Cooke was visiting her parents in Georgetown, Texas, during her winter break from San Diego Mesa College. She was last seen by her family at 8:00 a.m. on January 10, 2002, asleep on the couch. Cooke went for her daily four-mile run around 9:30 a.m. and was last spotted near Neches Trail between 11:00 and 11:30 a.m., just a short distance from her parents home. She never returned and was reported missing when her father came home at 3:00 p.m. Witnesses reported seeing an unidentified man driving a late-model white or blue Chevrolet Camaro or Pontiac Trans Am in the area around the time of her disappearance.