CARY, N.C. — The family of a former Edmonton resident slain in North Carolina said Friday it was weighing how to tell her two little girls about the grim fate of their mother.
Nancy Cooper's daughters, Bella, 4, and Katie, 2, are being cared for by the family, in particular their mother's twin sister Khrista Lister, who they sometimes call “Khrista mom.” The family believes the girls don't know their mother was killed and that her death is the subject of a police investigation.
“We as humans are pretty adaptive and I think our children always can make adaptations we doubt,” Ms. Cooper's father, Gerry Rentz, said at a news conference in Cary, N.C., on Friday morning.
“I think the girls will come through this well if we handle it well.”
Nancy Cooper's parents said their family's pain would only subside if her killer came forward and confessed.
Her body was found Monday at a construction site about five kilometres from her home in Cary, a Raleigh suburb. Her husband, Bradley Cooper, told police that she went jogging on Saturday and he had not seen her since.
The family was granted temporary custody of the girls this week after filing an emergency petition. Nancy Cooper's parents and sister argued that Bradley Cooper was having an affair, is emotionally unstable and posed a danger to the children.
Bradley Cooper's lawyers have not directly commented on the custody issue, and police said the issue was private. His lawyers have said he is devastated by his wife's death and will continue to assist police as they investigate.
“He would ask and I would join him in asking that anything having to do with the care, with the decisions about the girls be allowed to be worked out between the family members and in private,” his lawyer Seth Blum told a news conference Friday afternoon.
“Mr. Cooper is in mourning I would ask that you respect his privacy and allow him the memory of his wife.”
Authorities have not named any suspects in Nancy Cooper's death and have not released any details about how she died.
“He is not a suspect, he is not a person of interest and he has been very, very clear with the police – he did not kill his wife,” Mr. Blum said.
Mr. Rentz said the girls have not even asked for their father. He called the killing of his daughter “an act of extreme cowardice.”
“And I think if they had a shred of decency in their body, they would come forward and acknowledge their guilt,” Mr. Rentz said.
Police declined to discuss the case Friday. Chief Pat Bazemore said they planned no other public updates on the case until they name a suspect or make an arrest.
Meanwhile, Nancy Cooper's mother Donna Rentz said there has been a huge outpouring of support for the family, particularly in Edmonton, where she said the tree in front of their house is adorned with white ribbons.
After a private memorial service Friday night, the family will host a public memorial service Saturday afternoon in Raleigh. They'll have a second service in Edmonton on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church.
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