Carol M. Cooper was 86 when she disappeared from an assisted living facility in the 8100 block of Wornall in Kansas City, Missouri. She was last seen on September 17, 2004, leaving the facility on foot for a routine walk; surveillance footage shows her carrying a black carpet bag she always took with her. At the time she wore a black and gray sweater, a black skirt, and white athletic shoes, and she used a hearing aid and spoke with a strong German/Austrian accent.

Friends and investigators noted she may have been experiencing symptoms of dementia, yet she was described as physically active — walking, swimming, and a regular public-transit rider who frequented Country Club Plaza and Independence Square. Her bank accounts, credit cards, and passport remained untouched after she vanished. Searches including cadaver-detection dogs produced no leads.

Investigators later disclosed that Cooper had been the victim of a violent home attack in December 1999; a man was arrested in 2007 and convicted for that assault and others based on DNA, but authorities have not established a connection between that crime and her disappearance. The case remains open and is classified as an endangered missing person.

Did anyone in the area around Wornall or the places she frequented see an elderly woman carrying a black carpet bag on or after September 17, 2004?