Brooke Wilberger

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Brooke Wilberger

Brooke Carol Wilberger (born February 20, 1985 in Fresno, California) is a woman who is believed to have been abducted from Corvallis, Oregon on the morning of May 24, 2004. Described as a devout Mormon, Wilberger was a freshman at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.^[1] At the time of her disappearance she was on summer break, visiting her sister at Oregon State University, cleaning lamp posts in the parking lot of the Oak Park Apartments on the edge of campus.^[2]

[edit] Investigation

A billboard in Salem requesting information on Brooke Wilberger.

The investigation initially centered on Sung Koo Kim, who was named as "person of interest" in the disappearance. Kim was later dropped as a suspect, but given a 68-month prison sentence for crimes uncovered while being investigated for the Wilberger disappearance^[3].

On November 30, 2004 a University of New Mexico student was kidnapped and raped, before escaping and identifying Joel Patrick Courtney as her attacker. Police eventually linked Courtney, a native of Beaverton, Oregon, to the disappearance of Wilberger and in August 2005 he was charged on 19 counts of aggravated murder, kidnapping, sexual abuse, rape and sodomy^[4]. On September 12, 2007 Courtney pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and rape of the 22-year old University of New Mexico foreign exchange student. Courtney's plea agreement calls for a prison sentence of up to 18 years, plus five to 20 years on parole. He also must register as a sex offender. ^[5] Courtney was extradited to Benton County, Oregon for the Wilberger case on April 8, 2008.^{[citation needed]} He was scheduled for his first appearance on April 9, 2008 at the Benton County Courthouse.^{[citation needed]} He is facing 14 counts of aggravated murder, two counts of kidnapping and single counts of rape, sodomy and sexual abuse in connection with Wilberger's disappearance, and it is expected that the death penalty will be sought.^{[citation needed]} His trial is scheduled to begin February 1, 2010.^[6] He is also expected to be charged in connection with the unrelated kidnapping, attempted sexual assault, attempted rape, attempted sodomy and attempted murder of two Oregon State University students, the same day Wilberger went missing.^{[citation needed]}