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The Search for Rachel, a father's journal |
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Friday, November 1 The Sheriff's Office called today. The Travis County Medical Examiner told them that the remains had been buried for over two years, so they couldn't be Rachel's. I feel for the family of the woman.I have decided to fly to Phoenix to watch the NASCAR race next Thursday, November 7. Driver Darrell LaMoure will have Rachel's picture on his car during the race. It is a great honor. My father will be joining me on the day trip there. Tomorrow Greg Allen, the father of missing Sabrina Allen, will appear on AMERICA'S MOST WANTED. Sabrina is now the lead story at http://www.fbi.gov . I hope it will bring Sabrina home to her dad. Saturday, November 2 My wife Janet and I spoke at the Civil Defense Search and Rescue class in Georgetown. This SAR is sponsored by the Williamson County Sheriff's Office. Janet told the story of the first 72 hours of Rachel's disappearance, and I spoke about what happened afterward. We both told the class where improvements need to be made.My sister Elaine finished the press release for the NASCAR race this Thursday. I also contacted two reporters from the ARIZONA REPUBLIC newspaper and told them Darrell LaMoure will feature Rachel's picture on the hood of his car during the race. The AMERICA'S MOST WANTED segment on Sabrina Allen was excellent. AMW has two retired NYPD detectives working on the case. They are investigating leads that show Sabrina's non-custodial mother took her into Mexico. Her father Greg sat next to me at the Texas Missing Children's Conference. Sunday, November 3 I spent most of the day reworking the home page of rachelcookesearch.org. The new page is broken up into tables, and I think it is more readable.Jackie, the sister of missing Kent Jacobs, called today. We talked a long time about what we have each been doing to find our missing loved one. It is especially hard to get any help for Kent. Not too many people want to help with the search for a missing 42-year-old mentally retarded man. It is so depressing. I also told Jackie about a special activity we are planning for January. January 10, 2003, will be the one year anniversary of Rachel's disappearance. I pray to God that Rachel comes home to us before then and we can cancel the event. Monday, November 4 I forgot to mention yesterday that the AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN printed a nice article about Rachel's Hunters' Bulletin in Sunday's newspaper. The article is in the sports section. I really appreciate it.A reporter called today from the ARIZONA REPUBLIC newspaper. He did a quick interview with me about Darrell LaMoure placing Rachel's picture on his NASCAR race car. The reporter had already interviewed Mr. LaMoure. Tuesday, May 5 Today is election day. I will stop by and vote on the way home. I hope the new legislature will follow through by passing laws to help the missing and prevent abductions.My sister Elaine called and said the KVUE 11:30 morning news report had a short story on the NASCAR race this Thursday. My dad and I leave bright and early Thursday morning. It will be a long day with flights to and from Phoenix and the race. A lot of people have commented to me how much they like the new look of the rachelcookesearch.org home page. It needed a facelift, and reworking it makes me feel like I am doing something. Wednesday, November 6 The WILLIAMSON COUNTY SUN called me today. The reporter did a quick interview about the NASCAR race tomorrow. I promised to e-mail them some pictures of Darrell LaMoure's race car with Rachel's picture on the hood.I am spending the night at my parents' house tonight. My father and I have to get up early to catch the 6:30 a.m. flight to Phoenix. I'm sorry that my wife Janet can't go, but we've both been missing too much work lately. Thursday, November 7 My dad and I got up at 4:00 a.m. and drove to the Austin airport. We caught a 6:30 a.m. flight to Phoenix, rented a car, and then drove to Phoenix International Raceway (PIR).PIR is huge. We were both surprised at its size. After walking around a bit, we met up with five members of The Nation's Missing Child Organization and Center for Missing Adults. (NCMA web site) Our group went into the infield and met Darrell LaMoure and his crew. The car was beautiful. The picture of Rachel on the hood was probably 30"x36". Darrell is a super guy. He invited us to rest in his RV in the infield before the race. The owner of a local Mexican food restaurant chain was cooking fajitas, and they offered us some. The food was delicious. While there, I also met Darrell's wife, brother, and father. After a couple of hours, our group moved to the stands to watch the race. The race began at 3:45 p.m. Out of a field of 40 race cars, over 10 dropped out because of mechanical problems or wrecks. I don't think anyone was seriously hurt, but two drivers were taken away by ambulance. Darrell started in the 19th position and moved up into the 10th position. A pit stop during the final yellow flag took him back to 15th position, which is where he finished the race. My dad and I flew back on a 7:50 p.m. flight to Austin that arrived at 10:55. I dropped him off at his house and arrived home around 12:15 Friday morning. It was a very long day. Friday, November 8 I added some pictures from the NASCAR race yesterday on rachelcookesearch.org. There is a link to the pictures in the What's New section of the home page.Scott Craven, a sportswriter for the ARIZONA REPUBLIC newspaper, wrote a nice article about Darrell LaMoure and his quest to help find missing persons. Mr. Craven includes information on Rachel and my quote from our phone interview earlier in the week. The article may be read here. Saturday, November 9 