Where Is Bill Coker Now? Why No Charges Were Filed

William “Bill” Coker still lives in the Riverside, Ohio, area as a free man. Riverside police named him the sole suspect in his wife Cheryl Coker’s 2018 disappearance and death, but he has never been charged, arrested, or indicted. As of October 2025, the question of where Bill Coker is now has the same answer it has had for seven years: at liberty in the Dayton suburb where Cheryl was last seen, denying any involvement, while the homicide investigation remains open.¹²

Why Bill Coker Has Not Been Charged

In May 2023, the Riverside Police Department presented what it described as a “very solid case” to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.³ Prosecutors declined to file charges, citing “insufficient evidence.”⁴

The evidentiary problem traces back to the condition of Cheryl’s remains. A mushroom hunter discovered her skeletonized remains on April 25, 2020, in a wooded area along Waynesville Jamestown Road in Caesarscreek Township, Greene County, roughly a year and a half after she vanished.³ Greene County Coroner Dr. Kevin Sharrett found no clear trauma on the bones, significant animal activity, and a missing hyoid bone, the small neck bone often examined in strangulation cases.⁵

Dr. Sharrett still certified the death as “homicidal violence of unknown etiology,” noting the autopsy report found “no reported history to suggest the remains were taken to the wooded area for any other purpose but to conceal the death.”⁶ But a conclusion that a homicide occurred is not the same as evidence of how it occurred or who did it.

University of Dayton law professor Thaddeus Hoffmeister called it an “uphill battle” for prosecutors. Without a clear cause of death or physical evidence of a violent struggle, the state would have to build an entirely circumstantial case. “Convicting a homicide based on that is extremely difficult,” Hoffmeister said, adding that, based on what is publicly known, “they don’t have enough to go forward.”⁶ Prosecutors would need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt both that Cheryl was killed and that Bill Coker killed her, relying on circumstantial pieces like surveillance footage, timeline inconsistencies, and the state of the marriage.

Why Police Named Him the Only Suspect

Cheryl Coker, 46, disappeared on October 2, 2018, from the couple’s home on Christy Avenue in Riverside. Phone records placed her at the house around 7:35 a.m. Her 2016 Toyota Highlander turned up later that day in a Kroger parking lot at Spinning and Burkhardt roads, with her purse, identification, money, credit cards, and cell phone still inside.¹⁷

Four months later, on February 19, 2019, Riverside police publicly named Bill Coker the “one and only suspect” in what they had reclassified as a homicide investigation.⁷ Investigators cited several reasons:

Kroger surveillance showed Cheryl’s SUV arriving at 10:52 a.m., with a figure dressed entirely in black and hooded exiting and walking north on Burkhardt Road. Footage from nearby Spinning Hills Middle School captured what police believed was the same person, in black clothing and white gloves, crossing school property toward the rear of the Coker home. Police said the individual appeared “familiar with the Coker residence.”⁸
Bill Coker told police he was home during the roughly three-hour window between Cheryl’s return and the vehicle’s appearance at Kroger.⁷
Later that evening, Kroger surveillance recorded Bill Coker entering the store with a visible wound above his left elbow.⁹
Detective Travis Abney said “a lot of things that he says does not make logical sense,” and investigators noted Bill Coker’s lack of concern during the 37.5 hours between the disappearance and the report to police.⁷

The marriage context mattered too. Cheryl filed for divorce on September 21, 2018, seeking spousal support and custody of their youngest daughter, after telling friends Bill had a girlfriend he refused to break off with.¹⁰¹¹ Three days later, Cheryl texted a coworker, “I’ll be in tomorrow if I am not dead.” Bill allegedly texted her the same day, “Thanks for putting the nail in my coffin.” She disappeared 11 days after filing.

Police described Bill Coker as “largely uncooperative.” He refused a polygraph and, by February 2019, had contacted investigators only once in four months to ask about the case status.⁷ According to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, he has been questioned “several times” and “denies any wrongdoing.”²

Where the Investigation Stands Today

In October 2025, the Riverside Police Department confirmed the case is “still under investigation.” No one has been charged.¹ The Ohio Attorney General’s Office tracks the matter as unsolved Homicide Case No. 3777 and takes tips through its official portal.²

Cheryl’s family continues to press for an arrest. Her sister, Margie Keenan, said she believes police “got that right” in naming Bill Coker. After the prosecutor’s declination, Keenan said she felt “frustration but also wants to exercise patience,” adding, “My hope is that nothing lasts forever, people eventually, maybe, get a conscience.”¹² Cheryl’s sister-in-law, Barb Carroll, said the family stays in regular contact with the lead detective: “What we want to know as a family is what did you do with her.”¹³

Bill Coker has not been charged with any crime, remains the only person of interest, and continues to deny involvement in Cheryl’s death.

1
Yahoo News. Cheryl Coker: 7 Years Into Investigation
2
Ohio Attorney General. Unsolved Homicides: Coker
3
WHIO. New Developments in Cheryl Coker Homicide Case
4
WHIO. Family Reacts After Charges Not Filed in Cheryl Coker Homicide Case
5
WHIO. Cheryl Coker Autopsy Shows Cause of Death Suggests Homicidal Violence
6
Dayton 24/7 Now. Foul Play but No Evidence of Trauma Indicated in Cheryl Coker Autopsy
7
NBC News. Police Identify Husband as Only Suspect in Cheryl Coker Homicide
8
WHIO. Cheryl Coker Case Now Homicide Investigation; Husband Named Suspect
9
WDTN. Surveillance Video Captures William Coker on Day of Wife’s Disappearance
10
Oxygen. Cheryl Coker: Husband William Coker Named Suspect
11
People. Cheryl Coker: Missing Ohio Mom and Discovery of Abandoned Car
12
Yahoo News. Family Reacts After Charges Not Filed
13
Dayton 24/7 Now. Cheryl Coker’s Family Speaks Out After Police Release New Details About Prime Suspect