

Rachel Cooke was last seen about a block from her home while out for a jog. She was home from college for the winter break.

“I don't know if I've known anybody as in love with life as her,” her mother Janet Cooke said.

Their love for Rachel is unyielding, but much has changed in the lives of Robert and Janet Cooke. They divorced after Rachel's disappearance. Both left the home where Rachel grew up.

“Everywhere I looked reminded me of her. This is where we had the pinata party. Her handprints were on the shed we built,” Janet said.

The Cookes believe someone abducted Rachel after watching her jog the same route. She wore earphones, something they think kept her from being completely aware of her surroundings.

“There are joggers out there with headphones on, not paying attention to what's going on. In the past I used to stop and say something to them. But lately there's so many. You can't stop everybody,” Janet said.

But they will stop at nothing to keep Rachel's story in the spotlight, because they believe someone knows what happened to the 19-year-old.

“Was she very safety conscious? Not as much as I'd like. I bought her some pepper spray and bugged her to carry it,” Robert said.

Hundreds searched for Rachel. Her parents carried on an active search for eight months, and psychics came calling.

“They have her all the way from California to Mexico to Rhode Island,” Robert said.

Robert has reached out to other families. He even visited Aruba once to look for Natalee Holloway.

The Cookes' own struggle goes on every day. Janet says sometimes she just goes through the motions, but she doesn't quit.

“I won't let whoever did this win that battle,” she said.

It's a battle that doesn't go away. Credit companies wouldn't let Robert close Rachel's accounts, so collection agencies still call a few times a month asking for her. Some find the story hard to believe.

“At first you can't believe someone would harm her. She was such a good soul,” Janet said.

The sheriff's office says tips are running thin right now.. But they check out every lead. There is still a $50,000 reward for information in the case.

A convicted killer once claimed he murdered Rachel, then recanted. Robert said Michael Keith Moore is still considered a suspect.

Rachel's parents plan to hold a ceremony at her alma mater, Georgetown High School, on Jan 10, the date of her disappearance.

[Denise]

http://www.kvue.com/...1bbca3.html?npc

Rachel Cooke remembered on anniversary of disappearance

08:39 PM CST on Thursday, January 10, 2008

KVUE News

Thursday marks the sixth anniversary of the disappearance of Rachel Cooke.

A candlelight ceremony was held at Georgetown High School Thursday evening.

A candlelight ceremony was held at Georgetown High School Thursday evening.  Robert and Janet Cooke, were at the ceremony with friends.  They circled a tree dedicated to Rachel's memory and told stories about her life.

The 19-year-old college student was last seen jogging near her Georgetown home on January 10, 2002.

In November 2006, convicted murderer Michael Moore backed out of a deal to plead guilty to Cooke's death.

Now a special task force is using information Moore provided to try and build a case against him.

[Kelly]

http://news8austin.c...asp?ArID=220903

Making Central Texas safer for children

9/29/2008 7:33 PM
By: Karina Kling

Realizing your child is missing can be a parent's worst nightmare.

An estimated 800,000 children are reported missing every year in the United States and in 2006 more than 60,000 were reported missing in Texas alone and Texas law enforcement is taking a step forward to keep kids safe.

It's been almost seven years since Rachel Cooke of Georgetown went missing during an afternoon run.

A community came together hoping to find success with their search but as time went on those efforts became fewer and fewer.

Rachel Cooke's father, Robert said looming questions and uncertainty remains.

"It's hard because most people have gone back to their lives who were helping us before and that's understandable but we still have an open and we need to have it filled," he said.

Now he says the hope of finding answers about his daughter's disappearance might be within closer reach.

"Every bit of information out there and every bit of aid that can be brought forward can help in a situation like ours," he said.

Diane Allbaugh, an Austin businesswoman said every child deserves to feel safe.

"By our actions here we have declared, not here, not in Texas and not our children," Allbaugh said.

Hoping to find some of the missing faces and prevent future abductions, local leaders like Allbaugh led the effort to make Austin a new home to one of only four regional offices for The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

"This is going to make the southwest safer for children," America's Most Wanted host John Walsh said.

