Missing woman’s family continues search after 42 days
A large search party, including Springfield and park district police officers, combed through Washington Park and handed out 300 fliers Saturday. Cox, 56, went missing March 23 after walking out of a residence on the 1100 block of West Cook Street that day. She was distraught over hearing that her father was dying and is considered a suicide risk.
Cox had come to Springfield from Lake City, Florida, because their father, who had been suffering from small cell carcinoma for a year, was put in hospice care. Cox had planned on staying with their mother, Nancy Hall, for two months after their father had passed and got a refill of her medications, including muscle relaxants, to prepare.
On March 23, Nelson called the hospice nurse when her father started gasping for breath. The hospice nurse told Nelson, in Cox’s presence, that her father had 24 to 48 hours to live. They called an ambulance for medical transport to the hospital. Nelson handed Cox a “Do Not Resuscitate” form given to her by the nurse when Cox asked what she was holding.
Nelson tried to calm Cox down and tried to get her to focus on “being” with their dying father. Cox sat down and pulled a bottle out of her purse, Nelson said.
“She looked at me and said, ‘I will be with him,’ ” Nelson said. “She grabbed a bottle of muscle relaxors and right in front of me, her daughter, her mom and her brother, she took the whole bottle. She not only took them but she chewed them up in front of us.”
Nelson’s mother, Nancy Hall, tried to get Cox to spit up the pills, while Nelson called emergency services to ask for another ambulance, this time for her sister. Cox refused to throw up the pills and weaseled out of Hall’s grip. She walked out of the house. She got past her brother, John. Nelson continued to follow her down Cook Street, then Lincoln Avenue.
http://www.sj-r.com/news/20180505/missing-womans-family-continues-search-after-42-days
