Saturday, July 19th, 2008
Local Triumph...and Tragedy.

This was a big news week for Cary. First, the town was ranked #16 on CNN's annual "100 Best Places to Live" list. The town takes pride in that, but seemed a little peeved that it went down three places from last year. My thought was, "well, a lot of towns didn't make the list at all - imagine how peeved they must feel." Still, it's a pretty cool honor.

This story was overshadowed by the disappearance of Nancy Cooper, a young mother of two who went out for a run on a Saturday morning and never came home. The story caught my attention for obvious reasons, but my interest peaked when I learned that her home was less than 1/2 a mile from my apartment, and that her running trail is adjacent to my apartment. On Tuesday, a body was found in an empty lot a mile from my apartment, and the next day the body was identified as the body of Nancy Cooper. I know I keep saying how close these occurances were to my apartment, and that's becuase - being very new here - I tend to orient myself around my apartment; my home base. This hit, literally, very close to home. The story is all over the place - I heard it was even on Nancy Grace (ugh) - and her husband seems to be the center of the investigation. This is such a tragic story, and you can feel the town holding its breath, waiting for answers.

It was truly amazing to watch this town rally to find her. Hundreds of volunteers - most of whom had never met her - showed up. The gathering spot for volunteers was next to my office (her house was right in the middle between my apartment and my office building), and Monday and Tuesday I had trouble getting into work because of the number of volunteers. My thoughts are with her daughters - ages 4 and 2- who will never know their mother in they way they deserve. I hope they find the killer soon.
Tags:  Cary
10 Comments
George
1) Sad story.
LimeyGeorge   Saturday, July 19, 2008
lgrant
2) It's a sad world where a woman cannot run or walk close to her home without risk of being abducted or raped or killed. If it turns out to be her husband, how much more tragic for her children to have their mother killed and their father the murderer. The sad thing is little towns like that are fooled into thinking they are safe and that doesn't happen in little towns but it does and everyone unfortunately needs to be aware, careful and not lulled into thinking a small town makes them safer than some cities. Please be careful yourself. Let us know how the story finally plays out. At least the support of the townspeople should restore some folks faith in their home and neighbors.
LGrant   Saturday, July 19, 2008
ppike
3) Geez, that's terrible.
pegi   Saturday, July 19, 2008
cdcgull
4) Tragic story ~ I do feel for those precious children who cannot understand what is happening to their lives.
cdcgull   Saturday, July 19, 2008
mrsshoo
5) I'm with Linda. This is such a tragic story. And I just wonder what the world is coming to when a woman can't be out by herself.
Casey, I've lived in and around Springfield all my life, and I still relate everything to my home. It's especially frightening when something like this occurs so close to home. Recently a woman was attacked on a bike trail that I frequent and is only a mile or so from my home. Also, I'm originally from a very small town, and I love that small town idea of helping one another out. It's so good to see people come together when tragedy hits.
Mrs. Shoo   Saturday, July 19, 2008
nheinzel
6) This story has been in the news a lot even here in Springfield. It really hit close to home for you, Casey. It's so very sad. Even though the husband is acting very distraught now, it will probably turn out to be him. It almost always is. The children's custody was awarded to someone else yesterday or the day before that.
!   Saturday, July 19, 2008
dazedpink
7) I heard about it on one of the national news channels this morning. Very very sad, my heart is breaking for her daughters.
Jules   Saturday, July 19, 2008
igna83
8) Me too...a child of that age just wants their Momma, and they will never have her again. If it does turn out to be the father, shame on him! Those little girls will never know him either, not only because he will be in prison, but because what child could have a loving, trusting relationship with a parent who has murdered the other? Very tragic story...
Angi   Saturday, July 19, 2008
9) Anybody that lives in the area surrounding Cary, knows about the attitude of Cary, it is a Chapel Hill, wanta bee. I have had a lot of friends from Cary, but they are not from Cary because they left for various resons. There used to be a story that made the rounds: When WFU was in the town of Wake Forest, there was a WFU footballer that had failed North Carolina Geography, so he went to see the instructor, and the instructor said you can pass the course, if can tell what the Capitol of NC is, the student thought and then said "Cary" and the instructor said you get it an A because it is Raleigh; however, Cary is only 9 miles from it, so you get 91 on the course.
hawkwolf   Saturday, August 16, 2008
10) Nancy: you are so right in that it gives any town a bad name to have events like this occur in their town. Right now Raleigh has two of the same type murders, plus Fayetteville and Jacksonville have the murders of military by their husbands or lovers. At least in the Cooper Case the courts acted responsibly and got the children removed from the father.
hawkwolf   Saturday, August 16, 2008
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