OH OH - Nicholle Coppler, 14, Lima, 19 May 1999

SheWhoMustNotBeNamed

Former Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2006
Messages
21,188
Reaction score
1,168
Website
www.facebook.com
coppler_nicholle.jpg
coppler_nicholle_ap.jpg

Missing Since: May 19, 1999 from Lima, Ohio
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: August 21, 1984
Age: 14 years old
Height and Weight: 5'4, 120 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Coppler's ears are pierced. She may change the color and style of her hair.

Details of Disappearance

Coppler resided with her family in Lima, Ohio in 1999. She was scheduled to attend Saturday classes on May 19, 1999. Coppler was last seen at Glen Fryer's house in the 700 block of south Elizabeth Street during the day. She has never been heard from again. Authorities initially classified her case as that of a runaway and believed she may have left the state with a male companion. Investigators are now uncertain about the circumstances of Coppler's disappearance.


Fryer served with the United States Marines during the Vietnam War. He was regarded as an intelligent man with potential prior to the war, but his personality changed after returning to Lima. Fryer faced explosives charges after his tour of duty ended. Authorities also believed he was involved in the murder of his former wife, Connie Ferenczi. Ferenczi was shot and killed at her Ohio home in 1980. Another man was charged with her homicide; testimony during his trial implied that Fryer hired him to murder Ferenczi. The man was acquited by a jury and Fryer was never arrested in the case, as prosecutors lacked enough evidence to charge him. Fryer consistently maintained his innocence in Ferenczi's murder.


Fryer was charged with the rape of a young girl in Lima in 2001. He pleaded no contest to the charges and was expected to be sentenced to 20 years in prison in March 2002. He was required to speak to authorities about Coppler's case as part of the plea bargain. Fryer hanged himself in his jail cell four days after his February 2002 plea. He never spoke about Coppler's disappearance before his death.


Investigators linked Fryer to the disappearance of another young girl before his suicide. Authorities believe that he transported the girl to Tennessee, where she was allegedly taken to Charles Shepherd. Investigators believe that Fryer and Shepherd were connected to a prostitution network utilizing minors. They believe that the girl may have been sold to the organization. The victim's remains were discovered in Kentucky sometime afterwards and Shepherd was charged with her murder.


Authorities believe that Coppler may have been forced into prostitution by Fryer. Investigators obtained information linking Coppler to Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia after her disappearance. Her identification card, her photographs, and a hair accessory with attached strands of her hair were discovered inside Fryer's home after she was reported missing. There also appeared to be an abandoned, dug-up grave inside the crawl space of the basement. Extensive searches of Fryer's home did not uncover Coppler's body, however.


Prior to her disappearance, Coppler began skipping her classes at Lima Senior High School, where she was a ninth-grader. Her mother found out she missed class without explanation at least twelve times in the weeks shortly before she went missing. The school did not notify Coppler's mother of the unexcused absences. Coppler's mother stated her daughter had been an honors student with an excellent school attendance record, but she made a new group of friends a few months prior to her disappearance and her academic performance declined afterward.


There have not been any arrests in Coppler's case, but authorities continue to make periodic searches for her body. They beliee her remains may have originally been buried at Fryer's residence, but that they have since been moved.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Lima Police Department

419-227-4444
 
http://www.norwalkreflector.com/content/human-remains-found-home-might-be-missing-teen

Krista Coppler said she suspected all along Glen Fryer killed her daughter and hid her body on his property despite previous attempts by police to find her body including using ground penetrating radar at the same site bones were found Wednesday.

"If this is her, I knew she was there," she said.

Coppler's grandmother, Diana Coppler, was at the site watching police and waiting for any news.

"We are here at the site and we are not going to leave until Nicolle leaves, if it is her," she said.
 
--- On Fri, 2/17/12, posters@ncmec.org <posters@ncmec.org> wrote:

From: posters@ncmec.org <posters@ncmec.org>
Subject: Missing Child Poster Partner Recovery - Ohio
To: <redacted>
Date: Friday, February 17, 2012, 3:51 PM

Dear Poster Partner:
It is with great sadness and deep regret that we notify you that Nicholle Coppler missing from Lima, OH, has been located deceased. Please discontinue dissemination of this poster.

