West Virginia property searched in missing person case

UPDATE: (5:06 p.m. May 8, 2024) – Evidence from a home in Clay County will be analyzed by the West Virginia State Police Crime Lab in connection to the disappearance of a Braxton County woman nearly five years ago.

Chandice Cochran, then 28, was reported missing from the Sutton area of Braxton County in August 2019.

Sgt. Douglas Gordon of the Sutton detachment has taken over as lead investigator on the case. He says he and Trooper Logan Cox of the Nicholas County detachment joined together for the investigation because the last time Chandice was seen was in the Birch River area of Nicholas County.

Gordon tells WOWK 13 News they have been working more on the case in the last couple of years and that it is important to figure out what happened to Cochran.

“Ms. Cochran’s been missing, like we said, for five years now, and we believe foul play was involved, so state police, we’re pretty relentless on investigating criminal matters and missing persons,” Gordon said.

Gordon says there have been “a lot of circumstances” leading the WVSP to believe foul play was involved in Cochran’s disappearance, and that they have believed this to be the case even from the beginning of the investigation.

CLAY/BRAXTON COUNTIES, WV (WOWK) – Authorities are investigating a property in Clay County in connection to the 2019 disappearance of a Braxton County woman.

According to West Virginia State Police Sergeant Douglas Gordon of the Sutton Detachment, authorities obtained a search warrant for a property in the 9100 block of Widen Dille Road in Clay County. They were on scene from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 7, 2024, regarding an investigation into the disappearance of Chandice Cochran.

Gordon tell WOWK 13 News they did discover some evidence at the scene that will be sent to the WVSP crime lab, but no human remains were found.

Cochran was last seen Aug. 20, 2019 in Sutton, West Virginia. She was 28 years old at the time. According to West Virginia State Police, Cochran was living with her mother at the time of her disappearance. Troopers say her mother went to work that morning and when she returned home, Cochran was nowhere to be found but her belongings were still there. Gordon tells WOWK 13 News authorities believe foul play was involved in the case.

Cochran was described at the time of her disappearance as standing 5’3″ and weighing 110 lbs with blue eyes and brown hair. Troopers say she also has a tattoo on her right leg that reads “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”

Gordon says he and WVSP Trooper Logan Cox of Nicholas County combined their investigations, leading them to obtain the Clay Couty search warrant in the case.

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