2009 Cobb, Nancy 4-24-2009

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CLEVELAND -- A local family is spending Mother's Day without their mom. Now they are taking action and turning to the community for help to find her.

Nancy Cobbs left her home on April 24 to go to a neighborhood store and that was the last time anyone saw the Cleveland mother.

On Saturday, family, friends and neighbors desperate to find her held an emotional rally for the 43-year-old Cobbs.

"I know something was wrong because she didn't answer her phone. Her phone has been going straight to voice mail and that's not like my mother," her daughter said. "I don't want to think it's foul play, I really don't. I'm hoping she might be somewhere and just hasn't called."

Cobbs is the mother of three children and many grandchildren who are heartbroken over her disappearance.

She is 5 feet 3 inches, 125 pound and was last seen wearing blue jean capris, a white blouse and black leather jacket.

Cobbs’ family said the greatest gift would be a reunion with their mom on Mother’s Day. . Her family said Cobbs was healthy and had no medical issues.

If you have any information on her disappearance, contact the Cleveland Police Department at 216-623-1234, or the Fourth District Police Station at 216-623-5400.
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/19417494/detail.html


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Anthony Sowell, Death, Real Time News »
Six bodies found at Anthony Sowell's house, police sources say
By Mark Puente, The Plain Dealer
October 31, 2009, 5:00AM
John Kuntz, The Plain DealerPeople begin to gather Friday afternoon at Imperial Avenue and East 123rd Street as Cleveland police search for bodies in and around the house where Anthony Sowell lives. The crowd got larger into the evening. Some people brought with them pictures of missing friends and relatives.
With Joe Guillen, The Plain Dealer

Updated at 5 a.m.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Scores of law enforcement officers continued their search for convicted sex offender Anthony Sowell Friday night, while investigators temporarily ended their work at Sowell's home after finding the bodies of possibly six people inside and outside the house.

Investigators intend to continue digging at the Imperial Avenue property today in a search for more bodies. Sowell, 50, has lived in the home since 2005.

Police found two of the bodies on Thursday. When a third was discovered Friday afternoon in the basement's dirt floor, it triggered a more extensive search. Vans from the coroner's office were lined up outside the East Side house as a cadaver dog sniffed at patches of yard without grass.

Cuyahoga County Sheriff Anthony E. Sowell "[Sowell] is the most wanted man in Cleveland right now," said police spokesman Lt. Thomas Stacho.

Stacho said three bodies were found for sure, and it is believed the remains of three others were located. At least two of the bodies were women. One body was found in the back yard, the rest in the house.

Stacho said the bodies "appear to be in different stages of decomposition." He said an expert from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History was at the house helping coroner employees determine when the victims had died.

Police halted their search for bodies about 8:30 p.m. Stacho said investigators will comb the house and yard "inch by inch, foot by foot."

But the hunt for Sowell went on, aided by U.S. marshals called in from out of state. Sowell moved into the home after serving 15 years in prison for rape.

It was the report of another rape last month, just eight hours after sheriff's deputies checked on the convicted sex offender, that sent police Thursday to arrest Sowell at his home in the 12200 block of Imperial. He was gone, but police found two badly decomposed bodies inside.

Coroner employees are trying to determine the age and race of the people found, and how they were killed. At least one of the victims died from violence, Stacho said.

Sowell's neighbors are scared.

"Everybody in this neighborhood is on edge," said Sheaillivee Kade. "Is this guy a serial killer?"

Woman fears the worst


Kyana Hunt lived with her mother Nancy Cobbs one block away, on Griffing Avenue. Cobbs, 43, has been missing since April. Her daughter fears the worst.

"I have no way to describe how I feel," Hunt said. "I want closure. I want to be happy to know she's in a better place. If it isn't her, I want the other families to have closure."

As news of the discoveries spread Friday night, a crowd gathered near Sowell's home. Many people brought with them pictures of relatives and friends who are missing.

Neighbor Debbie Madison saw commotion at Sowell's house Thursday. She heard talk of dead bodies inside and feared Sowell might be dead, so she went to Sowell's sister's home on East 130th Street. Sowell was resting on a couch inside.

He asked for a ride home. Sowell started talking as they approached the house, Madison said.

"He said it was true," Madison said. "That's when I became scared.

"He told me, 'It's all gonna come out.' He said, 'That girl made me do it,' " Madison said.

Instead of continuing to his home, Sowell asked Madison to drive him back to his sister's. She did.


The house on Imperial is owned by two of Sowell's relatives, but he's had it to himself since one died and the other moved into a nursing home, neighbors said.

The incidents that landed Sowell in trouble span 20 years but follow a chilling pattern.

A review of police reports and court records show Sowell struck up conversations with women, usually by offering them alcohol. Once inside his home, three women said, Sowell choked them, stripped off their clothes and raped them. A fourth woman told police Sowell offered her a beer and choked her, but she was able to run away before he could sexually assault her.

In 1989, Sowell lived on Page Avenue in East Cleveland. That's where he lured a 21-year-old woman into his bedroom, choked her and repeatedly raped her, prosecutors said. That led to his prison sentence from 1990 until 2005.

Once released, Sowell had to register as a sex offender. He was required to report to the sheriff's office once a year until 2008, when a change in the law caused him to report every 90 days.

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He last checked in on Sept. 2. On Sept. 22, deputies did a spot check on him to verify he lived on Imperial. Sowell answered the door, but deputies did not enter the home. Since Sowell was no longer on probation, they needed a search warrant to get in.

That was shortly before 9 a.m. Around 5 p.m., Sowell beat and raped another woman, according to a Cleveland police report.

The victim in that case, who knew Sowell, said he offered to split four bottles of malt liquor with her. She entered Sowell's home and went to the second floor, which was empty except for a chair, a blanket and an extension cord, police said.

After drinking for a while, Sowell became upset, punched the woman in the face and began choking her with the cord. He raped her as she passed out, the woman told police.

"She got away after she bribed him and told him she'd give him money and promised not to tell," the woman's mother said Friday.

Two days earlier, police were called to the house after neighbors reported seeing a partially clothed woman pushed out of a window.

In December 2008, another woman told police Sowell tried to rape her. That woman bought a beer at a store on the corner of East 123rd Street and Imperial when Sowell asked her to drink with him.

When she said no, Sowell punched her in the face, dragged her to the back of his home and told her, "Take your clothes off," according to the police report.

The woman broke free, ran away and flagged down a police car. Police went back to the house and arrested Sowell for attempted rape and robbery, but the woman ultimately did not want to talk to detectives and no charges were filed.

Crime Stoppers and U.S. marshals are offering a $12,000 reward for any information leading to Sowell's arrest. The U.S. marshals have brought in scores of officers from across the region to help Cleveland police look for Sowell.

"We will turn every stone until we find him," said U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott.

Anyone with information can call 1-866-4-Wanted.
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/10/po...dy_still_s.html

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fourth victim of Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell has been identified as 43 year old Nancy Cobbs. Cobbs was last seen in April and her family had fled a missing persons report to the police in June. Cobbs was a mother of 4 children.

In other news on the case, Sowell stated that he wanted the death penalty after being caught by police this weekend. And in a strange twist, Mayor Frank Jackson's niece said that she had a relationship with Sowell and even asked questions about the repugnent odor at the Imperial Ave residence. Sowell said that the smell was from the sauasage factory that the house was next door to.

http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/11906