Friend of slain Cary woman says they never went jogging

Nancy Cooper

A slain Cary woman never went jogging and never had plans to do so with the friend her husband thought accompanied her the morning she disappeared.

That is according to a July 24 sworn affidavit filed Tuesday from Carey Clark, who often trained for a half marathon with Nancy Cooper and another friend, Jessica Adam.

Cary police say Nancy Cooper's husband, Brad Cooper, told investigators she went jogging around 7 a.m. July 12 – he thought with Clark.

Calls to Clark were not returned Wednesday.

Adam, however, said Wednesday that Brad Cooper definitively told her that his wife went running with Clark – a claim she also makes in a July 22 affidavit.

"He said that 'Nancy went for a run with Carrie (Clarke) [sic] and she would be back soon,'" Adam said, "I immediately felt strange, because I knew that Nancy would have informed me if she was meeting Carrie for a run."

Seth Blum, an attorney for Brad Cooper, said Wednesday only that his client "thought" Nancy Cooper was running with Clark but did not know for sure.

Hundreds of people searched for Nancy Cooper for two days and posted thousands of fliers around Cary for information about her disappearance.

A man walking his dog on the evening of July 14 found her body in a pond in an undeveloped subdivision just outside Cary's town limit.

Authorities have not said how she died and have released few details about the case. They have not named a suspect but have said they do not believe the crime was random.

Meanwhile, Blum has subpoenaed Harris Teeter, where Brad Cooper went shopping for his wife early July 12 and Time Warner Cable, the telephone and Internet provider for the Coopers' home. Blum declined to say why.

In his affidavit, Brad Cooper said he went to the grocery store twice, once around 6:15 a.m. to buy milk and again around 6:30 a.m. for laundry detergent and juice.

When Nancy Cooper did not return from her jog by noon that day, Brad Cooper said, he called her friends asking for Clark's number. About an hour later, he drove by Clark's home looking for her car but did not see it, he said.

By 3 p.m., when he had "exhausted all avenues" of locating his wife "and believed that she was truly missing," Adam had already reported her missing. Brad Cooper said "there was no longer any point in my calling them again."

Nancy Cooper's family and friends have challenged Brad Cooper's claims, saying they do not believe she went jogging. At least one friend said in an affidavit that she thought he might be involved in her death.

Police, however, have not named him a suspect, and Blum has said he has been cooperative with investigators.

"(He) has been very, very clear with police," Blum said last month. "He did not kill his wife."

“I’m sure more will be revealed with time,” Tom Hollis, pastor of Cary’s St. Francis United Methodist Church, said Wednesday of the probe into Nancy Cooper’s slaying.

Hollis has organized a musical program to help people cope with the Lochmere woman's death.

“We need our faith and we need that hope because we've got to rise up. We've got to carry on, we have to. It’s hard to do without the comfort we get from faith and from each other,” he said.

The program is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at St. Francis United Methodist, 2965 Kildaire Farm Road.



201 Comments


Golo

Welcome to GOLO, where WRAL.com visitors can comment on stories and create profile pages, blogs and photo galleries.

You must be a registered WRAL.com user to use these tools. Click here to register or log in.

View Comments View Comments

Ask Anything
  1. Amanda Lamb
    10 questions with Crime Reporter Amanda Lamb

    WRAL Crime Reporter Amanda Lamb answers your questions about crime scenes, murder cases and much more.

  2. Eleanor Goettee
    10 questions with Wake school board member

    Eleanor Goettee answers your questions about teacher pay, year-round schools ...

  3. Steve Cohen
    10 questions with Cary EMS Chief Steve Cohen

    Steve Cohen answers your questions about saving lives and what to do in emergency situations.

Multimedia
  1. Costa Rica Cow Parade
    The week in photos

    Tropical weather, deeds of the sports world and political unrest took center stage in the world's events during the week of Aug. 31-Sept. 6, 2008.

  2. RWO 05
    Raleigh Wide Open celebration

    The party continues for a second day in downtown Raleigh.

  3. rwo
    Raleigh Wide Open parade

    Raleigh celebrates the opening of the new Raleigh Convention Center and downtown redevelopment with the third annual celebration called Raleigh Wide…

  4. International Festival on September 6th, 2008
    23rd annual International Festival of Raleigh

    Thousands braved Tropical Storm Hanna on Sept. 6, 2008, to check out the 23rd annual International Festival at the new Raleigh Convention Center.

  5. Hanna Interactive
    Hanna Interactive

    See Hanna's path and view footage from central North Carolina.