Walsh is also the founder of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

He was on hand to help train more than 100 Texas law enforcement officers Monday to better crack down on area abductions.

"I don't know that will lead to anywhere but you can always hope," Cooke said.

The new southwest regional office will cover several states and will be fully funded by private donations, except for two case managers.

[Jenn]

New Project Jason printable poster for Rachel:

http://www.projectja...RachelCooke.pdf

[Jenn]

http://www.news8aust...=228760&SecID=2

Georgetown family keeps search alive for missing daughter

1/10/2009 5:26 PM
By: Heidi Zhou

Rachel Cooke was 19-years-old when she went missing. She'd be 26 today.

Finding closure in a tragedy is an unimaginable task to cope with and it's even more difficult to move on in life when there are looming unanswered questions.

The Cooke family has lived in that void for seven years.

"I've had people tell me to just get over it. What they don't understand is she's a piece of my heart. When you take it out, you never get over it," Rachel Cooke's mother, Janet said.

Rachel Cooke was 19-years-old when she went on a morning jog and never returned home.

"She'd probably have her own boutique or line of fashion wear," Janet said.

Many questions remain but both parents are certain that someone is still at large.

"Someone's still out there. Someone took her and they need to find him and bring him to justice," Robert Cooke said. "We'd also like to bring her home."

That need has driven the Cooke family to undertake endless walks, ceremonies and other public events for Rachel.

Rachel Cook went missing seven years ago today and the Cooke family is still searching for answers.

The family's most recent effort in finding answers is through a billboard. It contains the same information they've been giving for the last seven years. It advertises a $50,000 reward and a description of Rachel Cooke on the day she disappeared.

"I can't even imagine how anybody could hurt somebody with such a good heart. It just doesn't make sense," Janet Cooke said.

But the Cooke's aren't giving up just yet.

"It's not over. We don't know. Until I know, I'm going to keep going," she said.

Convicted murderer Michael Keith Moore confessed in 2006 to killing Rachel Cooke. But prosecutors dropped the murder charge after Moore pleaded not guilty during the trial. Cooke's family said right now the police have no promising leads.

They ask that if you have information about Rachel Cooke's disappearance, please call the Williamson County Sheriff's Office at (512) 943-1312.

[Kelly]

http://www.statesman.../0111cooke.html

Seven years later, Rachel Cooke's family still looking for answers
Family and friends marked the anniversary of Cooke's disappearance on Saturday.


By Miguel Liscano
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Janet Cooke says she wakes up every morning hopeful that day will be the day her daughter Rachel's disappearance is solved.

But every night for the last seven years, she said, she's fallen asleep disappointed.

"It's rough," she said. "But I'm not giving up."

Rachel Cooke was 19 when she disappeared Jan. 10, 2002, during a daytime jog near her parents' home northwest of Georgetown. After a massive search, thousands of leads that went nowhere and one apparently phony confession, Cooke remains missing.

Still, her family perseveres.

On Saturday afternoon, more than a dozen family members and friends gathered by a billboard with Rachel's picture in North Austin to mark the anniversary of the day she vanished. The billboard is along southbound Interstate 35 just north of Grand Avenue Parkway.

"I miss her," Cooke said. "Regardless of who it was who took her, he owes the family the decency of at least letting us know what happened.

"We know no more now than we knew that first day. And that's got to change."

The billboard, paid for by Reagan Outdoor Advertising along with the Williamson County district attorney's office, went up in mid-December, said Robert Cooke, Rachel's father. It includes numbers for the sheriff's office, 512-943-1300, and CrimeStoppers, 1-800-253-STOP, in case passers-by want to share information.

"We want everybody to keep their eyes and ears open," Robert Cooke said. "We need to bring Rachel home."

Her family also maintains a Web site, www.rachelcookesearch.org, to help in the search.

Robert Cooke said he, along with law enforcement, received thousands of tips just after his daughter disappeared — from psychics trying to help to random people providing false information.

These days, he said, he gets about a dozen e-mails or calls a year from people telling him they know where Rachel can be found.

So far, none of the tips has panned out.

Only one person, Michael Moore, has ever been charged in connection with Cooke's disappearance.

