Joan Renee Cook lived in Salem, Virginia. The 44-year-old was separated from her husband, Mike, and they shared custody of their 7-year-old daughter Ashlyn. Joan was a loving mom who worked as an administrative assistant at a retirement community. She was introverted and mostly kept to herself.
In 2007, Mike moved to Iowa alone to look for a job. By then, he had been married to Joan for 20 years and their relationship was tumultuous. The plan was for Joan and Ashlyn to join Mike in Iowa but three months after he left, Joan started seeing another man and they separated instead.
Mike returned to Virginia and moved back into the marital home with Ashlyn, while Joan moved in with her boyfriend, who went out of state to visit his daughter every other weekend. During those visits, Joan slept at the marital home in order to spend time with Ashlyn. Since she didn’t have a car, her boyfriend always picked her up when he returned to Virginia.
However, nothing would be routine on the cold, rainy night in 2010 when Joan sent a final text and seemingly vanished into thin air.
On January 24, 2010, Joan spent the evening at the marital home with Mike and Ashlyn while her boyfriend was visiting with his daughter. According to Mike, Joan left on foot sometime between 11 and 11:45 pm claiming she was going to visit a friend who lived down the street. The friend later reported that she wasn’t home and didn’t see Joan that night.
The last activity on Joan’s cellphone was roughly six hours later at 5 am on January 25 when her boyfriend texted her, “I miss you.” Joan responded, “I love you.” She was never seen or heard from again.
Joan’s boyfriend was supposed to pick her up on January 29. That same day, her boss called Joan’s sister Carol and told her that Joan didn’t show up for work at all that week, nor did she phone, which was highly unusual. Carol called Mike and Mike reported Joan missing two days later, on January 31.
Mike told investigators that Joan left carrying a duffel bag containing her clothes and makeup and a beige bag filled with toiletries. According to him, Joan also took her purse, wallet, and house keys.
Investigators searched the Cook marital home but found nothing of relevance. Six months later in July, Mike took Ashlyn and moved to Des Moines, Iowa. He cut off all contact between Ashlyn and Joan’s relatives.
Joan’s boyfriend was ruled out since he was out of state at the time.
Joan was last seen wearing a red sweater, blue jeans a black jacket, and low-top Timberland shoes. She has a frog tattoo on her back and a flower on her ankle. Today, Joan would be 57 years old. If you have any information, contact Roanoke County Police Department at 540–562–3265.
