Has anyone seen Cole? Family’s search for missing teenager

When 19-year-old Cole Cooper stepped out on a cool May night earlier this year, no one would have guessed he was in the final hours of his life.

He had gone out with friends to a pub near his home in central Scotland.

But hours later his phone was off: no text messages, no social media posts.

Five days later, when there was still no sign of him, his family called the police.

“They told me he’s just a missing kid, possibly drunk and out of the house,” said Cole’s mother, Wendy Stewart.

He said he was told Cole was not high risk.

Police risk assessment is a fundamental part of a missing person investigation. It is a set of questions that establish the probability that someone has suffered harm.

Questions include any known risk of suicide and whether it is out of character for the person to have disappeared.

The risk rating given by the police determines the level of resources for the case.

Police Scotland say the decision to issue a public appeal is based on the circumstances and that a person’s age, sex or sobriety are not factors.

Warning: This article contains disturbing details and references to suicide.

Cole’s family told the BBC’s Disclosure program that they told police from the beginning that Cole’s disappearance was not typical behavior and that he had been struggling with his mental health.

“We explained to the police about Cole’s mental health. Although Cole had not been diagnosed with depression or anything like that, he did have problems,” Wendy said.

“And they still haven’t listed Cole as high risk.

“He never ran away…the police were never involved in my son’s life until the moment he disappeared.”

Police initially deemed Cole to be a medium risk after conducting an assessment and speaking with family and friends.

They said Cole regularly moved from one address to another and it was not unusual for him to lose contact with his family for periods of time.

Cole’s family felt they had no choice but to become investigators and file their own appeal.

His aunt, Aimee Tennee, said, “We just decided we’ll do it ourselves when they won’t listen to us.”

They took to social media and wrote a simple post: “Has anyone seen Cole?”

“The moment it happened there, it started spiraling,” Aimee said.

Cole’s story began to spread throughout Scotland and beyond. His face appeared in multiple TikToks, Instagram stories, and Facebook updates.

The family created a specialized page and thousands of people shared sightings and information online.

Aimee said they received hundreds of messages from people who thought they had seen Cole.

The family organized search parties, sometimes involving up to 300 people in the final stages of the search.

The disappearance had shocked the close-knit community of Banknock, the former mining town on the banks of the Forth-Clyde Canal, near where Cole lived. Local residents canvassed the area while assisting in the search.

The family also began conducting their own door-to-door investigations, asking people to check their security cameras.

“It’s pretty sad that we got to a point where we had to do that,” Aimee said.

“Instead of focusing on your pain, your despair, and your desperation for that person, you’re now in a different role.”

Police Scotland say the family had expressed a wish to carry out their own searches and appeals, something they were entitled to do.

“We informed them of this. However, at no point did Police Scotland ask or encourage the family to lead the investigation or provide updates,” a spokesperson said.

Police had also been searching for Cole.

Five days after her disappearance, they made their first public appeal and then raised their risk rating from medium to high.

Teams of victim recovery dogs and drones were brought in, as well as the police helicopter and divers.

The family pieced together the final hours of Cole’s life and built a timeline of where the teen had gone, hoping to find clues.

They found footage of him just after leaving the pub in Denny, in Stirlingshire, on Saturday night.

He was caught on camera walking to a house party, then a doorbell camera caught him walking to and from his father’s house, even though he was away.

The family obtained CCTV footage from a mechanic’s workshop which captured Cole heading down the main street in Longcroft, stopping near a bus stop.

At 6am he was seen running past a row of houses near Banknock and then along Cumbernauld Road.

That was the last confirmed sighting of Cole.

Around 15,000 missing persons reports are received to Police Scotland each year, around 40 a day.

While the vast majority are found or return, up to 20 people each year are not located within 12 months.

An estimated 75% of adults suffer harm while missing, and last year 97 people were found dead after being reported missing.

According to organizations specializing in missing persons, men are at the highest risk of serious harm in the hours and days after they go missing.

Families often tell activists a similar experience: that their children are not seen as vulnerable.

They say that age and sex act as a buffer that softens the urgency of their demise.

Campaigners say the assumption that young men are resilient, unpredictable and capable of disappearing – and therefore less vulnerable – can cost lives.

Josie Allan is head of policy at Missing People, the UK’s only charity dedicated to reconnecting missing people with their loved ones.

“We hear from families that there is an assumption that because the missing person is a young man, they will be fine, children will be children and they will return of their own volition.

“There is a perceived lack of vulnerability among boys and young men, when in reality we would be really worried if it were a young woman who had been away for several days.

“So we don’t necessarily understand the risks they might be facing, and families feel that can then inform the risk assessment, can inform the amount of resources put into it, and ultimately can mean that they are not found safe.”

Five weeks after he was last seen, Cole’s body was found by a member of the public in a small wooded area next to a playground less than a mile from his mother’s house. He was slumped against a tree with a ligature around his neck.

The exact cause of death could not be found during a post-mortem examination.

Police told the family there was no evidence anyone else was involved in Cole’s death and said it was unexplained.

“What is inexplicable?” Wendy asks. “If you say you believe my son has taken his life, why do you still consider it inexplicable?”

Josie Allan says this often happens if police resources are not dedicated to a thorough investigation.

“That can absolutely contribute to an unexplained result because, unfortunately, some evidence is lost,” he says.

“There is a risk that if young men are less likely to have that kind of sense of urgency and therefore less likely to be found quickly when something bad has happened, then that could mean that there are less likely to be answers about what happened to them.”

Police Scotland told the BBC that all deaths whose circumstances or causes are unknown are treated with caution.

“Initial protocols, similar to suspicious deaths, are implemented until more information is available.”

The Scottish Government recently updated its National Missing Persons Framework, strengthening risk assessment and promising better engagement with families.

But campaigners argue that unless the deeper cultural assumptions around young men are addressed, gaps will remain.

If you have been affected by any issue in this story, you can contact the BBC action line for help and advice.