GEORGETOWN, Texas — Monday, Jan. 10 marks 20 years since Rachel Cooke vanished while jogging in Georgetown, Texas.
On January 10, 2002, Cooke, who was 19 at the time, went for a run in Georgetown. She was home from college in San Diego at the time. She hasn’t been seen since.
The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office in that time has pursued and exhausted thousands of leads. Still, hope remains.
Spectrum News 1 spoke with Rachel Cooke’s mother, Janet Cooke, a few years ago. She was hopeful someone out there knows what happened.
“Somebody out there knows something. There’s no doubt in my mind. It’s just a matter of them knowing they need to come forward with that information,” Janet Cooke said.
In her home is a wood board with handprints and the words “Rachel Cooke” inscribed.
“All three of them put their little handprints and wrote their name. Rachel did a happy face with a freckle,” said Janet Cooke.
Twenty years after Rachel Cooke disappeared, the paint on the board is dry. The handprints are frozen in time.
“At first when they gave it to me, I put it in the closet. I couldn’t look at it. Too many memories. Then I thought, no, this needs to be out,” said Janet Cooke.
Still, Rachel Cooke’s memory and Rachel Cooke herself are two different things.
“Sometimes you get to where Rachel becomes these things you know now. And that’s not Rachel, you know? Rachel is going to the mall and bending her master card until it can’t bend anymore,” said Janet Cooke.