Friday, September 14, 2012

Missing - Oregon


9/8/2012: OREGON: STILL MISSING and his mother is worried sick! Chase Cook (22) of Medford, Oregon mysteriously disappeared on 6/23/2012. His mother, Brenda Johnson of Ashland thinks her son may be in the Gold Beach area where a man matching his description was seen at a convenience store.

Chase is described as being 5-foot-11, weighing about 130 pounds, and drives an old blue and white GMC pick
up with Oregon license number YUF 382. It is not known whether he is still with his truck. There are some pictures of Cook where he is wearing a goatee, and there are other pictures of him where he is relatively clean shaven.

The truck was spotted outside Grants Pass last week. It was parked along Highway 238 near Provolt. It appeared abandoned to passers-by, said Johnson. The pickup sat along the highway for days before it mysteriously disappeared, Johnson said.

"We don't know if it broke down and took a while to fix," Johnson said, "or whether someone else took it."

Search-and-rescue teams combed the area looking for any sign of Cook or the pickup, but found nothing.

Then late last week someone called the Medford Police Department and reported that Chase was seen in Gold Beach. From the description given it appears he was either at the Central Curry '76 station store or at Turner Shell.

Johnson, who lives in Ashland, said it's uncharacteristic of her son to leave without telling his family where he's going.

"It was a total surprise," she said. "He just left without locking his apartment and disappeared."

Cook was last seen June 23 at a Minute Market on East Main Street in Medford.

"He bought an energy drink at that market and that's the last anyone around here has seen of him," Johnson said.

Johnson said her son has had a difficult time adjusting to Jackson County since moving from Colorado two years ago. Cook grew up in Colorado and left his friends behind when he moved to where his mother lives. Johnson lives and works in Ashland, she told the Medford Mail-Tribune.

"He had trouble getting established out here," said Johnson. "He couldn't make friends and he never really found a girlfriend."

Johnson describes her son as a lost soul who spent a lot of time by himself in recent months. He was an avid gamer, who stayed up all hours of the night playing video games and eating junk food.

"He sort of let himself go," she said. "He had little money and wouldn't ask us for any. He was very independent."

Johnson said Cook was recently laid off from his job at Erickson Air Crane and was living on unemployment. Cook's mom said Cook recently purchased a handgun. It was the one possession he took with him when he disappeared.

"I don't think he's a threat to anyone," said Johnson.

Cook left behind his cell phone so police can't track him through any calls he might make.

Johnson said that her son suffers from depression, but is otherwise physically and mentally fine. Brenda Johnson is divorced from Cook's father, Tom Cook. Tom Cook is in Jackson County looking for his son.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Chase Cook is asked to call the Medford Police Department at (541) 770-4783.

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