Body identified as missing jogger

CARY -- Cary police announced today at a news conference that the body discovered Monday night is that of 34-year-old Nancy Cooper.

The police said Cooper was murdered and have begun surrounding the Coopers' home in Lochmere, a Cary subdivision, with crime scene tape.

Cary police chief Pat Bazemore said the department was confident it would solve the case, although it has not named a suspect or a person of interest in the case.

Cooper's husband, Brad, was invited to be at the news conference but declined to attend at the last minute. Bazemore acknowledged that the couple was having marital difficulties but declined to elaborate.

Other members of Cooper's family attended the press conference.

Jeff Rentz, Nancy's brother, described his sister as the spoke in his family's wheel.

"It's incumbent to adapt so that we might continue to spin," Rentz said. Nancy Cooper was last seen Saturday when her husband said she went out for a jog with a friend, police have said. Friends searched around the clock until dusk Monday when a man walking his dog found a woman's body at the edge of a storm water drain in a subdivision still under construction.

Police think the killing was isolated and do not think that members of the general public should be fearful, Bazemore said.

Cooper's parents, Donna and Garry Rentz of Edmonton, Alberta, and her identical twin sister, Khrista Lister, of Toronto attended the news conference and expressed gratitude for volunteers who searched for her Sunday and Monday.

Her husband, Brad Cooper, met this morning with his wife's friends at Resurrection Lutheran Church. He said he'd had "a long night" but had no new information about his wife.

Friends describe Nancy Cooper as an active young mother who knew how to put anyone at ease. She welcomed each newcomer and even managed to strike a rapport with their children.

Brett Adam said his wife, Jessica, met Nancy Cooper when they both mistakenly took their children to preschool the day before school started. He said they both quickly hit it off.

"The ease with which [Nancy] bonded and made friends was amazing," Brett Adam said.

Cooper, formerly a tech support worker, was staying at home full time with her two young girls while her husband worked at Cisco.

Cooper was reported missing at 2:51 p.m. Saturday by Brett Adam's wife, Jessica Adam.

Adam said that Cooper was supposed to join her Saturday morning at Adam's house to help paint her dining room. The friends had a deal: Cooper was going to help paint; then Adam was going to help Cooper organize her house. Both were runners, training for the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon on Aug. 31 in Virginia Beach, Va.

Cary police said Monday that Brad Cooper was cooperating, answering questions and allowing them to search his house and cars. About 3:45 p.m. Monday, police searched the couple's BMW sedan and BMW SUV. They also removed a Louis Vuitton purse from one vehicle.

Brad Cooper said Monday in an interview in the driveway of his home that the couple was having marital problems but not to the point he felt his wife would leave him and their two daughters, ages 4 and almost 2.

Brett Adam and other Cooper friends said they were dealing with how to explain the situation to their own children. Adam said that when he told his preschool-age son that Cooper was lost, the child asked, "Why doesn't she just turn around and come back?"