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Cook, Mark Anthony Jan 14 1993; Bluefield Mercer County WV
Topic Started: Oct 16 2008, 12:31 AM (426 Views)
txlonghorn
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http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/266dmwv.html

The Doe Network:
Case File 266DMWV

Cook, circa 1982
Posted Image
Mark Anthony Cook
Missing since January 14, 1993 from Bluefield, Mercer County, West Virginia
Classification: Endangered Missing



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Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: circa 1969
Age at Time of Disappearance: 24 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5’ 8”; 135 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White male. Brown hair; green eyes.
Clothing: Last seen wearing a white baseball cap, bleached jeans, a black t-shirt and a blue jean jacket with writing on the back.
AKA: Tony


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Circumstances of Disappearance
Cook was last seen around 3 a.m. near Pedro’s Bar outside of Bluefield, West Virginia on January 14, 1993. Witnesses stated that he was walking towards U.S. Route 52. Investigators believe his disappearance may be related to the disappearance of Brenda Lambert on July 26, 1992. He was reported missing by a friend of the family. Foul play is suspected.



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Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Mercer County Sheriff's Office
Chief Deputy Daryll Bailey
304-487-8301
304-425-2274

NCIC Number:
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
Bluefield Daily Telegraph Archives
City of Bramwell

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txlonghorn
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http://z13.invisionfree.com/PorchlightUSA/...showtopic=15042
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txlonghorn
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Though more than thirteen years old, missing persons case far from forgotten

By Samantha Perry
http://tinyurl.com/9f3bj
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

Bluefield- It was July 26, 1992, when Brenda Gail Lambert disappeared from her Bluewell home. She didn't take her car and few, if any, personal items. The blue-eyed, dark-haired mother of two was last seen on the evening of her son's first birthday.

It was a difficult case for police, admitted Mercer County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Darrell Bailey. In many cases, missing persons return---but police have to balance the totality of the evidence received.

Could it be a mising person, or could foul play be involved?

Five and a half months after Lambert's disappearance, a good friend of the woman, Mark Anthony Cook, 21, also disappeared.

Bailey said Cook was last seen in the early morning hours of Jan. 14, 1993, after leaving Pedro's Bar, then located in Airport Square, near Route 52.

Lambert's family and law enforcement officials confirmed Lambert and Cook were friends.

"I honestly believe the disappearances are connected, unless someone proves to me otherwise," Bailey said.

And foul play is suspected.

Christy Lambert was a mere 14 years old when her sister Brenda, disappeared. The family, originally from the Freeman are, near Bramwell, was a large one with seven siblings.

"For a long time, I guess I went numb," said Christy, who now lives in Tennessee.

But the family's tragedy did not end with Brenda's disappearance. Christy said her mother spent the years after Brenda's disappearance searching for Brenda. "I hardly remember her eating or sleeping. She spent the last years of her life searching for Brenda," but to no avail.

"She grieved herself to death," Christy said.

Christy was 18 at the time of her mother's death, and had a 13 year old younger brother. Two years later, the childrens father passed away.

Although Christy says there is always a "glimmer of hope" her sister is alive, she is not optimistic.

Christy said Brenda was her "best friend in the world," and said she spent much time at her sisters house before her disappearance.

Now 13 years since she has seen her sister, Christy has renewed her efforts to bring Brenda's disappearance back into the spotlight---to show southern West Virginia, the state and the nation, she has not been forgotten.

She is entering Brenda's data into various web sites that focus on mising and unidentified persons.

"This is one of the cases thats haunted me," Bailey said in an interview last week. "It's a cold case, but not a closed case. The case file has never left my office."

Through the years, police have recieved tips about the case, including one in 2003 that indicated both bodies may be found in a pond off Route 52, Bailey said.

"We worked with several members of the Bluewell Fire Department who were just wonderful," Bailey said.

In an effort to drain the pond, pumps were utilized to pump out several thousands of water. But, Bailey said they were ultimately unsucessful in getting the pond drained.

But law enforcement did not give up.

The sheriffs department then brought in a diver Detective Mike Combs, but there was so much growth in the pond the search was also unsuccessful. Yet the search did not end there.

Bailey said the department contacted a regional crime information agency, which loans equipment to smaller law enforcement agencies that may not have access to high-tech tools. Through this contact, the sheriff's department was able to get access to underwater video cameras, with the ability to photograph underwater.

But, he said, nothing was discovered with this technology either.

Although police have been stymied at every turn, Bailey has not lost hope.

He said Lamberts information has been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). And, anytime an unidentified body is discovered across the nation that information, too, is entered in the NCIC.

"If an agency entering information (on an unidentifed body) gets a hit, or possible hit, then we try to match up the information with whatever means we have," Bailey said. "In this case, we have dental records of Brenda Lambert...they have checked several possible hits, but there has been no match so far."

Bailey said police officers have searched the area but, "We dont have a body, therefore we cant prove a homicide and that makes it very difficult to investigate. It makes it very difficult to interview suspects with no body.

