JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Thursday marks six years since a Jacksonville woman was found dead inside a Westside home.
Bradla Cook was a mother of three and grandmother of ten. Pictures show her radiating happiness, holding her grandchildren who affectionately called her "B". She was a woman who loved gardening, cooking and above all else, her family.
"My kids' favorite memory with her was going 'yardsaling' as they call it and going shopping for garage sales together," tells Cook's daughter, Kara Trimmer.
But the making of memories came to an end on October 28, 2015.
Jacksonville Fire Rescue responded to a burning car near Hyde Park Road and Ellershaw Road on the Westside. The tag number came back to Bradla Cook, so officers went to her home just over a mile away on Harlow Blvd and walked into a brutal scene.
Bradla was dead, killed by blunt force trauma and had knife injuries.
Detective Ray Reeves with the cold case unit at the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is re-examining this case. He says the attack on Bradla wasn’t random, it was personal.
"There were no apparent signs of forced entry, it didn’t appear to be a burglary," tells Det. Reeves.
He says while investigators don’t have a motive, in this case, they do have persons of interest and have recently submitted DNA to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for more testing.
"We’ve had the ability to work down genetic genealogy in some of our cases, so we are hoping something with that physical evidence will bring a resolution to this," said Det. Reeves.
Investigators could use help from the community, especially those living near the two scenes. Anything they remember, even little details, about that night could be a break in this case.
"Someone walking by or 'I heard a sound', even a time frame could give us something...cars [seen] or someone in the neighborhood at that time could be very beneficial," describes Det. Reeves.
Trimmer says she is encouraged that the cold case team is looking at her mother’s murder because with the case still open her family can’t fully grieve.
"Frustration and anger... it has been not only for me, but my children and my family and her church. You can’t put that into words," said Trimmer.
She hopes anyone with information about her mother’s murder, will do the right thing and give the family justice for a grandmother who still had decades ahead of her to make more memories with her grandchildren.
"We just don’t want it to be one of those cases people forget about, I know it has been six years, but for those of us that work cold cases there is no statute of limitations," said Det. Reeves," There won’t be a time we don’t go back and look at cases."
If you know anything about the murder of Bradla Cook or think you have information that could help, contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office or CrimeStoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS(8477) and you can remain anonymous.
For a look at the Project: Cold Case database visit their website at www.projectcoldcase.org