My friend JR sent our care package to Jackie, the sister of missing Kent Jacobs. The package contains some supplies and buttons for next weekend's search for Kent. I can't attend because of a previous commitment for local Search and Rescue training.While I was in Phoenix, the Texas Department of Public Safety announced a new program. Project FINDME lists high-profile missing and endangered persons. It contains names, photos, and information in a statewide list of missing person cases with a possibility of foul play. More information may be found on their web site. Sunday, November 10 I exchanged a few e-mails with Jackie, the sister of missing Kent Jacobs, today. She is hoping for a good turn-out for next weekend's search. Kent was never searched for aggressively like Rachel was. I am praying they find something, so the Jacobs family can have a little closure.Monday, November 11 The WILLIAMSON COUNTY SUN called with a few questions about last week's NASCAR race. The article will be in this Wednesday's edition.I received a reply from COSMOPOLITAN magazine. They will publish the letter to the editor I wrote them in their January edition. The letter contains contact information for both Rachel and Elizabeth Smart. Since both girls are still missing, I wanted to make sure COSMO readers have a phone number to call if they have any information on one of the girls. Somehow I missed the story about the 18-year-old, who was e-mailing the FBI ransom notes about Elizabeth Smart. I'm glad that the creep is 18 so he can be fully prosecuted for extortion. I can't express how angry this guy makes me. Tuesday, November 12 The Kent Jacobs' camp received the care package my friend JR and I sent them. Kent's sister Jackie was all excited. I had some Kent Jacobs buttons made and included those in the package as well as nametags and other supplies.Marie, one of my most dedicated searchers, is traveling to North Carolina to help search for Kent. With Marie and Texas EquuSearch traveling there from Texas, the media in North Carolina should be interested. Wednesday, November 13 I received a call from the Laura Recovery Center today. A new talk show contacted them and asked for a list of missing persons. The show needed a couple of families to appear on a program they were taping this Friday. I told LRC it was okay to give the producer my phone number, and I thanked them for their help.About an hour later a producer for THE ROB NELSON SHOW called me. She asked if I would be willing to appear on their show and I agreed. She also requested that I ask my wife Janet if she would like to be on the show. The taping of the show would be this Friday, so I had to make a decision quickly. While I was on the phone, I asked my boss if it was okay to take Friday off. He said yes. The producer said someone would call back with plane reservation choices to pick from. Janet moved her doctor's appointment to an earlier time and arranged to have a substitute teacher cover her classes on Friday. A second woman contacted me, and I selected a Thursday evening flight to Los Angeles. I also informed her that Janet would be coming with me. The woman then did a quick interview about Rachel's disappearance. The second woman called me back twice, asking more questions, and she told me their travel coordinator would call soon with the exact flight numbers and times. About an hour later the producer called back and said that the main producer decided not to have us on the show. I asked her if it was due to Rachel's age, and she said yes. They only wanted children on Friday's show. I felt like the company was victimizing us. First they asked us to leave the next day; then they string us around for over 4 hours, and then slap us in the face. Thursday, November 14 We began planning for the 2003 Run/Walk for Rachel. Old Settlers Park in Round Rock is reserved for Saturday May 17, 2003. I talked with one possible sponsor today. The sponsors will be announced as they commit.Last night I did a telephone interview with THE GLOBE magazine. The reporter is writing a story on Darrell LaMoure and Rachel. I don't have the date of publication yet. I received a very nice e-mail from a young woman in Australia today. The author of the e-mail has been following Rachel's web site and journal since the INSIDE EDITION segment on Rachel aired there a few months ago. Olivia agreed to let me include her letter in my journal. It is very touching. Here is Olivia's e-mail: "Dear Mr and Mrs Cooke and family. My name is Olivia and I live in Sydney, Australia. I first heard about Rachel's story on Inside Edition here, many months ago. Ever since then I have visited your website every day, hoping and praying that Rachel will be returned to you safely. I am around the same age as Rachel and have a similar life to the one she had - I am 19 and am studying at university. I read your journal every day and today's entry made me feel terrible (Wednesday Nov 13). I guess I finally decided to email you as I imagine you are feeling quite frustrated about the lack of exposure for Rachel. I just wanted to let you now that I, a teenager on the other side of the world knows about it, and is thinking of you all every day. I'm sure there are many others out there whose lives have been touched by your courage and strength, as well as the lesson that Rachel's life bought along with it. I hope that you do not think that my emailing is inappropriate, or a waste of time. I just wanted to let you know that there are people thinking of you. God bless, Olivia M. Sydney, Australia" Thank you Olivia! Friday, November 15 I started the National Association of Search and Rescue class today. It will run all this weekend and next weekend. The course prepares the students for the SAR III and SAR II certification tests. I'm not sure if I will get certified, but the course