Mum of tragic Scottish teen 'refused' request to ID son after body found

Edinburgh Live

a day ago

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The heartbroken mum of a Scottish teen who went missing in May claims police have 'refused' to let her identify her son's body.
Cole Cooper, 19, was missing for five weeks before a body was found by police on June 6. Officers are yet to formally identify the body - with his grieving loved ones saying their attempts to confirm it is the teenager rejected, reports the Daily Record.
Mum Wendy Stewart said: "I have been informed a body was found that matched that of my son Cole Cooper.
"The police have removed the body from the scene, but regardless of the number of times I have requested to identify my boy, I have been told no. They have carried out a postmortem now and after pleading with them again to see my son and identify him - still no. I cannot express the hurt and anger I am going through."
Police confirmed they are still treating Cole's death as unexplained and that inquiries into the case are ongoing. Cole's auntie, Aimee Tennie, said that the family has been given "no answers" and that officers have been tight-lipped over the circumstances of his death.
She said: "They have given us nothing. They haven't even confirmed if it is Cole.
"When a missing person's body is found, you normally find that they rule it as non-suspicious quite quickly, but several days later they're still saying it's unexplained. It's left a lot of confusion.
"They took 24 hours to remove the body from the scene at the weekend and there were a lot of forensic officers. There was still a police presence there until Monday night.
"The area is very open and the trees are spaced out. there. It's also near a hotel and a kid's play park and the body was found meters from a path.
"While we didn't do any organised searches there, several members of the public have helped us confirm they combed that area until May 18. So, we can not believe he wasn't found for five weeks.
"The entire thing makes no sense. But I've asked the police every question you can think of and I've just been told they can't tell me."
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Cole's mum added: "This is wrong on all levels and I hope no one has to ever go through what we have with regards to the police and their whole system."
Police say Cole, from Banknock, was last seen on May 7 on the A803 near Cumbernauld Road in Longcroft, when he asked a school friend for a lift, which he was not given.
His family has always cast doubt over the authenticity of the sighting. Prior to that, he was captured on alarming ring doorbell footage on the morning of Sunday, May 4 at around 6am in the Longcroft area.
In the clip, he appears to be running from something. He had attended a house party just hours earlier. He later filmed trying to access his father's house, unsuccessfully.
Cole's body was discovered just a 15 minutes walk away from his last confirmed sighting. As part of their investigations, cops revisited Cumbernauld Road on Sunday and spoke to more than 150 people. Police are currently reviewing the responses received.
Detectives say it is a priority for them to establish Cole's last movements from May 4 and 7. They have appealed to those with CCTV from the wider Banknock area, particularly close to the A803 Kilsyth Road, to come forward.
They are asking members of the public to think back to that time and consider if they saw Cole walking in this area. Anyone who has not already spoken to police is urged to do so.
Additionally, CCTV footage totalling to over 2,000 is still being examined. Door-to-door inquiries in Longcroft and Banknock are ongoing.
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Chief Inspector Alex Hatrick said: "Cole Cooper's disappearance and the circumstances leading up to it remain unexplained. We remain in regular contact with the family to ensure they are kept up to date with all aspects of the investigation.
"We will continue to support them and provide them with updates as our enquiries progress. Extensive enquiries are ongoing to piece together Cole's last movements and find answers for his loved ones.
'Anyone with any information, no matter how small it may seem, is urged to speak to police if they have not already done so."
In a public statement made on Monday night, Cole's loved ones said the young man "would have never walked away from his life" as they pledged to fight for answers. They wrote: "As his family, we know who Cole was.
"He was deeply loved and would never have walked away from his life. Something happened — and we will not rest until we know what that was.
"While we now have him back, the circumstances of his disappearance and death remain unexplained. This case is far from over — and we are determined to uncover the full truth of what happened to Cole."
Anyone who has information should contact Police Scotland on 101 quoting incident number 828 of Friday, May 9.