Current:Home > ContactIndexbit-Police say a Virginia mom, her 3 kids are missing. Her husband says he's not concerned. -Wealth Evolution Experts
Indexbit-Police say a Virginia mom, her 3 kids are missing. Her husband says he's not concerned.
Fastexy View
Date:2025-04-07 19:08:13
Police are Indexbitsearching for a Virginia woman and her three children considered missing for about two weeks, though her husband has told a local TV station that his family is fine.
Lauren Elizabeth Cook, 30, was last seen with her three children at the the family's Ferrum home in southwest Virginia at the end of August, and she last spoke with her mother around Sept. 5, according to the Franklin County Sheriff's Office.
Her children are: 2-year-old Elijah, 5-year-old Hannah and 7-year-old Benjamin.
Here's what we know:
Police hunt for ex-NFL player:Ex-NFL player Sergio Brown missing after his mother killed near Chicago-area home
Unsuccessful communication
When Cook's mother last spoke with her daughter on the phone, she said that she and the children were in New York visiting family, sheriff's Sgt. Megan Huston told USA TODAY on Tuesday.
She said that Cook's bank account has had no recent activity and that her cellphone last pinged on Sept. 7 in Lexington, Virginia, about 90 miles northeast of the home she shares with her husband and children in Ferrum, a rural area in the Blue Ridge Mountains with about 2,100 residents.
"Communication efforts with Lauren have been unsuccessful," the sheriff's office posted on its Facebook page on Sept. 13, releasing photos of the family and asking the public for help to find them.
As of Tuesday all three children were listed on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's website.
They may be traveling in a 2013 blue Chrysler van with a Virginia license plate, the non-profit said.
Cops say man faked death to avoid court:'Missing' kayaker faked Louisiana drowning death to avoid child-sex charges
Father: 'I have no reason to be concerned'
Jordan Cook, Lauren Cook's husband and the father of their children, could not be reached by USA TODAY on Tuesday.
But he told WSET-TV that he has heard from his wife since she's been considering missing.
"Contrary to what has been reported, my wife and children are not 'missing,'" the husband said in a statement to the outlet. "I have no reason to be concerned about their safety or well-being. I have heard from my wife, and I'm sure she and my children are doing well. We ask that our family's privacy be respected at this time."
'Still entered as missing'
Despite Jordan Cook's comments, Huston said that the search for the mother and children continues.
"If the husband has had contact with Lauren since then, we aren’t aware of it," Huston said Tuesday. "Lauren Cook and the three children are still entered as missing. Law enforcement (wherever it may be) has to lay eyes on her and the children in order for them to be removed as missing from the system."
Anyone with information about the missing family is asked to contact the Franklin County Sheriff's Office or their local law enforcement agency.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior correspondent for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @nataliealund.
veryGood! (9)
Related
- Average rate on 30
- Wanda Sykes stands in solidarity with Hollywood writers: 'We can't back down'
- Fake stats, real nostalgia: Bonding with my dad through simulation baseball
- Dua Lipa’s Sexy Sheer Bodysuit Will Blow Your Mind at Milan Fashion Week
- Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
- Relationships are the true heart of 1940s dystopian novel 'Kallocain'
- British star Glenda Jackson has died at age 87
- LA's top make-out spots hint at a city constantly evolving
- Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus recalls the first laugh she got — and the ER trip that followed
Ranking
- This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
- Martin Amis, British author of era-defining novels, dies at 73
- Ariana DeBose Pokes Fun at Her Viral Rap at SAG Awards 2023
- Two convicted of helping pirates who kidnapped German-American journalist and held him 2-1/2 years
- Don't let hackers fool you with a 'scam
- 'Succession' season 4, episode 9: 'Church and State'
- If you don't love the 3D movie experience, you're not alone
- In 'Kiss Me in the Coral Lounge,' Helen Ellis' home life takes center stage
Recommendation
Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
Françoise Gilot, the famed artist who loved and then left Picasso, is dead at 101
Cuba Gooding Jr. settles a civil sex abuse case just as trial was set to begin
Nation's first 'drag laureate' kicks off Pride in San Francisco
FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
'All the Sinners Bleed' elegantly walks a fine line between horror and crime fiction
The 47 Most Popular Amazon Items E! Readers Bought This Month
Iran to allow more inspections at nuclear sites, U.N. says