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Missing Woman's Husband Named 'One And Only' Suspect Months After Her Mysterious Disappearance
“I will be in tomorrow if I’m not dead,” Cheryl Coker reportedly texted a coworker shortly before she vanished.
A missing Ohio woman’s husband has been named the “one and only” suspect months after she mysteriously disappeared after dropping her child off at school.
Riverside Police are now considering the case a homicide and don’t believe Cheryl Coker, 46, is still alive, according to WDTN.
Police are continuing to investigate all possibilities but said Coker’s husband of 19 years, William Coker, is the only suspect at this time and claimed he has “been reluctant” to take a polygraph test.
Investigators also said Coker had only called once to request an update on the case in the four months since Coker disappeared on Oct. 2.
Riverside police detective Travis Abney said “the facts and the evidence surrounding this case makes him our prime focus at this time,” according to WHIO.
Cheryl Coker had reportedly filed for divorce on Sept. 21 and was seeking spousal support and custody of the couple’s daughter from her estranged husband in the weeks before she disappeared, People reports.
She also sent an ominous text to a coworker on Sept. 24 in which she wrote, “I’ll be in tomorrow if I am not dead.”
That same day William had allegedly texted her “Thanks for putting the nail in my coffin.”
On the morning of Oct. 2, Cheryl dropped her child off at an area high school and disappeared a short time later.
She was reported missing that night her sister, Margie Keenan, after Cheryl’s daughter told her she hadn’t been able to find her mom.
“The pit of my stomach, something hurt, and I knew something wasn’t right,” Keenan told WHIO.
Coker’s sister and mother talked with Cheryl daily and said it was unlike her to disappear without telling anyone.
“She would never, never be gone without calling her 15-year-old daughter,” her mother, Mary Carroll, said.
In addition to announcing their lead suspect, investigators also released surveillance footage they believe is relevant to the case that showed a man dressed in black walking from a Kroger parking lot to the back of the Coker home that day.
Multiple witnesses reported seeing this man, including one who called 911 to report him as suspicious.
Coker’s SUV was found the next day with her purse and cell phone still inside.
Earlier this week, William Coker told WHIO that he did not have anything to do with his estranged wife’s disappearance.
“I’ve never in my entire life hurt anyone,” he said.
He also questioned his wife’s activities at the time she vanished.
“She was behaving in some risky behavior right before she disappeared and I haven’t really been willing to put that out there,” he told the station.
Investigators are asking anyone with information about the disappearance to contact police.