"With no body, we do not have the cause and manner of death," he said.

"There are lots of bodies found by hunters, all-terrain vehicle riders and ginseng hunters," Bailey said. "But in most all of the cases, they're identified. Yet there is no match yet for Brenda Lambert or Mark Cook."

Bailey has not lost hope in the case. "I really hope she is somewhere alive, but on the other hand, I doubt it. And every day I hope that somebody finds a body and were able to make a positive identification.

"Every time I hear of a body being found, these are the first two that come to my mind." he said.

Early in the investigation, Bailey said polygraph examinations were administered on three individuals. "But polygraph examinations are admissable in courts," he said. "They are a tool for law enforcement to see if they are on the right track."

"If we had a body, we would have a new way to go with the investigation," Bailey said. "The body can tell us a lot, even if there is nothing left but a skeleton."

Along with Chief Bailey, Christy Thacker is continuing the search to find her sister. She has recently become a volunteer with the Doe Network, a volunteer organization dedicated to assisting law enforcement in solving missing and unidentified persons cases.

She is now not assisting in the search for Brenda, but thousands of other missing persons nationwide.

"We didnt realize the trouble with missing persons until it impacted our own family," Christy said. "Its amazing someone could just be taken from their family and kids, and the families are left wondering where they are."

Christy has also designed a website----www.freewebs.com/thesearchforbrenda/ ---- for her missing sister.

Now, she says, her hope is "someone will develop a conscious, and tell where she is."

Bailey said Lambert was described as 5' 2" tall, with blue eyes, black hair, medium skin tone and a scar on her right wrist. She was last seen wearing a blue t-shirt and blue shorts.

Cook was last seen wearing a white baseball cap, bleached out blue jeans, black tennis shoes, black t-shirt and a blue denim jacket with writing on the back. Bailey said he was described as 5' 8", with green eyes, brown hair and fair skin.

Although the case is 13 years old, Bailey said there is still the possibility someone will come forward with information on the case. "I hope there is someone out there who might know something and come forward."

Bailey said anyone with information on the case can contact him by email, through the Mercer County Sheriff's Department web site----www.wvmcs.org---or the department's tip line at 487-8365.

He emphasized the tip line is not recorded, and caller ID is not used. "If they dont feel comfortable with email or the tip line, they can send an anonymous letter with no return address. I would love to have names, but if they dont feel comfortable, I understand that."

Bailey said, in most cases, there is a resolution early on. Yet he remains confident the mystery of the disappearance of Lambert and Cook will be solved.

"I dont know what it is about this case, but I have a feeling at some point in time, we'll close this," he said.

---Contact Samantha Perry at sperry@bdtonline.com

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txlonghorn
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http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/in...topic=9456&st=0
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txlonghorn
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Behind the headlines: Victims of tragic family losses are truly inspiring

Posted: Saturday, Nov 19, 2005 - 08:36:59 pm EST
By SAMANTHA PERRY

After weeks of e-mailing back and forth to share background information and plan an interview for an upcoming story, Christy Thacker signed off with an
endearment, “Thanks again Sweetie.”

Some say e-mails are impersonal - and many are. But not Christy's. Her kindness and gentle spirit - cloaking a steel resolve - are evident with each keystroke.

My acquaintance with Christy began when she contacted the Daily Telegraph asking if we would update a story on her sister, Brenda Lambert, a former resident of Bluewell who has now been missing for 13 years. Adding intrigue to Brenda's case: Her good friend, Mark Cook, disappeared five months later. Police believe the two cases are connected, and foul play is suspected.

Mere moments after speaking with Christy on the telephone, I felt at ease.

Interviewing family members of murder victims is one of the most difficult aspects of my job. As a journalist, I'm committed to reporting the news - to be the messenger of events, good and bad, in the community. But how can one ask a grieving mother to describe the special qualities of her dead daughter without feeling a tiny tear in one's own heart?

The Telegraph never presses victims' families for interviews. But many want to speak about their slain sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers. It is a means to show the person behind the sterile world of legalese that dominate court and crime stories.

A story about a murder victim in Bluefield, Va., never delved into the fact the young mother had, for months, nursed her chronically ill son who died weeks before her own death.

The preliminary hearing about a brutal homicide in Princeton that occurred days before Christmas did not mention the gifts the murdered mother has purchased for her beloved toddler.

The official reports of a hit-and-run accident last year resulting in the death of a young man did not detail the parent's anguish - then and now.

It is not intentional, this sterile language. It is simply the way the factual world of “hard news” generally works.

Speaking with Christy was like talking to a friend I had known for ages. The standard question-and-answer interview swiftly evolved into a conversation.

She told me about her family. About Brenda. And her sister's disappearance.

She also discussed the family's life since that fateful evening when Brenda vanished on the evening of her son's first birthday. Christy was a mere 14 years old when her sister disappeared. “I guess I was numb for a while,” she told me.