In 2006, Moore, already serving concurrent life sentences for the 2003 murder of Christina Moore in her Round Rock home, told authorities he killed Cooke and pointed them to where he supposedly left her body.

But just when he was expected to plead guilty to her death in a Williamson County courtroom, he backed out of a plea agreement with the district attorney's office.

Her body was never found.

Robert Cooke said Moore's insertion into the case resulted in some thinking it has been solved.

"A lot of people think the case is over, that it's closed," he said. But "Rachel still hasn't come home."

He said he hopes that the sign helps and that one day someone will call with the tip that leads him to his daughter.

"Somebody knows something," he said.

[Kelly]

http://www.keyetv.co..._Lx5uFb-jA.cspx

Georgetown family puts up billboard for missing daughter

CBS 42 Reporter: Rebecca Taylor
Last Update: 1/10 10:55 pm 

The family of a woman missing for seven years is still holding onto hope.

Hoping a new billboard might help locate her and prevent other women from disappearing.

The new billboard along I-35, just south of Grand Ave. Parkway, displays a picture of Rachel Cooke and offers a $50,000 reward for information that could help the Cooke family locate their daughter

Saturday, there was a service on the side of the highway to remember the girl that disappeared.

“When I found out she was running at the time, I was heartbroken,” said Angie King, a friend of Rachel Cooke’s.

Rachel Cooke was jogging near her parents Georgetown home the last time anyone saw her.

It has been seven long years of heartache for the parents left behind who hope this billboard will generate new leads.

“I think the chances of her being alive are very, very slim, we have a little hope that she's there, but even if she's not, we need to bring her home,” said Rachel’s father, Robert Cooke.

Friends who knew her from high school, where she ran track, are determined to find answers.

“We will find her. One way or another we will find her and we will bring her home,” friend Melinda Dycus said.

Family and friends believe pleading with the public will help.

“If everybody needs anything please just give a call and bring some answers to her family and friends it's been a long time,” King said.

Rachel’s mother, Janet Cooke, says she'll never stop looking.

“We ain't quitting till it's over. Sometimes you gotta keep being a squeaky wheel,” Janet said.

She says she hopes someone, somewhere, will help her find the daughter she lost.

Anyone with any information about the case is asked to call the Williamson County Sheriff's department.

[Kelly]

http://www.examiner....o-Remember-2009

On the Road to Remember 2009

August 23, 9:04 PM
Williamson County Conservative Examiner
Lisa Birkman

The Community United Effort (CUE) Road to Remember for the Missing Persons held a rally stop on their nationwide tour Saturday in Williamson County to bring attention to one of the missing here in our area, Rachel Cooke. The tour began in Roberson County, North Carolina on Aug. 18th and continues for twelve days and having traveled 4,819 miles. CUE Founder Monica Caison is leading the volunteers and said, “After so many years, these cases fade from the public’s radar, but for the families and friends of the missing, the nightmare continues every minute of every day.”  According to Ms. Caison, 700,000 to 850,000 children and adults are found to be missing each year in the USA.

Rachel Cooke is one of the that large number and has been missing since the morning of Jan. 10, 2002 when she left her home near Georgetown to go on her customary three to four mile jog. She was twenty years old at the time of her disappearance. There is a $50,000 reward for information that leads to finding her. Those with information can call the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office at 512-943-1300 or Crimestoppers 1-800-253-STOP. The Sheriff’s Office is the lead investigative unit in the case as the disappearance took place in the unincorporated part of the county in the North Lake subdivision near Lake Georgetown.

Rachel’s family members attended the rally, held at the Hampton Inn and Suites near Lakeline Mall. CUE distributed DVD’s and other information about missing persons. Music and refreshments were also provided.

According to their website, the tour was created to bring awareness to missing person cases. The tour was inspired by the disappearance in North Carolina of Leah Roberts, a college student, in 2004. The first tour retraced her trip across the country in hopes of bringing media awareness and attention to help find her. Unfortunately, Miss Roberts has not been found, but the tour continues to bring awareness of missing person cases, especially those that have gone “cold.”

