My July 2003 Journal by Robert Cooke

The Search for Rachel, a father's journal

Tuesday, July 1, 2003

I think I'm finally on the mend today. I'm still taking it easy with what I eat and drink, but I'm getting stronger. I'll probably be able to go back to work tomorrow.

The handmade rosary for Rachel came yesterday from the Mission Rosaries and Outreach Ministries. It is beautiful! I'm going to take a picture of it, and if it turns out well I will put the photo on Rachel's web site. Thank you, Annie and all.

Wednesday, July 2

The search is continuing in the Waco area for missing Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy. A lot of national media focus has been put on the case because of his sports status at the school. Texas EquuSearch has traveled there, but TES is waiting for law enforcement permission to begin a search.

My wife Janet and I have a briefing with the Williamson County Sheriff's Office tomorrow morning. It's been quite a while since our last briefing. I hope they have some news to tell us this time.

Thursday, July 3

My wife Janet and I had a briefing with the Williamson County Sheriff's Office this morning. They are still working on one of the same leads they had during our last briefing in April. I passed along a few tips which were e-mailed to me via Rachel's web site.

My stomach is finally getting back to normal after the illness. In a few days I should be back to normal.

Friday, July 4

Holidays are always the hardest. They bring back a few good memories, and then you realize what has happened. We will probably never see Rachel again, much less celebrate a holiday with her.

I stayed home all day. Everyone else can enjoy the day. They all deserve a good time.

Saturday, July 5

I spent the day painting Rachel's old bedroom. After I have the carpet cleaned, I will move some of her things from the storage shed into the room. It's too early to think about getting rid of her things. I don't know if I will ever be ready for that.

July 10 is coming fast. The day will mark 18 months since Rachel disappeared. It's been eighteen months of pain and sorrow. I'm not yet sure what we will do on that day.

Two years ago we would probably be getting ready for a vacation right now. Vacations and enjoyable things like that are no longer part of my life.

Sunday, July 6

I finished painting Rachel's old bedroom. After I vacuum I will have the carpet cleaned and then move some of her things into the room.

We need to have some kind of activity to get Rachel back in the news. My goal has always been to keep her face and story out there. Someone knows something. That someone needs to come forward.

Monday, July 7

I spoke with Verna Lee from People Against Violent Crime this afternoon. She's been working with a family who lives near Tyler, Texas. The area has no Victims' Services, so the people there want to organize their own support group. Verna Lee and I will travel there in August to speak with the families of missing persons and other violent crime victims' families.

I can't imagine how hard it has been for those families without Victims' Services support. Without the help of people like Gloria from the Williamson County Sheriff's Office and Verna Lee, I would have lost it a long time ago. The folks who work and volunteer with Victims' Services help get the families through the grief and sorrow of the loss of a loved one or other violent acts.

Tuesday, July 8

My sister Elaine and I decided what to do on Thursday, July 10. The day will mark 18-months since Rachel disappeared. We decided to replace the blue ribbons of the 14 missing persons on Rachel's Tree. The blue ribbons represent Rachel and thirteen other persons in the United States.

Originally there were fifteen ribbons on the tree. In March we had the joy of removing Elizabeth Smart's ribbon when she came home. A few of the ribbons blew off, and I want them to remain on the tree until the person the ribbon represents comes home. Sabrina Allen was very close to coming home. We have to keep the hope alive.

There is a problem with the domain name registration on rachelalert.org. The problem is being researched and hopefully will be fixed tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 9

I finally made contact with the right person who can fix the domain name problem with rachelalert.org. I also paid for nine years use of the rachelalert.org domain name and had the account transferred to me. It will take about 24 hours for the domain to be reactivated across the entire Internet.

Thursday, July 10

The rachelalert.org domain problem is fixed and the site is accessible again. The problem should not recur since I now own the domain name and it is paid for, for the next 9 years.

My two sisters, my mother, and I made new blue ribbons for Rachel's Tree this morning. The ribbons represent Rachel and fourteen other missing persons. I added a new ribbon for Shawn Hornbeck this time. We replaced the ribbons on the tree and left two dozen roses for Rachel.

