I-TEAM: Disturbing details in death of Keystone Heights woman

25-year-old's body was concealed in attic insulation, sources say

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS, Fla. – The I-TEAM has learned disturbing new details in the death of a 25-year-old Clay County woman, whose body was discovered this weekend hidden inside her home.

Jordan Cooper, who had the mental capacity of a young teenager, was the center of an extensive search near her Keystone Heights home after she was reported missing late last month. Clay County deputies eventually found her body hidden inside her own home and announced that foul play was suspected.

Two sources have now confirmed to News4Jax that Cooper’s death has been ruled a homicide and that her body was found in an attic of her home, fully encased in insulation. 

So far, Clay County detectives are staying tight-lipped, calling it an “active investigation.”

The I-TEAM was told the attic where Cooper was found was in a room above the garage of the Keystone Heights home where Cooper lived. A search of property records shows the home is owned by Jordan Cooper's mother, Dawn Renee Cooper.

Questions remain about how long Jordan Cooper’s body had been at the home, because she wasn’t found until nearly two weeks after she was reported missing. 

Deputies said they thoroughly searched the home early in the missing persons investigation and did not find anything, but later found the body concealed in the home.

Sources told News4Jax that detectives could not visibly see any signs of Cooper’s body through the insulation because of how well the body was encased, saying what eventually led them to Cooper’s body was the odor.

Deputies said Cooper was last seen Nov. 25. Sources tell the I-TEAM she was reported missing around Nov. 28 by her mother, who had posted Facebook messages on Nov. 26 and Nov. 27 asking anyone who knew her daughter to help find her. 

After Cooper was reported missing to the Sheriff's Office, deputies asked media outlets to help get the word out to the community as they searched for Cooper.

Sources said that shortly after reporting her daughter missing, Dawn Renee Cooper left the home and went and stayed with her boyfriend as the search unfolded.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office called in assistance from neighboring agencies and used helicopters and K-9 teams as they searched the woods of Little Rain Lake Park for the missing woman.

The search was scaled back last week, as deputies said they were concentrating on following any leads called in about Cooper's disappearance.

Sources told the I-TEAM that Jordan Cooper’s mother is the one who returned to the house on Saturday and reported a foul odor to authorities, which led them to search the home again and find Cooper's body, which was positively identified through dental records.

Cooper’s mother took to Facebook on Monday after her daughter's remains were positively identified, writing in part: 

“I’m very thankful to have so many people who care and are concerned… I have NO answers to anything right now. I will be spending my time concentrating on taking care of Jordan one LAST time in her PRECIOUS LIFE. I will no longer be able to SEE her or HOLD her to say GOODBYE. So, I ask all of you out of RESPECT for HER to continue to pray and remember her the way she was, LOVING, CARING, KINDHEARTED, even to people that weren’t. There is NO LOVE like a MOTHER’S LOVE and when something that PRECIOUS is taken from you it makes a part of you NO longer COMPLETE inside. But she now has her ANGEL WINGS and is FREE to fly... I LOVE YOU JORDAN and I will NEVER leave you. I will FOREVER be with you in your hear. LOVE YOUR MOM!!!”

News4Jax reached out to Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels for comment on the new information in the case, but has not received a response.


About the Authors:

A Jacksonville native and proud University of North Florida alum, Francine Frazier has been with News4Jax since 2014 after spending nine years at The Florida Times-Union.