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Still no answers regarding the disappearance of 55 year old David Cook of Amsterdam Mo. in 2008. The family refuses to give up hope that evidence will eventually be found to give closure to the case. |
Even in then earliest moments of his disappearance, there was a sinking feeling for Transue and her family. “His two pickup trucks were parked in the same spots as always. His phone, money clip and glasses were also gone, just like he had went somewhere.”
But none of this made sense. How could someone disappear without a trace? Local authorities and volunteers spent days canvassing the area and following leads. Days then turned into weeks, then months and still nothing.
Not having answers is grueling for Transue “Day to day, your mind goes off in different directions.” However, she went on to point out that staying focused and keeping the public aware may indeed be the key. “We’re still hopeful someone will provide some information. Maybe a person who wasn’t willing to talk back then would reveal something now.”
And that does happen. Many times cases such as this are solved years after the fact because someone slips up and says something; or something is just overheard. Another possibility is that a person who didn’t know about this case actually found some evidence in the woods or somewhere such as a pair of glasses or a phone and thought it was just a lost item.
“If we can just keep it top of mind for everyone” said Transue “someone is bound to come across something. Someday we’re going to solve this.”
The disappearance of Cook has been called a ‘cold case’ but Judy was quick to point out that is not true. In fact, it is still an active case (open) according to the Highway Patrol, the Bates County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies. With that, there have been some rumors, which Transue dismissed. She did say that her brother had some cattle stolen earlier that year and the family immediately suspected foul play- however, after a lengthy investigation nothing panned out.
On December 12, 2009 America’s Most Wanted aired a piece on Fox network and while some leads came in following the show, still nothing. Local Kansas City television news have repeatedly aired follow-ups to the story, along with area newspapers and radio stations.
Still, more than a decade later, she remains optimistic. “At some point the information is going to come out and we’re going to know what happened.”
In the meantime the public is asked to drop David’s name and keep discussions going about what might have happened while keeping eyes and ears open; and of course, any information, no matter how insignificant it may be deemed should be reported to authorities. More information can be found online at www.finddavidcook.com.