JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Tennessee man accused of killing his in-laws and stealing their SUV was found early Tuesday morning after he was found passed out on a bed in a hotel room on Jacksonville's Westside, according to police.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office reported they found Bryan Cooke at 3 a.m. at the Hampton Inn on Chaffee Point Boulevard. Officers said Cooke, 39, was breathing but unresponsive when they found him. Rescue personnel were called and Cooke was taken to UF Health Jacksonville for observation.
A few hours later, Cooke was released and booked into the Duval County jail, where he will be held pending extradition to Tennessee.
According to the incident report, the hotel clerk became suspicious after a man came in, said his Jeep had broken down and asked "can you help me" get a room. The clerk became suspicious because he was sweating heavily and had no photo identification, but did have "a wad" of cash.
The clerk also noted that the man who checked into room 204, dialed 911 shortly after he checked in. The clerk went to the door and heard moaning, then called police.
After forcing their way into room 204, which was deadbolted and blocked by furniture placed in front of the door, officers found Cooke naked on the bed, his clothing soaking wet on the bathroom floor and a bundle of cash. A Social Security card found in a wallet identified him as Cooke, and a records check showed an active homicide arrest warrant out of Tennessee.
Cooke was wanted for killing his in-laws, Gary and Gail Dodson, and stealing their Jeep Grand Cherokee. Police said the couple's bodies were found Monday in their home in McMinnville, Tennessee home, just southeast of Nashville.
The Warren County, Tennessee, sheriff said he believed Cooke might have gone to Florida and the suspect's photo and details of the stolen Jeep were distributed to police agencies.
"For some reason he would disappear every so often and he would go to Florida," Warren County Sheriff Jackie Matheny said.
The couple ran Gary and Gail's Pit Stop Cafe in McMinnville, and an employee got worried when they did not show up for work Monday. That employee called the couple's daughter, who then found her parents' bodies.
Cooke has served several sentences in the Warren County jail for probation violations after felony theft convictions. He was also sentenced to rehab for prescription pill abuse. Police said he was considered armed and dangerous, but they are not sure why he might have killed the Dodsons.
"I guess we are all waiting for answers," said Gary Argo, a 20-year friend of the family.
Cooke is the latest in a long list of fugitives from other states whose run from the law ended in northeast Florida:
- 2004: Tim Berner, wanted for the murder of a Michigan police officer, fatally shot himself as the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office closed in.
- 2004: Virginia murder suspect Adam Baumann, who'd killed both parents, was captured by JSO after a high-speed chase in which he jumped out of his speeding car on Interstate 295
- 2004: Michigan murder suspect Jamal Coney wa arrested in Jacksonville
- 2006: Tennessee murder suspect Melissa Ferris and her boyfriend get into a standoff with JSO and FHP on Interstate 95 with JSO and FHP. They had a suicide pact. Ferris shot her boyfriend to death, but then surrendered.
- 2006: William Ashby, suspected of murders in Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina and Yulee, is shot several times by St. Johns County deputies during a high-speed chase. He then killed himself.
- 2011: New York attempted murder suspect Barion Blake was shot and killed in shootout with JSO and U.S. marshals.
- 2011: South Carolina murder suspect Rajerick Knight arrested by JSO.
- 2012: New Jersey murder suspect Tino Cruz arrested by JSO.
- 2014: Georgia murder suspect Daniel Robinson arrested by JSO.
- June 2015: Matthew Dion, wanted for the murder of his parents in New Hampshire, is arrested by the U.S. marshals in Orange Park.