FL FL - Mary Margaret Cook, 25, Highland City, 14 Nov 1970

[othermother]

Well , if he is greedy like you said then maybe he did giver her 200$. did something to her and took the money back after, as sleazy as it sounds.

you asked about the quote thing on another thread, just click on the quote buton at the bottom of the post and it will quote it for you and then you can type underneath that.

I did it! Thanks, D

 

[2sisters]

I did it! Thanks, D

no problem, it takes awhile to learn the ropes here especially if you are challenged with computers like me.

 

[gardenmom]

Three years ago, the kids and I said the same thing. The police didn't even seem to care about that possibility.

He wasn't anymore faithfull then he was generous.

We told the police that Tony got in touch with Peggy's son. They spoke on the phone, they wondered if they're related?... they're both desperately seeking answers to their mothers disappearance. I use to wonder why the police didn't show more interest.............then I saw the amount of cases there are on this site alone........ their hands are too full.

Someone here at my job asked me why I got involved in 2003? after all the years. Why place myself in jeopardy.. easy answer.....spelled M-O-T-H-E-R-

Do you think its possible that Tony and Peggy's son are related? Are they willing to pay for a test to see if they are? That would certainly make the police stand up and take notice.

 

[docwho3]

. . .I doubt that he gave her $20.00, nevermind $200.00 in 1970. He was very selfish. . .

So why that particular lie? (I am thinking out loud again ) Maybe he needed to account for having withdrawn $200 from his bank account? Or maybe he thought that would make the police think she had grabbed the cash and had run away to stay in hiding forever.

If it was only a distraction then it leads nowhere but if his story was designed to account for having spent $200 we need to know where he really spent the money since, as you say, he would not let her have much money at all.

Perhaps his having spent the money preciptated a husband-wife argument that got her killed or perhaps he used the money to help get the evidence covered up and/or destroyed.

 

[othermother]

Earl either sold or gave away Margarets car soon after Margaret disappeared. Margaret and Earl and Peggy lived on the same street as well as the same town. Highland City is a very small area.

 

[docwho3]

Earl either sold or gave away Margarets car soon after Margaret disappeared. Margaret and Earl and Peggy lived on the same street as well as the same town. Highland City is a very small area.

The same street!!??! The same street!!??! That's a potential connection in and of itself.

Let me see if I get this right:
1. All the main characters in the two cases (The main suspect and both victems) drove a 1959 model car.
2. They all lived on the same street of the same town.
3. The suspect liked to be a shade tree mechanic and liked old cars including 1959 models since he owned 2 (1 for him and one his wife drove.)
4. The first victems 1959 model car disappeared.
5. One victem was seen having car trouble with a male helping her work on it just before she (and her mysterious mechanically inclined helper) disappeared.
6. Both victems disappeared off the same road-yes?

So all he had to do was walk to the car and do some little thing to make it run rough and then be on the spot & handy when the car acted up.

If he sold or gave away his wifes car someone needs to look closely at the job of the person to whom he gave or sold the car and his connections to this person, if any existed, just to rule out any form of payoff from the equation.

And someone needs to find out what junkyards he used for parts for his old cars.

 

[docwho3]

Also it occurs to me I may have overlooked a simple and obvious motive for his killing his wife: Perhaps she became suspicious of his possible involvement in the first crime or even discovered some fact that linked him to the crime.

 

[othermother]

Yup! They lived on the same street! At the same time.


Earl told the police Margaret disappeared from J.M. Fields. That's where he found her car. It's been verified that she was last seen alive at the gas station on 98 right across from the house.

As of the 2003 investigation, if I remember correctly, no one actually ever saw her at or around Fields.


D

 

[docwho3]

Yup! They lived on the same street! At the same time.


Earl told the police Margaret disappeared from J.M. Fields. That's where he found her car. It's been verified that she was last seen alive at the gas station on 98 right across from the house.

As of the 2003 investigation, if I remember correctly, no one actually ever saw her at or around Fields.


D

Of course he "found" the car. Of course she was last seen alive right across from home. It all makes sense to me. I am surprised after all this time that someone has not decided to go ahead and put together the best circumstantial case they can and try him for both murders since if they don't he might die of old age with ever having even the inconvienience of a trial. It is sometimes done in murder cases where no body has been found.