Today marks 18-months since Rachel disappeared. The 18-months have changed our lives forever. Why can't we find her? I'm trying, Rachel.

Friday, July 11

I decided to take the day off today and go see a movie. At least during the time I was watching TERMINATOR 3 I could forget about the horror of being without Rachel.

I have some pictures of Rachel's Tree which my friend JR took yesterday. I will try and post them tomorrow. The tree has really grown this year. I'm glad we had it professionally planted to give it a good start.

There is a benefit motorcycle run for missing Audrey May Herron scheduled for Saturday, July 19, 2003. The money will help raise the reward for Audrey. People can find out more information at audreymayherron.expage.com.

Saturday, April 12

I received a call from a lady who manages the Help-Find-Missing-Persons web site in Germany. She told me Rachel is in their thoughts and prayers and asked me to add Germany to the list of foreign countries who support us.

My friend Thad told me prayforrachel.org will be back up soon. He's almost done with the enhancements to the site.

Sunday, July 13

Thad called again. He has prayforrachel.org back on-line. He added a message board and a few other features to it.

Monday, July 14

One of our bumper sticker locations received a request from the Laci Peterson ribbonmaker for one of Rachel's bumper stickers. I'm glad the word about Rachel is spreading. The link to Rachel's web site from lacipeterson.com is still producing five percent of the visitors to Rachel's site. That may not sound like a lot, but 75% of the visitors to Rachel's site go directly there via a bookmark or favorites list.

I e-mailed Shawn Hornbeck's parents a picture showing Shawn's ribbon on Rachel's Tree. I'm going to also e-mail a picture of Casey Williamson's ribbon to her family. The anniversary of Casey's abduction and murder is later this month.

Tuesday, July 15

Bill Bickel from Crime/Punishment posted the story my friend JR wrote on our replacing the ribbons on Rachel's Tree on July 10. The article and some pictures may be found on the Crime/Punishment web site.

Hurricane Claudette blew through today. It caused some damage to Texas coastal towns, but it is only a category one hurricane. Hopefully we will get some rain from the remaining tropical storm.

Wednesday, July 16

Today was a pretty quiet day. I worked at home and didn't do much on Rachel's case. Tomorrow I want to review and update the IRS non-profit application for rachelalert.org. I've been putting that off too long. We need to get the paperwork to the IRS.

Thursday, July 17

I'm getting together some documentation for next month's victims' rights meeting in Northeast Texas. The GUIDELINES TO FOLLOW from the rachelalert.org web site is one of the documents. Verna Lee from People Against Violent Crime will copy them for me.

Tim Miller from Texas EquuSearch is going to try and make the meeting. He's usually very busy doing searches for missing people and other activities.

Friday, July 18

There was an attempted abduction of a 45-year-old woman this morning in Round Rock. The perpetrator asked the victim for directions, and when she approached the car the man held a gun on her. Fortunately the female victim was able to fight off the aggressor and escape. She also gave law enforcement enough details to have a police sketch made of the perpetrator.

Saturday, July 19

We have scheduled our Rachel Alert Network officers' meeting for this coming Tuesday. The budget and future activities will be discussed. I have a good idea for an education event, but it will take approval and some set up before we announce the activity.

My wife Janet passed out several of Rachel's buttons at an art teacher education seminar last week. Some of the people attending said they will download Rachel's flyer and post copies in their hometown.

Sunday, July 20

Today was a pretty slow day. As I worked on some things around the house, I thought of some additional items to discuss at the upcoming RAN officers' meeting.

Monday, July 21

ABC's PRIMETIME LIVE had a special show tonight on missing California women who have not received the publicity or law enforcement involvement which the Laci Peterson case has. Out of the four cases which were profiled, law enforcement agencies seemed to have a true interest in only one of the cases.

Both Kristin Smart and Kristen Modaferri were included in the program. In both of those cases, law enforcement waited days before they started investigating the disappearances. This is so typical in missing adult cases. The local media paid very little attention to any of the four cases profiled, and the national media did nothing for the missing adults or their families. It's crucial that both law enforcement and the media become involved within hours of a disappearance.

