Body found in area of jogger search

     Law enforcement vehicles and an ambulance on Fielding Drive near Cary near the location where a body was discovered Monday evening. Wake County Sheriff Harrison said the body was found alongside a cul-de-sac in an area of a subdivision where new houses were under construction.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

CARY - A body has been found in the undeveloped area of an upscale neighborhood that police think may be the missing Cary jogger, Nancy Cooper.

Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison said a man discovered the body when he was walking his dog about 7:30 p.m. near an undeveloped cul de sac in The Oaks at Meadowridge. The only houses nearby were under construction or still unoccupied in a neighorhood where homes are priced upwards of $500,000, according to the Web site of the development’s builder, Toll Brothers.

Investigators have not confirmed that it is Cooper, but police think it could be because of the proximity to where she was last seen in Cary’s Lochmere neighborhood, according to Cary Police Chief Pat Bazemore.

An autopsy would be performed this morning to try and confirm the identity, Harrison said.

Cooper’s husband, Brad Cooper, told investigators he last saw his wife when she left home at 7 a.m. Saturday for a jog. Nancy Cooper, 34, was reported missing at 2:51 p.m. Saturday by a friend, Jessica Adam, Bazemore said at a news conference Monday afternoon.

Adam said that Cooper was supposed to join her Saturday morning at Adam’s house to help paint her dining room. The friends had a deal: Cooper was going to help paint; then Adam was going to help Cooper organize her house. Both were runners, training for the Rock’n’Roll Half Marathon on Aug. 31 in Virginia Beach, Va.

When Cooper didn’t show up, Adam called Brad Cooper. She said he told her that his wife had gone for a run with a friend, but he wasn’t sure which friend. Adam said he later called to say he thought the friend was someone named Carrie and wanted to know whether Adam knew how to contact Carrie.

Adam knew someone by that name but said she didn’t know the woman’s last name and did not have her phone number. Cooper said he was going to continue looking for Carrie’s phone number and hung up, Adam said. Adam said she felt that something had gone wrong and called police.

Cary police said Monday that Brad Cooper was cooperating, answering questions and allowing them to search his house and cars. About 3:45 p.m. Monday, police searched the couple’s BMW sedan and BMW SUV. They also removed a Louis Vuitton purse from one vehicle.

Nancy Cooper’s parents, Donna and Garry Rentz of Edmonton, Alberta, and her identical twin sister, Khrista Lister, of Toronto arrived Monday morning.

Garry Rentz said the family was “overwhelmed” by the support of Cary residents. Bazemore said the degree of community interest and involvement in the search was unprecedented.

 

 

source:http://www.newsobserver.com/news