http://www.corsicanadailysun.com/homepage/local_story_188210357.html?keyword=leadpicturestory
July 07, 2007
When 17-year-old Andrea Cotten was last seen Jan. 22, 2004, it was a day before she was to have had a visit with her child in foster care.
No way would she miss that, family and friends said. But she did.
That fact is one that leads investigators to believe foul play may have been involved in the disappearance of the Corsicana resident, who would be celebrating her 21st birthday later this month.
The hope is that Cotten will be found, and local police detectives, sheriff’s investigators, Department of Public Safety troopers and the Texas Rangers haven’t given up trying to find the woman.
An age-progressed photograph of Cotten (shown at right) could aid officers in their search. It was produced by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, using technology and graphic artists in an effort to gain an idea of what Cotten might look like today.
“We do have a person of interest in the case we’re looking at,” said Det. Darrell Waller of the Corsicana Police Department Friday.
He said they’ve kept working the case of the missing Cotten at the request of the family. Waller said he has received help on the case from Texas Ranger Trace McDonald, Sheriff’s investigator Jimmy Johnson and DPS trooper Michael Adcock.
“She was last seen leaving her cousin’s house on Cottonwood Circle in the company of two Hispanic males,” Waller said recounting the case. The three left the area in an older model pickup truck.
Since her disappearance, there have not been any traces of her surfacing anywhere under her name or personal information, Waller said.
“We’ve checked databases on her name, date of birth, Social Security number, credit cards, banks ... no sign of her turning up anywhere,” he said.
Waller said he didn’t think she would be able to completely change her identity without some sign of her doing so surfacing to authorities.
A number of witnesses have been re-interviewed recently, Waller said. Out of those interviews came the identification of the “person of interest” that authorities are looking at. Waller declined to name or describe the person, citing the on-going investigation.
“With this much time passed, we are at kind of a stand-still,” Waller said. He is hopeful that the new age-progressed photograph may aid them in their search for Cotten.
“We hope that anyone with any information will come forward,” Waller added.
Waller may be contacted at the Corsicana Police Department by calling (903) 654-4902.
pics (First is at age 17, and second is an age progression to 20)
Here is her NCMEC page:
[URL]http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewPoster&caseNum=982078&orgPrefix=NCMC&searchLang=en_US
Here is her Texas Dept of Public Safety page:
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/mpch/mpdetails.asp?id='M3/10/20042:27:32PM'