Tuesday, July 22

We had the Rachel Alert Network officers' meeting tonight. After going over the finances, we talked about next year's Run/Walk for Rachel and a possible function this fall. The fall activity will be announced after we finalize it.

Missing Sabrina Allen's father Greg and I are having lunch together tomorrow. I hope he has some good news about Sabrina. Sabrina needs to come home.

Wednesday, July 23

I received a nice e-mail from Airman First Class Johnson in the United States Air Force. Airman Johnson read about Rachel on the UNSOLVED MYSTERIES web site and found the link to Rachel's web site there. He has read my journal and is now posting Rachel's flyers around Italy where he is stationed. Thank you, Airman First Class Johnson!

Thursday, July 24

I added a guest register to rachelcookesearch.org. People may now leave a message to Rachel or our family. I am considering adding a message board to Rachel's site but I haven't decided yet. A message board takes more work to monitor. I've seen some cruel messages left on other message boards.

I ate lunch today with missing Sabrina Allen's father Greg. We talked about both Rachel's and Sabrina's cases. We are both frustrated now. We don't know what to do next. We don't know how to bring our daughters home.

Friday, July 25

I e-mailed a copy of the "Guidelines to Follow" information manual to Verna Lee at People Against Violent Crime. She will make several copies of the missing person aid to take with us to Jacksonville, Texas, next month to the victims' services group meeting there.

I am hoping some of the media from Dallas/Fort Worth will pick up the story. When a person becomes missing, a successful partnership between the missing person's family, law enforcement, and the media provides the greatest chance to find the missing person.

Saturday, July 26

A body has been found near Waco. It may be the body of missing Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy. A man has been arrested for his murder, but his body has not been found. I'm sure his family would like to bring him home even if the worst has happened.

Several people have already signed the guest book on rachelcookesearch.org. The links to sign the guest book and view the entries in the book are at the bottom of the home page of the site.

Sunday, July 27

I went through the large number of videotapes of newscasts from this year. Rachel's story was told on several broadcasts from January until May. The news coverage has dropped off since then. It's up to us to get Rachel back in the news. I'm not going to let the person who took her forget. I promised her I would find her and I am still going to do so.

Monday, July 28

I had the carpet cleaned in Rachel's old bedroom this afternoon. When it is dry, I will start moving her things out of the storage shed into the room.

Sixteen people have left entries in the new guest book on rachelcookesearch.org The messages are from people throughout the United States, England, and Germany. Rachel's story is being spread. We will find her. We have to!

Tuesday, July 29

My sister Elaine and I sent out a press release today about the East Texas Victims' Support Group meeting next week. Both Verna Lee from People Against Violent Crime and I will be speaking at the meeting. Tim Miller from Texas EquuSearch and Janice Sager of Texans for Equal Justice will also speak.

The number of entries in the guestbook on rachelcookesearch.org. doubled today. People from Texas, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, and many other states have signed it. My thanks go to my new friend Lanie from Germany for suggesting the guestbook. I wish I had added it a year ago.

Wednesday, July 30

I scanned a few additional pictures of Rachel today. I will soon be adding the pictures to the tributes section of rachelcookesearch.org. One of the pictures has already been placed on the top of the web site's home page.

I briefly spoke with Tim Miller from Texas EquuSearch today. He had heard a rumor about missing Sabrina Allen. I told him it was probably false. Rumors are something we constantly encounter. Most of the time they are false.

Thursday, July 31

I installed the message board on rachelcookesearch.org. Now visitors may start a discussion thread dealing with a missing person like Rachel. The message board is for discussions. The guest register I installed last week is different. The guest register is a place for visitors to leave Rachel and our family messages.

Gabriel Gonzales pleaded guilty today to the murder of his mother Valany Gonzales. I led the search for Valany Gonzales in late December of last year and early January of this year. Several of the members of the Rachel Cooke Search Team participated in the search for Ms. Gonzales.

I am glad that Gabriel Gonzales pled guilty. It saved his family a lot of additional grief. They have already lost two family members through this, and they don't need any more pain.