will give me a good understanding of how search and rescue works.An e-mail arrived today from a lady in Finland. She has been following Rachel's story and reading my journal. Anne gave me permission to publish her e-mail here. "Dear Mr and Mrs Cooke & JoAnn I was encouraged by the email you've received from Australia to write you myself. I am also from another part of the world from Finland,Europe. I read about Rachel on Unsolved Mysteries web page and since then I've been following the case everyday by reading Mr Cooke's journal. Every single day I enter the page I hope and pray that Rachel has been found. It' made me cry to read about what the Rob Nelson Show did to you. I can't understand that why people are not so much interested in missing people if they are over 18, every missing persons is someones child!! I am a mother of one baby boy and it breaks my heart when I think how awful, helpless and sad you feel because Rachel is not there with you. By writing this mail, I want to express my sympathy to you Mr, Mrs and JoAnn Cooke. I wish you strength during this hard time, every night I remember you in my prayers. I pray for Rachel's safe return. I hope you don't think this mail in inappropriate I just wanted to let you know that there's a lot of people thinking and praying for you. God bless, Anne Finland,Europe" Thank you Anne! Saturday, November 16 I attended the second day of Search and Rescue (SAR) training today. Today's class concentrated on supplies to bring to a search, and we also did some compass readings on a course the instructors set up. The course will resume tomorrow morning.Sunday, November 17 The Search and Rescue class ran until 3:00 p.m. today. We concentrated on tracking. The course consisted of classroom and "in the field" instruction.Both the Montgomery County and Travis County Search and Rescue teams believe as I do about searching for people. Everyone is important; no matter what age, race, religion, income, or sex the victim is. These SAR members volunteer to search. They buy their own equipment and pay for their own training. They are the kind of people that make a positive difference in the world! The WILLIAMSON COUNTY SUN ran an article on Darrell LaMoure's NASCAR race car in today's edition. The article included one of the pictures I took of Darrell's number 95 race car with Rachel's picture on the hood. Monday, November 18 I received an e-mail from Jackie, the sister of missing Kent Jacobs. This last weekend's search for Kent went well, but they did not find anything except some clothing. The sheriff's office there is analyzing the clothing to see if it belongs to Kent.Very few tips have been coming through the rachelcookesearch.org web site lately. I wish that someone would come forward with information to help us find Rachel. She's been gone so long. I miss her so much. The coming holidays will be extremely painful. Tuesday, November 19 I talked to the Sheriff's Office today. My wife Janet and I will meet with them on Friday. It's been a while since they have briefed us.My friend Marie is back from the Kent Jacobs' search in North Carolina. It was a rewarding experience for her even though they didn't find Kent. Marie developed some good contacts with people who work in the missing adult world and passed them along to me. Rachel's boyfriend Greg called today. He and his friends have posted thousands of Rachel's flyers in California. A lot of people also contacted him after they saw Rachel's picture in COSMOPOLITAN magazine and watched us on THE JOHN WALSH SHOW. The word about Rachel is really spreading. Wednesday, November 20 I received an e-mail from a mother in South Africa today. She has been following Rachel's story and reading my journal. The woman has also been following missing Sabrina Allen's story. I forwarded her e-mail to Sabrina's father Greg.We picked up a sponsor for the RACHEL'S SONG CD order. A foundation in North Carolina was kind enough to offer to pay for the manufacturing cost. I talked to the CD manufacturer yesterday, and I will be sending them the final CD master and some artwork to start making the CDs. The deal to place Rachel's bumper stickers on interstate trucks has fallen through. It seems that an executive in the trucking company told us they would place the stickers on their trucks even though he didn't have the authority to do so. I now have an extra 1,000 bumper stickers that were purchased for this project. Thursday, November 21 Today was a pretty quiet day. I exchanged a few e-mails with people and looked over the CD order information.I asked a volunteer to make a new title banner for rachelalert.org. I made a temporary banner back in July and never got around to making a new one. A web designer said he would gladly do a few different designs and let me pick the one I like best. The ROB NELSON SHOW called and told me when their show was being broadcast. I guess they forgot that Rachel, Janet, and I are not important to them. Friday, November 22 The Sheriff's Office briefed me today. They are working on a few things they can't tell us about yet. We understand that.Tonight I attended the National Search and Rescue class at Camp Swift. The class continued to cover the various parts of conducting a search. I spent the night in some nice barracks at Camp Swift. Tomorrow night the class will be conducting a night search and camping out in the woods. I hope it won't be too cold. You can't carry a lot when you backpack. Saturday, November 23 The Search and Rescue class began at 8:00 this morning. It was nice not having to drive there like I did last weekend. I learned some new rope knots today. Some of the knots I learned in Boy Scouts many years ago are outdated. Better knots are being used today for things like repelling.We did another compass course today. The terrain was rougher and the