MAYSVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — 48-year-old Eugenia Cooley's family says that she was the type of person that would help anyone. LEX 18 sat down with three of four of Cooley’s children, Christopher Cooley, Keylia Isome, and Jael Westbrook, on Wednesday.
Her daughter Keylia Isome said, "She was a good person. My mom was always there for us. If anyone needed help she was always there to help them."
Now, they are looking for help and getting answers about her death. Cooley was last seen on December 21. Surveillance video shows her walking toward Clark Street in Maysville.
Isome says, "I sent her a text telling her that I would choose her to be my mom in every lifetime. And she text me back saying that, 'I love all my children. I love you daughter, and I miss you.' and I text her back saying I miss you too. And there was no response after that. So immediately I felt like something could be wrong."
Cooley was caught on camera walking near her home in the Great Meadow Homes community. Her kids say on New Year's Eve once they didn't hear back from her, they went down to check on her.
"Knocked on the door and there was no response. Her door was open, we went upstairs, and we looked around. She was nowhere in the house,” explains Isome.
Cooley’s children also say that the found some of her personal items in an outside trash bin including family pictures and her phones.
Police say Cooley’s body was found this past Saturday in the Wald Park area of Maysville. They say that they’re waiting on a report from the State Medical Examiner’s Office as they continue to investigate this case.
Maysville Police Department Detective Ryan Hull, says, "It doesn’t appear like anybody had been around her. It doesn’t appear like she had been carried or drug to that location, it seemed like a location that she has been. But we are still working with the state medical examiner's office. They are still doing their stuff and we can’t make any decisions and really don’t know where to go so we're still kind of expanding in all directions."
Cooley’s kids say they don't believe she would've just walked away.
Her son, Jael Westbrook says, "I know she had to be in contact with somebody on cell phones or something.... For her to just leave out like that, like it doesn’t make sense... Like, it just don’t make sense."
Cooley's children are hoping to get closure and answers very soon.
Isome says, "She loved the people that loved her. She was part of a community in Maysville, Kentucky. We just want answers we want justice."
Find the family's GoFundMe here.