 

[othermother]

Of course he "found" the car. Of course she was last seen alive right across from home. It all makes sense to me. I am surprised after all this time that someone has not decided to go ahead and put together the best circumstantial case they can and try him for both murders since if they don't he might die of old age with ever having even the inconvienience of a trial. It is sometimes done in murder cases where no body has been found.

As you know three and a half years ago the sheriffs department acted on whatever tip they got. They began digging up Earls shop where he use to work on cars and make synthetic marble furniture. They found bones.... they thought they'd found Margarets remains. At that time the det. paid Earl a visit. He opened his door, shook one detectives hand, looked him right in the eye and said "prove that I did it" A few days later the forensic tests were in ---the buried remains were animal. (Disgusting isn't it? I imagine Earl had a laugh about that one.) The day they left his house they called me and said. "He's guilty" I appreciated that. I needed the validation of their expert opinion. The department exhausted a lot of money in man hours and replacement for the shed. They tried hard to find justice for Margaret. I saw their surprise when they read the 3/8/03 Lakeland Ledger article that said another woman that lived on that street disappeared in 65. I'm guessing, but I think they wanted to work that angle as well. I don't know how those things work, but in April 2003, they called Margarets family in Lakeland, the kids and I down here and told us that although the case remained open, they had to move on after the dig failed. Any calls made to the Homicide Division since then pointing out the obvious between Peggy and Margaret were accepted but that's all. There are new detectives. One for each of the two cases.

 

[Richard]

Margaret's case has been discussed on another thread here in Cold Cases - in possible connection with the case of the disappearance of another Highland City woman; Peggy Wynell Byars-Baisden, 23, Missing 2 April 1965
Link:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31906&page=1

It is appropriate that Mary Margaret Cook have her own thread as well.


Mary Margaret Cook
Missing since November 14, 1970 from Highland City, Polk County, Florida.
Classification: Endangered Missing
Vital Statistics
Age at Time of Disappearance: 25 years old
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female.

Circumstances of Disappearance
Cook, a 25-year-old mother of two, was last seen on November 14, 1970. She reportedly went on a shopping trip to retail store in Lakeland but never returned. Her 1959 white Cadillac was found in the store's parking lot the next day. Cooks wallet was found inside the car, but $200 her husband allegedly gave her was missing.

Cook's body has never been found and no one has ever been charged in her disappearance. Her husband is considered a prime suspect in the case.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: Polk County Sheriff's Office 863-533-0344

Source Information:
Bay News 9
The Doe Network: Case File 1383DFFL

Link:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1383dffl.html

 

[othermother]

From Margaret's family.

 

[othermother]

Lakeland Ledger
Ledger Bureau
Bartow- Polk County shriff's deputies are continuing their search for Mrs. Mary Cook, 25, a Highlands City mother of two who disappeared while on a shopping trip to Lakeland last Saturday night.

She was last seen about 9 p.m. Saturday when she departed for J.M. Fields to shop. The car she was driving, her purse, empty wallet, and identification papers were located in the department store parking lot approximately 1 a.m. Sunday.

The empty wallet found by her husband and two youngsters, had about $210 in cash in it when Mrs.Cook left home, according to officials.

Described as being of stocky build, four feet, 11 inches, with light brown shoulder length hair, hazel eyes and wearing glasses, the woman may have been robbed and abducted from the parking area, deputies said.

The sheriff's office reports she was wearing a green dress with white lace trim, and matching green tie on the front of her dress.

Information about the woman is being requested by the sheriff's office and should be called to the nearest law enforcement agency.

 

[othermother]

Woman Still Missing


Polk sheriff depities are still searching for Mary Margaret Cook, 25, who's car was found in the Lakeland J.M. Field's parking lot about 1 o'clock Sunday morning.

She left home in Highland City to go shopping Saturday night. Her purse was found in the car but the $210 she had with her was missing. Deputies think she was abducted and they suspect foul play was invloved.

Mrs.Cook is 4 feet 11 inches tall, has light brown shoulder length hair, hazel eyes, and weighs 150 pounds. She was last seen wearing a homemade green dress, which is trimmed in white lace with a green tie attached in front.