On their website,  the Cooke family thanks CUE for their generosity. I have met the Cookes several times at various victims’ rights events. Most of the family still lives in the Georgetown area. They continue to look for Rachel and also put on self-defense seminars for young women through a charity they started called Rachel Alert.

For more info: Go to www.rachelcookesearch.org or www.rachelalert.org.

[Kelly]

From the Family:

All,

My missing daughter, Rachel Cooke, will be featured on "Disappeared". The details are below.

Disappeared episode 401: Rachel Cooke will air Monday April, 4th at 9:00 ET on the Investigation Discovery channel. 

Robert Cooke

[Lori Davis]

http://investigation...chel-cooke.html

Rachel Cooke
Missing since January 10, 2002

Rachel Cooke, 19, a popular and pretty, young co-ed, is home visiting her family in Georgetown, Texas, on winter break. When they last see her, it is 8:00am and she is asleep. In a phone call to her boyfriend in San Diego at 9:00, she says she is going for her usual 6 mile run. Witnesses see her jogging in her quiet, semi-rural neighborhood as late as 10:45am. Sometime after that, on January 10, 2002, Rachel Cooke disappears without a trace. She isn't home when her family returns that evening. But her purse and cell phone and other belongings are all there. Puzzled, at first her family believes Rachel will soon return, but when she isn't home in the morning, they know something has happened.

Her father, Robert Cooke drives her jogging route looking for signs of Rachel. Her mother, Janet, checks the hospitals. Finally they go to the Sheriff's office to report their daughter missing. At first, police assure the family that Rachel has just gone off for a bit and will soon return. There has never been an abduction in Williamson County, Texas. But it soon becomes clear that Rachel isn't coming home.

On Sunday, January 13, 2002, a full-scale search is launched with the Sheriff's office, Texas Rangers, FBI and hundreds of volunteers involved. Over the next months hundreds of square miles will be searched by foot and by horseback. Divers will hunt in lakes and ponds. Thousands of flyers will be pinned up, but no trace of Rachel is found.

Investigators comb her neighborhood for witnesses. Hundreds of tips come in mentioning suspicious vehicles sighted in the area on the day Rachel disappeared. Police sketch artists come up with composite drawings which are released to the media, but lead nowhere. Possible persons of interest are investigated but no one is charged.

The family is devastated. Robert Cooke tries to keep attention on his daughter's case with a daily journal and numerous media interviews. Rachel's mother, Janet, sinks into a depression. Eventually the strain over their daughter's disappearance splits up her parents and they get a divorce. The case goes cold.

In 2004, an official new effort to solve the mystery of Rachel's disappearance revives the case. The Rachel Cooke Task Force is manned by local investigators, Texas Rangers, an FBI detective and the City of Austin Cold Case Unit, but while detectives interview new suspects and follow leads, they are not able to charge anyone.

Then in August of 2006, there is an unexpected development in the case. A convicted murderer approaches investigators with a disturbing story. Under interrogation, he makes a startling confession that could finally put the mystery of Rachel's disappearance to rest.

[Lori Davis]

Cooke Family Hosts Service for Missing Daughter & Community

by Web Update Producer
kvue.com
Posted on January 15, 2012 at 10:18 AM

The family of Rachel Cooke is hosting today, a service to remember the missing Georgetown woman and to say thank you to those who have tried to find her and bring her home.

January 10th marked the tenth anniversary of Cooke's disappearance.

The 19-year-old went jogging near her family's home in Georgetown on January 10, 2002 and was never seen again.

Her family, friends, police and volunteers have been searching for her ever since.

Read more: http://www.kvue.com/...-137376878.html

[Lori Davis]

Somber 10th anniversary of missing Georgetown woman

by QUITA CULPEPPER / KVUE News
kvue.com
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 6:30 PM
Updated Monday, Jan 9 at 8:22 PM

GEORGETOWN, Texas -- On January 10, 2002, 19-year-old Rachel Cooke was jogging near her parent's home in Georgetown when she vanished without a trace.
The young woman was never found.

“I remember the call, that I needed to go over to North Lake and there was going to be a search,” said Sgt. John Foster with the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department. Foster was on patrol the day Cooke disappeared.

Read more: http://www.kvue.com/...-136973238.html