Update: Coworkers Join Search for Missing North Oakland Investigator

Updated Thursday, Aug. 8, 12:10 a.m.

By Bay City News Service

More than a dozen friends and family members of missing North Oakland woman Sandra Coke plastered her North Oakland neighborhood with flyers Wednesday in the hopes that someone will come forward with information about her whereabouts.

Friends and family Wednesday described Coke, who celebrated her 50th birthday last week, as a highly dedicated mother to her 15-year-old daughter and an investigator with the federal public defender's office in Sacramento.

"We are quite certain my sister has been abducted because this is entirely out of character," said Coke's sister, Tanya Coke Kendall, who flew out from New Jersey on Tuesday.

"She is a conscientious employee and mother who would never, ever leave her daughter alone for the evening."

Coke disappeared Sunday night after leaving her home in the 600 block of Aileen Street.

Around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, she told her daughter she was meeting someone with information about the family's missing dog and would return home in 30 minutes, Coke's sister said.

As the hours passed and Coke didn't return or answer her phone, her daughter grew increasingly worried and called a family friend, her sister said.

Late Sunday night, a missing person report was filed.

On Monday night, police located Coke's Mini Cooper convertible in the 800 block of 32nd Street, about 2 miles from her home, according to Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson.

Police also found Coke's two cellphones in separate locations — one discarded near the Oakland-Emeryville border and another near the intersection of Macdonald and Wilson avenues off of Interstate Highway 80 in Richmond, Coke Kendall said.

Coke's daughter was able to track her mother's phone to Richmond using the "Find My iPhone app," her sister said.

"She saw the phone zig-zagging all over the East Bay Area," Coke Kendall said.

Friends also fanned out around the locations where the phones were discovered with flyers Wednesday.

Among those posting flyers near Coke's home this afternoon were several of her former and current co-workers.

Joseph Schelsinger, Coke's longtime friend and co-worker at the federal public defender's office, said he was stunned to hear of her disappearance.

"That's just not like Sandra to do something irresponsible and not show up," he said.

Schelsinger said he doesn't believe Coke's disappearance is linked to her role at the public defender's office, where she investigates criminal death row cases.

As part of her job, Coke frequently interviews defendants' relatives, friends and doctors in order to gather additional information for a defense case, often traveling across the country, he said.

However, he said in his long career with the public defender's office, he's never heard of someone retaliating against an investigator in connection with a criminal case.

"I've never felt threatened in any way," he said.

Administrative Officer Connie Farnsworth said this morning that Coke is part of a tight-knit office even though she is often out in the field investigating various cases.

Coke Kendall said her sister has a large community of legal expert friends who "know their way around an investigation" and are dedicated to finding her.

"We're hoping for a safe and speedy return but the immediate hope is that law enforcement will not leave any stone unturned and pursue all leads," said Coke's longtime friend, Bay Area-based attorney Daniel Abrahamson.

Wednesday police officers left Coke's home with her work laptop and a desktop computer as part of the investigation into her disappearance, her sister said.

They had not shared any new leads with the family as of this afternoon, she said.         
Earlier, Close family friend Kit Young said Coke's 15-year-old daughter has been staying at his home in Berkeley and with relatives in the Bay Area since her mother's disappearance.

He said she has handled the situation "amazingly," is cooperating with police and has broken down only a few times.

Young said he and Coke have raised their daughters together, and that the girls are the same age.

When Coke disappeared, she was trying to track down her dog, which had been stolen during a recent burglary and was following up on a lead, Young said. He said the dog had been taken during a break-in at Coke's home.

Police describe Coke a black woman standing 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds. She has a medium complexion, brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a black-and-white shirt and dark jeans.

Anyone with information about Coke's whereabouts is asked to call the Oakland Police Department's missing persons unit at (510) 238-3641, Crime Stoppers of Oakland at (510) 777-8672, or the tip line at (510) 777-2805.

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