|
Corporal Walt Cooley
Florence Police
Department
On November 16, 2004 then Detective Walt
Cooley responded to a call reporting that a human skull had
been found off of I-75 in Florence near the St. Luke
Hospital property. When all was said and done a skull as
well as several other human bones and miscellaneous personal
items were recovered from the scene.
After an anthropological exam was conducted
by Kentucky state forensic anthropologist Dr. Emily Craig,
Det. Cooley would know that the bones found belonged to a
Caucasian male between 45-65 years of age who had been dead
anywhere from 24 months to 10 years. He would then begin
months of painstaking detective work and long hours of
fielding phone calls from all over the country from people
hoping that the body recovered was someone they loved who
had gone missing. The phone calls and constant barrage of
people hoping beyond hope to have found their missing loved
one weighed heavily on Det. Cooley. With each new call, each
new voicemail, he became more and more determined to
identify the man whose bones had been recovered and give
answers to a family somewhere that he knew was waiting in
agony.
Day in and day out Detective Cooley would
pore through databases and missing persons reports
identifying and then eliminating possible matches. Then
finally after many dead ends and weeks of agonizing
research, Detective Cooley came up with a lead through an
old NCIC report that he believed had real potential. He was
right. DNA analysis would later confirm what Detective
Cooley was already convinced of-- the bones found belonged
to Otha Young, Jr. who had been reported missing from
Louisville, Kentucky October 10th, 1996. (You can
read more about Otha Young, Jr. and see a photo of him by
clicking
here.) The
endless hours of chasing down leads and eliminating
possibilities had paid off and Detective Cooley was able to
give Otha Young Jr. back to his family.
This case now remains open as an unsolved homicide –one that
now Corporal Walt Cooley would very much like to see solved.
If you have any information about this case please contact
Corporal Walt Cooley
of the Florence Police Department at
(859) 647-5420.
Corporal Cooley has over 15 years experience
in law enforcement, 8 of which are with the Florence Police
Department. He is the recipient of several distinguished
medals and is active in his community and in his church. He
remains today as committed as ever to doing his job with the
same intense personal attention and commitment to integrity
that he displayed throughout every stage of the Otha Young,
Jr. case.
CLICK
BELOW TO READ ABOUT MORE HEROES IN YOUR COMMUNITY
|