 

[othermother]

Highland City Woman Reported Still Missing

Polk Sheriff's deputies are still searching for Mrs. Mary Margaret Cook, 25, who disappeared six months ago.

The mother of two left her home in Highland City to go shopping Saturday night November 15, 1970. Her car was found in the parking lot about 1 a.m. the next day.

Her purse was found in the car but $210 she had was missing.

Deputies still believe she was abducted and suspect foul play.

According to Detective Capt. Herbert Goodson, the sheriff's department has come up against a blank wall after checking various leads. Mrs. Cook's picture appeared in a national detective magazine and prompted tips to Polk law enforcement officials. The tips or "sightings" took the investigation from Sarasota to Chicago but each tip was ruled out.

According to the sheriff's department, assistance is still needed from anyone who may have seen the woman.

Mrs. Cook is 4 feet, 11 inches tall, has light brown shoulder length hair, hazel eyes and weighs 150 pounds.

Anyone having information should contact the sheriff's department in Bartow.



A picture appeared to the left side of this article. The same picture that is already posted. It also says: The photograph is three years old. She was slightly heavier and wore similiar but darker glasses when she disappeared.

 

[othermother]

when the case was re-opened in 2003 can be found on Peggy Wynell Byars-Baisden's thread.

Thank you

 

[othermother]

April 25th was Margaret’s birthday………she would be 62………still very much in the prime of her life……. I know she can’t read this… and I’m not a poet…. So I’ll make it a tribute……

Happy Birthday in Heaven Margaret
It seems like yesterday
You were a 25 year old mother
Taking the children out to play

First and most importantly
No one believed his lie for long
Your babies are grown men now
They’re kind and brave and strong

I imagine your face lighting up with pride
As you look down from above
To see them tenderly caring
For the families that they love

Never will they lift a hand in anger
Or will an unkind word be spoken
These two young men are proof positive
The cycle of abuse has finally been broken

Your mother’s health is better
Although on days like this she’s sad
She’s content to walk among us
Until she can be with you and your Dad

Your siblings they still miss you
But they’ve moved on with their lives
Now they share their “Margaret” memories
With their children and their wives

The family hopes that you now know and understand
The tears they shed the day you wed
Some were for your beauty
The others were about the man

They never ever liked him
But for your sake they really tried
Your love for him was strong and pure
Their doubts about his love for you
Is what they had to hide

What I find so ironic
Is the baby girl you wished to bear for him
Was born to him and another
Look down at her Margaret
Your eyes with tears will dim

You are her other mother
About you she knows all
She tries to help her brothers
Understand why he never calls

You’d be so proud of her too
When to her father up she stands
Until you speak the truth Dad
Of you I’ve washed my hands

All three have asked him Margaret
Dad what happened to your wife?
His answer was to curse them
And cut them from his life

As you look down from above
We’re sure you see the legacy of your love.
There’s one last thing that we can do
Until we breathe our last we’ll keep searching for you

 

[lostwithoutyou]

Today, November 14, 2007, marks the thirty-seventh anniversary of the disappearance of Mary Margaret Cook. Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers. If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Mary Margaret Cook, please contact the Polk County Sheriff's Office at 863-533-0344 or your local police department (you can remain annonymous).

 

[othermother]

In a South Florida hospital of liver failure due to cancer. He had turned 67 in the hospital September 10th. He was lucid until the end. A detective came from Polk County on October 22nd. Earl refused to speak to him. The detective came at the invitation of a family member. The case remains open.

 

[Richard]

In a South Florida hospital of liver failure due to cancer. He had turned 67 in the hospital September 10th. He was lucid until the end. A detective came from Polk County on October 22nd. Earl refused to speak to him. The detective came at the invitation of a family member. The case remains open.

Well it sounds like Earl took his secrets to the grave. If he had nothing to hide, why wouldn't he speak with the detective?

In life, without a trial or charges, we have to presume his innocence (legally speaking), but perhaps now that he has died, some answers will be forthcoming.

Hopefully the detectives will continue to seek answers. Perhaps they can now obtain permission to search his property.