Death in the Valley Part Three: The space between

In a letter sent to the Idaho State Police on Nov. 8, 2013, the agency was asked to launch an investigation into the death of 17-year-old Brianna Cook.

Shoshone County Prosecuting Attorney Keisha Oxendine and Sheriff Mitch Alexander wrote that they believed it would be in the best interest of justice if ISP fully and completely investigated the matter. Both officials had received numerous requests from the coroner’s office, the letter states, for a thorough look at the teen’s death because Pinehurst Police Chief Rocky Wilson had not completed his investigation.

“In addition, we have received information that a relative of Wilson may be a potential suspect in the matter,” the letter states.

Oxendine and Alexander asked whomever was assigned to the case to not notify Wilson of their investigation; that way, ISP could prevent the possibility of the chief interfering.

Ten days later, Detective Michael Van Leuven met with the two county officials and launched his investigation.

In a letter to The Press dated Jan. 28, 2016, Alexander and Oxendine clarified the county’s rationale for the investigation request. That letter, signed by both the sheriff and prosecuting attorney, states the county asked for assistance “after concerns were expressed that the circumstances were suspicious.”

“Idaho State Police and Shoshone County have a positive working relationship, and Shoshone County often requests that the Idaho State Police investigate suspicious deaths because they have more personnel and substantially more resources than local police departments,” the

letter reads.

Advocating to not notify Wilson, the recent letter adds, was based entirely on “a rumor circulating after Ms. Cook’s death that an individual related to Chief Wilson may have information about her death.”

“It is my understanding that rumor was determined to be unfounded through subsequent investigation by the Idaho State Police,” the letter reads. “The request was made to avoid any potential conflict of interest that would have existed had that rumor been true, which could not be determined until the Idaho State Police investigated that information.”

The letter also responds to a question by The Press regarding multiple sources raising concern over Wilson’s initial handling of the incident, particularly that the home was not secured following Brianna’s death and that evidence went missing.

“In regards to any inquiries concerning allegations of conduct by Chief Wilson, there is no evidence that any criminal conduct occurred,” the letter states.

On March 9, 2015, The Press contacted Teresa Baker, public information officer for the Idaho State Police, regarding the agency’s investigation. Baker said she would check on the status of the investigation the following day because Van Leuven was out of the office.

The Press sent two follow-up emails, on March 11 and March 24, which Baker did not answer.

On April 21, 2015, The Press submitted a formal public records request for investigative materials gathered by Van Leuven. That request was handled by Baker, who mailed The Press a series of reports on May 21, 2015.

The documents contain summaries of interviews the detective conducted with multiple individuals involved with the case, as well as an introduction to the events that led to the agency launching an investigation. In a follow-up email on the day the information was received, The Press asked Baker the following:

“I received the results of my public records request and got all of Detective Van Leuven's investigative materials. What I didn't see is a final determination/finding in connection to Brianna Cook's death. Is this case still considered open, or did the detective conclude that it was a suicide and close the case?”

The Press did not receive a response to that email until a follow-up was sent to the agency on Jan. 28 — eight months later.

Baker responded to several questions from The Press, beginning by stating that ISP’s investigation into Brianna’s death is closed. When asked what the results of the investigation were, Baker said “our report reflects the facts that we found.”

However, in the investigative materials obtained by The Press, there is no mention of Van Leuven’s findings or conclusions regarding the case.

The Press also asked what, if anything, has prevented ISP from giving Brianna’s family a concrete answer as to whether the teen’s death was a suicide.

“It is the job of law enforcement to investigate and to report the facts that are found,” Baker wrote. “We have talked to the family on three different occasions reporting the facts that we found.”

When asked about concerns regarding the initial investigation of the incident, Baker said ISP was “asked to investigate the death of Brianna Cook, not the police chief or the way his agency investigated or the way the scene was secured.”

The Jan. 28 letter sent to The Press by Oxendine and Alexander concludes: "To our knowledge, the Idaho State Police has completed their investigation into the death and determined that there is no evidence to prove her death is a homicide."

Dave Roose, the Shoshone County deputy coroner who was convinced Brianna did not take her own life, was terminated from his position in July 2015. When asked why he was let go, Roose told The Press that he thought it was because he asked too many questions.

“I wouldn’t keep my mouth shut,” Roose said. “I wasn’t going to be quiet and lay back and say, ‘OK, I agree with you guys.’”

Roose returned to his original career and currently works at the Lucky Friday Mine in Mullan. After working a 12-hour shift underground on Jan. 27, Roose drove to Coeur d’Alene for a face-to-face interview with The Press.

For a considerable time after Brianna’s death, Roose said, the teen’s face would surface in his dreams.

“It weighs on me very heavily,” Roose said. “I get pissed off and angry over this whole thing. Brianna deserves justice, she really does.”

On Oct. 28, 2013, an autopsy of Brianna was performed at the Forensic Institute at Holy Family Hospital in Spokane. Dr. Sally Aiken signed her autopsy report — which contained observations matching the ones Roose initially made at Shoshone Medical Center — on Nov. 20, 2013. In the report, Brianna's death was attributed to hanging by ligature.

Teresa Palin, Brianna’s mother, doesn’t spend much time in the Silver Valley anymore. She said it’s easier being away from the myriad of rumors that still swirl around Shoshone County about her daughter.

More than two years of searching and questioning has taken a toll on Palin both physically and emotionally. She told The Press that, at this point, it would be easier on her if she was given a definitive statement from authorities that Brianna killed herself.

“I’m just a mother who got a call in the middle of the night. That’s all I am,” Palin said. “I don’t want to think about someone else choking my daughter to death.”

Regardless of where the search for answers takes Palin and her family, she said she knows her daughter will still be dead. Her reasoning for going public, she added, is that Brianna is owed closure.

“She wasn’t just a mixed-up, teenage drug user,” Palin said. “She was an amazing athlete and she was an awesome person. She was a teenager who deserved to make bad choices and have a chance to grow up and change.

“And no matter what it costs us, we never want another family to face this because we don’t want to add any additional pain to the excruciating trauma we are already being subjected to. If we keep the silence, whatever happened to her can happen to someone else.”