Cooley officially charged with kidnapping; Police seek help in finding 16-year-old son
Published 11:56 am Thursday, October 4, 2018
Izetta Rose Cooley, 39, of Moorhead, Minnesota, was charged on Thursday in Mower County District Court with two counts of felony kidnapping-to facilitate felony or flight and two counts of felony deprive of custody right-violation of court order-take minor.
According to the court complaint, Mower County deputies were dispatched at 10:11 p.m. on Saturday to a residence in the 200 block of Elm Street Northeast in Rose Creek after receiving a report that Izetta had taken two children from a designated foster parent at the residence. They made contact with a relative at the residence, who said he saw a vehicle pull into his driveway and back out. He then heard a knock at the door and that Izetta pushed her way past him when he answered the door and called out for the children.
The complaint states Izetta told the relative that she was coming to get her kids from him. He said she had her hands in her pocket and that he did not want to physically touch her out of fear of escalating the situation. He also said Izetta’s son, later identified as 16-year-old Morgan Cooley, went upstairs and gathered the children’s belongings before they all drove away in a black SUV.
A court order issued out of Clay County, on Sept. 27, 2018, gave custody of the children’s placement to Clay County Social Services, the complaint states. The order also stated the children were to remain at the Rose Creek residence. Izetta was notified about the court order via telephone.
The Moorhead Police Department listed two other of Cooley’s children as missing after they were not seen at their Moorhead residence.
The Moorhead Police Department, with assistance from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and the Metro Street Crimes Unit, arrested Izetta on Tuesday and recovered four of the five children reported missing.
Law enforcement is seeking assistance from the public as they try to locate the fifth child, Morgan Cooley.
According to Mower County Senior Sgt. Investigator Steve Sandvik, the Moorhead Police Department confirmed that Morgan arrived in Moorhead with his mother and siblings and is believed to still be in the Moorhead/Clay County area.
Izetta has not relayed any information to authorities about Morgan’s possible whereabouts, according to Sandvik.
Anyone with information on Morgan Cooley’s whereabouts is urged to call the Mower County Law Enforcement Center at 507-437-9400 or dial 911.
Izetta Cooley will appear in court again on Oct. 18.