Friend reported Cary mom as missing, police say

Cary, N.C. — Investigators conducted interviews while officers and hundreds of volunteers searched Monday for a Cary mother of two whose friend reported her missing after she didn't show up for a planned visit Saturday afternoon.

Police say no one has reported seeing Nancy Cooper, 34, after a dinner party in the neighborhood that ended late Friday night. They said they do not believe she had any identification on her Saturday when she apparently left the house.

Jessica Adam, a friend, reported Cooper missing at 2:15 p.m. Saturday when she failed to show up for a visit, police said at a news conference Monday evening.

"We don't know why the husband didn't report her missing," Cary police Chief Pat Bazemore said.

Brad Cooper told police his wife went out for a jog around 7 a.m. Saturday but did not return by 9 a.m. as planned.

He thanked the volunteers searching for his wife at Monday evening’s news conference and urged anyone with information about his wife to come forward, but he did not answer any questions.

Bazemore said that Brad Cooper is being cooperative and has agreed to let the police search the couple's house and cars. She said he had also told police that they were experiencing marital problems.

Police described Cooper as being 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing about 120 pounds, with hazel eyes and brown hair that goes just past her shoulders. She was last seen wearing a T-shirt, running shorts and light blue running shoes.

Anyone with information about Cooper’s whereabouts is asked to call the Cary Police Department at 919-469-4016 or Crime Stoppers at 919-226-CRIM(E).

"We consider her to be alive and a missing person, at this time," Bazemore said at a news conference Monday afternoon. "And our goal is tor bring her home."

Cooper's father, mother and identical twin sister traveled from Canada to assist in the search.

"We have been here today to help find Nancy," Cooper's father, Garry Rentz said. "We believe she will be brought home soon. And we thank the community for the support that they've given and ask they continue in their effort to find our daughter."

About 200 people joined search parties that covered the areas of Lochmere Lake and Regency Park, which were believed to be routes Cooper regularly jogs. They also posted more than 2,000 fliers.

"The police have asked us to look a little bit further off the trail," search organizer Mike Morwick said Monday. "Yesterday, we covered every trail in the Lochmere Regency area. We're just going further, we're looking further into the brush to see if there's anything that might raise suspicion."

Crews also searched in and around Lochmere Lake for Cooper, and Bazemore said Monday afternoon they also searched near Lake Wheeler and Lake Johnson.