Cheryl Coker case: Investigative work still needed before charges can be considered

RIVERSIDE — Riverside police and coroner’s investigators will need to conduct additional investigation before the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office will review the Cheryl Coker case for any potential charges, prosecutor’s office spokesman Greg Flannagan said.

Flannagan said part of the investigation that needs to happen would be the coroner making a determination of cause and manner of death for Cheryl Coker.

>> Cheryl Coker’s remains found in Greene County

Cheryl Coker’s remains were found off Waynesville Jamestown Road Saturday afternoon by a mushroom hunter.

“It’s not a common area for someone to go to,” Greene County Sheriff Gene Fischer said. “This happened to be some woods and some overgrowth in the area.”

Retired homicide detective and experienced coroner’s office investigator Doyle Burke wasn’t able to discuss Cheryl Coker’s case specifically, but did say this weekend’s discovery opens some new doors in the investigation.

“There’s so much evidence that can be gleaned from a new crime scene,” Burke said. “That still gives you a lot to work with, you can tell a lot from skeletal remains and from decomposed bodies.”

Burke said the fact that Coker’s remains have been found aids the prosecution.

Cheryl Coker’s sister Margie Keenan talked to News Center 7′s Mike Campbell this afternoon about how the family is coping with the latest developments.

“It’s just a blow, hits you hard, but it’s the piece, the part we needed,” Keenan said. “It’s a bittersweet thing. It’s what we wanted, but it’s not what we really wanted.”

Clothing and some other evidence also was recovered at the site where the remains were found, Greene County Coroner Kevin Sharrett said.

>> Body camera footage shows mushroom hunter lead deputies to remains

Sharrett said the remains were skeletonized, which would be consistent with what would have been found based on the amount of time Cheryl Coker had been missing. Investigators recovered her skull and other bones.

Cheryl Coker was reported missing Oct. 2, 2018. Her 48th birthday would have been Friday, the day before she was found dead.

Riverside police have classified her death as a homicide investigation.

Search warrants were executed in February 2020 in the Cheryl Coker homicide investigation, Riverside police said a year after Cheryl Coker’s husband Bill Coker was named a suspect in her case. Bill Coker has not been charged.

“Everybody knows what’s going on and he does to, hopefully the justice will do its job,” Kennan said.

A call to Montgomery County Municipal Courts Tuesday found that all search warrants in the case remain sealed and it’s not clear if any new filings have occurred since Monday’s developments.

Riverside police said they contacted Bill Coker’s attorney to notify her estranged husband of the discovery of Cheryl Coker’s remains.

News Center 7′s Mike Campbell left a message with Bill Coker’s attorney Tuesday, but has not heard back.

Kennan

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