Riverside police believed probable cause for felony kidnapping existed in the case of Cheryl Coker, the missing Riverside mom, according to an Oct. 11 search warrant of her home obtained by News Center 7 and the Dayton Daily News.
Additionally, Riverside police confirmed Wednesday that a second piece of video surfaced in the case and is being considered evidence in Coker’s disappearance, but officials would not discuss what the video showed or release a copy to reporters.
Investigators sought a lengthy list of items from the Coker residence, the warrant shows, including furniture covers, body fluids, computers, cell phones, weapons, tools and other items “used to conceal or dispose of a body,” and “any and all materials, electrical stimuli, chemicals, topicals, indigestible or inhalants that could render a human unresponsive or unconscious.”
What detectives found, if anything, and whether police still thought probable cause for kidnapping exists is unclear.
Detectives reiterated Wednesday that case is being investigated as a missing persons case.
Coker, 46, was last seen Oct. 2 dropping off her daughter at school, according to Riverside police. Her SUV was found Oct. 3 in a parking lot, locked, with her driver’s license, purse, credit cards and cell phone inside.
The search warrant affidavit, unknown to the public until it was reported Wednesday on DaytonDailyNews.com, references a text message exchange between Coker and her co-workers about her pending divorce from husband William Coker.
“I will be in tomorrow if I’m not dead,” a portion of the text message to her co-workers from Sept. 24 read, according to the affidavit. The text message came less than a week before her disappearance.
The messages referenced Cheryl Coker’s husband reportedly texting her after being served with divorce papers saying, “thanks for putting the nail in my coffin.”
Cheryl Coker filed for divorce from her husband Sept. 21. Police have not identified him — or anyone else — as a suspect.
A reporter who went to the Coker residence could not locate William Coker. Relatives of Cheryl Coker were not available for comment.
The court document also showed that William Coker told police $4,000 went missing from a shoe box the couple had hidden in their closet, noting the husband “suspects Cheryl took the money before she disappeared.”
Already, police have surveillance video showing Coker’s vehicle in a Riverside shopping center the day she was last seen. The video shows Cheryl Coker’s vehicle drive down Spinning Road and turn into a parking lot. Last week, police said it was not clear who was driving the vehicle. The recording was made three hours after Cheryl Coker’s family said she was last seen and 36 hours before police located the SUV.
Anyone with information about Cheryl Coker or her whereabouts is asked to contact police at 937-233-1801, extension 828.