points were farther apart than last week's course. I didn't do as well on this one. The night search began after 10:00 p.m. Two bird watchers disappeared and it was our job to track them. Our team, team one, found their car and several footprints from boots. The other two search teams found other clues. About 1:30 a.m. we set camp with the other two search teams. This is where I wish I had taken more in my pack, but it already weighed over 30 lbs. I didn't sleep much at all. Sunday, November 24 I got up around 6:15 a.m. Another searcher had started a fire, and it felt good. The tarp I set up to protect me collapsed half way through the night, so I was cold. Rover One (an SUV with the mission commanders) drove up later and briefed the three team leaders on today's search.Our team's assignment was to search a one mile sretch on a dirt road. We didn't find any clues. The two other teams discovered bootprints and other clues. We backtracked to where we started, and the base radioed us to go to the top of Hill 501. Right before we got to the top of the hill, we ran into team two. After we searched the top of Hill 501, the base radioed us to search one side of a creek while team two searched the other side. While we searched, we did several coordinated whistle blows. We coordinated the whistle blow with teams two and three over the radio. Finally we heard a whistle from another direction. We verified that it wasn't any of the search teams. Our team and team two lined up to perform a line search in the direction of the whistle blows. After just a few minutes we found the two birders. Team three met up with us, and we walked to an area where Rover was and they transported us back to the base. We had lunch and three more hours of lecture. I had a hard time staying awake. Searching through the woods with a heavy pack is not easy. Not getting much sleep made it even harder. I certainly do respect the men and women who do Search and Rescue. They dedicate a great deal of their lives to training and performing searches. Almost all of them volunteer to do this. I'm worn out after trying to keep up with them, but now I know a little more about how they work. Monday, November 25 The December 3 GLOBE magazine features an article on Darrell LaMoure and his NASCAR race car. The article talks about Darrell's return to racing after breaking his neck in February. It also tells how Darrell featured Rachel's picture on the hood of his car during the November 7 race in Phoenix.The article has color pictures of the car, my dad, and me, a picture of Darrell, and most importantly a picture of Rachel. The reporter did an excellent job with the article. I'm still a little sore and tired from last weekend's Search and Rescue class. The search we did while carrying a pack was exhausting. Tuesday, November 26 I received a call from a friend of the Chris Jenkins' family tonight. Chris disappeared on Halloween night from Minneapolis. Three other college-aged students have also disappeared in the Minneapolis area in the past month.The families of the missing adults are having a hard time getting a formal search going. They are also encountering problems with law enforcement not taking enough action with the case. I passed along the phone numbers of Texas EquuSearch and the National Center for Missing Adults. Wednesday, November 27 I had a dream last night that Rachel came home safe. She had no memory of what had happened since January 10, the day she disappeared. I was so happy to have her home that I didn't mind dealing with all of the people who might say she had just left on her own.Then my alarm went off. Nothing had changed. I am still living the same nightmare. Thursday, November 28 My wife Janet and I just couldn't deal with eating the regular Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house this year. Our life is far from normal or "regular" anymore. We needed to do something different.Our friends from Express Gourmets invited us to help serve Thanksgiving dinner to the families at the Ronald McDonald House. We decided to do it. The families there are not able to have Thanksgiving at home, and we decided this was the right thing to do. Janet, our friend JR, and I spent Thanksgiving afternoon at the house and even received a tour of the building. It is a wonderful place for families to stay while they have a loved one in the hospital. When we returned home, I checked my e-mail and it contained a wonderful gift. An e-mail was there from a young woman who was seriously considering suicide. She had been reading Rachel's web site and had seen the intense pain that Janet and I have felt with the loss of Rachel. The young woman decided that she would never put her parents through that kind of pain by taking her own life. This information made a great ending to our day. Friday, November 29 I mailed the RACHEL'S SONG CD package to the manufacturer today. The package included a cover design, but the CD company's artists will design a professional looking cover. Al White sent me a form allowing me to duplicate the song. This protects the copyright.On Thanksgiving I received an e-mail from Erika Dalquist's family. She is one of the missing young adults from the Minneapolis area. They found rachelalert.org and were grateful for the information there. My heart goes out to Erika's family. My wife Janet and I know exactly what they are going through. I will e-mail the family today. Erika's web site is: erikasmissing.com I forgot in Tuesday's journal entry to mention that Chris Jenkins' web site is: findchrisjenkins.com Saturday, November 30 I got caught up on a few things at home today. Sometimes our house gets neglected.We are finalizing the January fundraiser next week. An announcement should be coming out in mid-December. Hopefully the event will bring more awareness of missing persons. |