Please remove and discard any posters on this case that you have placed in public view.

We greatly appreciate your part in our efforts to reunite families and look forward to your continued support.
Thank you for your support.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Visit our web site at www.missingkids.com.
 
Prayers said for Nicholle's family. I'm saddened for their loss, but glad they have answers and Nicholle can be properly laid to rest.
 
How could they have missed her during the other searches?
 
This girl should be a grown woman, married with about 2-3 kids right now, instead her life is cut short by a sicko. Something has to be done, this is happening too often, lives are cut short while entire families are ruined.
 
Being in Ohio, part of me wonders if this is connected to Amanda Berry at all....
 
I just came across a couple of articles that I didn't see posted yet.

Lima Police Chief Kevin Martin said at a press conference Sunday that Coppler’s remains were found on February 8 when the city was in the process of demolishing Fryer’s former home. Authorities confirmed that the remains, which appeared to have been hidden in a basement crawl space, were identified through dental records.

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2012/02/20/remains-girl-missing-1999-found-house-demolished

Krista Coppler said if she can see any good come out of her daughter's death, it is the change in police policy on runaways.

“The investigation, in the beginning, we don't feel was handled right. Now, what's come about with the changes on how they handle it, was because of Nicholle,” she said. “If, in Nicholle's name, she can save some other girls, some good can come out of this.”

In 1999, the family couldn't get police to help for more than a year after Coppler's disappearance. Martin recognized reports weren't always taken back then, but said that is not the case today.

Lima police now immediately take a report and assign an officer. The officer chases leads and the missing person is entered into a national database within 24 hours. Dental records are obtained and the public is notified. Many of those changes are part of new state law, Martin said.

“We have made improvements. Unfortunately, it does not help Nicholle,” Martin said.

http://www.limaohio.com/articles/coppler-79519-lima-daughter.html
 
Some of the accounts mention that Fryer was a truck driver. I wonder whether anyone knows whom he drove for, or what his personal vehicle was. That information might make it easier to connect him up with unsolved cases where someone was last seen being picked up by this creature.

It's also mentioned that Fryer was for some time a member of the Barbarians MC. Probably that's where he got his nickname, "Stubby." People who knew him when have to have been aware of his conviction and suicide. I wonder what else they remember about good old Stubby.
 
This is from a Feb 2012 article, Lima, Ohio:

"Lima Police Chief Kevin Martin said at a press conference Sunday that Coppler’s remains were found on February 8 when the city was in the process of demolishing Fryer’s former home. Authorities confirmed that the remains, which appeared to have been hidden in a basement crawl space, were identified through dental records.

According to the Lima News, investigators had found Coppler’s hair, her school ID card, and a diary in previous searches of the house. The paper reported that the diary included statements indicating that she was being held against her will.

Martin said other searches of Fryer’s property since 2001 have included “specially trained cadaver dogs and …special ground-penetrating radar,” but they found nothing. Two detectives were on site for the demolition and the activity was halted when the remains were spotted. Investigators have not yet determined a cause of death and they are unsure if they will ever be able to figure out when Coppler was killed."

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2012/02/20/remains-girl-missing-1999-found-house-demolished


I missed this story when it happened in Feb 2012. I do not understand how a specially trained cadaver dog could have missed finding this body. But the more cases we see in which this type of dog is used, the more I have come to believe they may not be all that reliable.

Yet I know such dogs are used effectively during catastrophes such as earthquakes, etc. to find bodies.

Is it a matter of too many improperly trained dogs being used or what? Anyone know? Can any dog handler just say "Oh, yes, my dog is a trained dog" and LE will use them?
 
is there an article that states the dogs were ever brought into the house to search? all i've read is that they were used to search the property (land)...
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
134
Guests online
1,074
Total visitors
1,208

Forum statistics

Threads
589,929
Messages
17,927,795
Members
228,004
Latest member
CarpSleuth
Back
Top