Jogger still missing in Cary

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CARY - Dozens of friends and strangers gathered early Sundaymorning to search for a missing mother of two who hasn't been seensince Saturday. Nancy Cooper, 34, left her home on Wallsburg Court at 7 a.m.Saturday for a jog and did not return, police have said. She wasexpected back by 9 a.m. A neighbor, Diana Duncan, said Cooper was on foot and wasn'tcarrying identification. Duncan was helping organize the volunteersearch from the Lochmere Pavilion shopping center off Kildaire FarmRoad. Duncan said she has known Cooper since Cooper moved to Cary fromCanada eight years ago. She said Cooper's husband, Brad Cooper, wasat home Sunday with the couple's two young daughters, ages 4 andalmost 2. "She's the best mom around," Duncan said. As many as 70 peoplehelped with the search Sunday morning, she added. Police described Cooper as white, 5 feet 9 inches tall and about120 pounds. She has hazel eyes and brown hair. She was last seenwearing a T-shirt, running shorts and light blue running shoes. Investigators are treating Cooper's disappearance as amissing-person case, said Deanna Boone, a town spokeswoman. "They are trying to eliminate areas, looking at the differentrunning trails where she might have gone," Boone said Sundayafternoon. Boone said Cary police had help in the search from a National Guardhelicopter, the Wake County Sheriff's Office and the Garner-basedRescue Extrication Delivery Specialists search team. Cooper'shusband was the last person to see her Saturday, Boone said. In training Cooper is very athletic and was training for a half- marathon,Duncan said. Friends described her as outgoing, active and devoted to children.Her disappearance left them stunned. "It's just overwhelming. It's hard to get your head around," saidTheresa O'Driscoll, who has known Cooper for about four years. "Itjust doesn't make sense." O'Driscoll was helping coordinate search zones around LochmereLake, which is south of Tryon Road. "We just tried to divide uppopular trails," she said. Volunteers fanned out through the Lochmere area of Cary, putting upfliers as they went. After about three hours of searching, Duncansaid volunteers were running out of nearby places to look. "I don't want to leave," she said. "I keep hoping someone's goingto call." Anyone with information is asked to call Cary Police at 469-4016.