A $10,000 reward is now being offered for information and the FBI is joining the effort to help locate a transgender woman who went missing from her home more than a year ago.
© Provided photo Sacoya Cooper, 33, was reported missing Aug. 31.
Columbus police have been investigating the disappearance of 33-year-old Sacoya Cooper, who was last seen leaving her home in North Linden on Aug. 31, 2021. In a press release on Tuesday, police reiterated that they believe Cooper is the victim of foul play.
Central Ohio Crime Stoppers is also offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to Cooper’s location.
Though she no longer uses it, Cooper’s legal name is Devin Cooper.
Sacoya Cooper: The latest on her disappearance
Columbus police and the FBI are expected to discuss the renewed effort to locate Cooper and resolve the case at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
The car that Cooper was seen leaving her house in, a 2009 black Ford Fusion, was found on the West Side several weeks after her disappearance. Columbus police did not announce the discovery of Cooper’s car until a press conference in February. At that time, police said the car had a stolen license plate on it that did not match Cooper’s registration and that the car and license plate had been gathered as evidence.
Theodore Decker:Police secrecy in Sacoya Cooper case, others is disservice to the public, and especially to victims
Cooper had left her partner’s home in the area of Cremeans Park to go get bottled water at a nearby convenience store, however, she never returned.
Cooper is believed to have last been seen in the area of Howey Road and Weldon Avenue or in the area of East Weber Road and Cleveland Avenue, both on the city’s Northeast Side.
Cooper is described as Black, standing 5-foot-5 and weighing about 145 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing black lemonade braids, a black and white summer dress and black and white Baby Phat brand sandals.
Cooper has also been entered into NamUs, a federally funded database that includes the names of missing, unidentified and unclaimed people across the country.
The investigation by Columbus police has been scrutinized by local advocacy groups, including Black Queer & Intersectional Collective (BQIC), an organization that advocates for Black LGBTQIA+ people. The group had organized searches in the weeks following Cooper’s disappearance and expressed concern with how seriously police were treating the case.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS or submit information online at www.stopcrime.org. All tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous and a special coding system is used to provide the reward.
bbruner@dispatch.com
@bethany_bruner
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: $10,000 reward offered as FBI joins investigation into disappearance of Sacoya Cooper