But Christy's trials were not over. She related how her mother spent the years after Brenda's disappearance constantly looking for her daughter. Christy doesn't remember her mom eating much, or sleeping.

Four years later, “She grieved herself to death,” Christy related in a melancholy voice. But her overwhelming concern for others became evident when speaking of her brother, only 13 when their mother passed away.

Christy worries about him.

A few years later their father died, leaving the siblings - seven, including Brenda - with no parents.

And, more than likely, no sister. “I know she's dead,” Christy said, when speaking of Brenda.

During our conversation, I wondered how such a tender, warmhearted and compassionate young woman could withstand such horrific events. But instead of allowing herself to sink into despair, Christy is now volunteering with a network that helps locate missing persons nationwide.

I've thought about Christy often since our interview, and even more so as Thanksgiving approaches. Thoughts of others have also weighed heavily on my mind: Richard and Helen Brown, parents of Heidi Brown, who was murdered in Princeton; Sue Lockhart, mom of Brandy Hatfield, who was slain in her Bluefield, Va., home; Richard and Cheryl Leeper, parents of Ryan Leeper, killed in a yet unsolved hit-and-run accident last year; the family of Charles Boone, murdered in the 1980s; and the many, many other families in our area whose loved ones have perished by natural or unnatural causes.

This Thanksgiving, as we scurry about the kitchen worrying about a dry turkey, overcooked casserole, less-than-perfect centerpiece or mismatched place setting, we should take time to stop and ponder the truly important things in life - and offer a prayer for those whose lives have been impacted by horror and misfortune.

Although chronicling their tragedies, I feel blessed to have met the people whose loved ones I've written about this year. They were strong enough to share with me, and thus the community, the beauty of their loved ones and the torment of their deaths.

Christy, it is you who are the “Sweetie” - along with the other families who share a similar grief.

And I thank you all for allowing me into your lives, if only for a brief moment, to share the special qualities of your families with the people in our cities, counties, towns and communities.

Yes, there is evil in our region, but I can not forgo the hope it can be overpowered by the good that emanates from the overwhelming number of people who truly care.
http://www.bdtonline.com/articles/20...s/01sunsam.txt

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mimi
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monkalup
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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http://www.topix.com/forum/city/princeton-...7CS8M7#lastPost
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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monkalup
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cook_mark.html
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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monkalup
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV
July 10, 2011
Gone without a trace — Probe into disappearance of Mercer County woman, friend ongoing since 1992
GREG JORDAN
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PRINCETON — Fresh leads could help close the case of a woman who disappeared on the evening of her son’s first birthday almost 19 years ago this month.

Brenda Lambert was 22 when she left her Bluewell home without taking her car and few, if any, personal items. Nobody has seen the blue-eyed, dark-haired mother of two since July 26, 1992.

Five and a half months later, her friend., 21-year-old Mark Anthony Cook, left Pedro’s Bar, then located at Airport Square off U.S. Route 52, and disappeared. Since that time, the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department has been searching for both individuals.

“It’s been an ongoing case since 1992,” said Major Darrell Bailey. “As we get leads, we follow up on them. But they’ve been getting fewer and fewer over the years.”

However, the case does have a lot of facts to work with, and there is a suspect in the disappearances; but there is not enough information to make an arrest, he said.

The case of Brenda Lambert is classified as a missing person, but the investigation leans toward a homicide, Bailey said.

Bailey consulted the case file, a thick binder filled with pages, and looked up an age-progressed photograph of Lambert that was made in 2006.

There are obstacles to finding out what happened to Lambert and Cook.

“Number one, we don’t have a body. If we could locate the body, it would tell us a lot. The medical examiner could tell us a lot, even the manner of death,” he said.

As the years progressed, the search took investigators to different parts of Mercer County. In 2003, one tip suggested that bodies might be found in a pond near U.S. Route 52. Members of the Bluewell Volunteer Fire Department helped by pumping thousands of gallons of water from the pond. When this did not drain the pond sufficiently, a diver checked, but could not find anything because there was so much underwater growth.

Unidentified bodies listed in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database are also checked, but this has not lead to any new information.

Today an age-progressed photograph shows what Lambert would look like today and there is still hope that somebody with information will come forward.

“Whenever the story is in the news, we get tips. Sometimes it’s things we knew before, sometimes it’s not,” Bailey said.

Lambert was described as 5’ 2” tall with blue eyes, black hair, medium skin tone and a scar on her right wrist. She was last seen wearing a blue jean t-shirt and blue jean shorts. Cook was last seen wearing a white baseball cap, bleached out blue jeans, black tennis shoes, a black t-shirt and a blue denim jacket with writing on the back, according to Bailey’s records. Cook was 5’ 8” tall with green eyes, brown hair and fair skin.

People with information can call anonymously at 304-487-8365.

“Leave as much information as possible,” Bailey asked. Since the line does not have caller ID, investigators cannot call back to ask questions.

Bailey can be reached at 304-487-8390.
http://bdtonline.com/coldcase/x971906791/G...ince-1992/print
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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