Husband: Martin Luther "Red" Cooper
Born: Mar- 4-1910 in Davis, Tucker Co, WV 1,2 Died: Jun-22-1986 2 Buried: in Davis Cemetery, Tucker Co, WV 3 Resided: in Davis, Tucker Co, WV 1 Occupation: mayor of Davis WV, contractor, Christmas tree farmer 4 Father: James Calvin Cooper (1874 - 1946) Mother: Zorah Bell Smith (1877 - 1942)
Wife: Ida Mae Zinn
Born: Sep-15-1919 in Ritchie Co, WV 5,6,2,7
Died: Jan-25-1978 near Davis, Tucker Co, WV 5,2
Buried: in Lawford Cemetery, Spruce Run, jct CR 19 & 34, Ritchie Co, WV 8
Cause of death: killed by gunshot when kidnapped and held hostage 9
Resided: in Davis, Tucker Co, WV 10
Census: 1940 in Charleston, Kanawha Co, WV
Resided: 1935 in Lawford, Ritchie Co, WV 11
Census: 1930 in Cairo, Ritchie Co, WV
Census: 1920 in Grant District, Ritchie Co, WV
Education: 1940 nursing school 11
Father: Royden Scott Zinn (1881 - 1970)
Mother: Lona Orpha Law (1888 - 1975)
Sources: (1) 1910 Census, Tucker County, WV. (2) Social Security Death Index. (3) Findagrave.com. (4) Charleston Gazette, Dec 24 2012 : www.wvgazette.com/News/201212240045. (5) Headstone. (6) West Virginia Births Index, 1853-1969 [database on-line], Ancestry.com. (7) 1920 Census, Ritchie County, WV (Grant District). (8) Ritchie County Historical Society (David M. Scott, Editor), Ritchie County, West Virginia Cemeteries through 1993, McClain Printing Co, Parsons, WV, 1995. (9) Newspaper article, Elyria Chronical Telegram, Thursday, Jan 26 1978: "DAVIS, W.Va. (UPI) - Police awaited further word today from men holding the wife of Davis Mayor Martin "Red" Cooper hostage in return for $750,000 and the release of a friend charged with murdering a state trooper. An unidentified suspect in the Wednesday abduction was captured hours later near a ski slope at Canaan Valley State Park, apparently without incident. State police said they were unable to tell how many persons were involved in the abduction of Ida Mae Cooper. She was kidnapped from this small northeastern West Virginia community when she returned home from a shopping trip in town." Dallas Morning News, Friday, Jan 27 1978: "DAVIS, W.Va. (UPI) - Ida Mae Cooper, the 63-year-old wife of Davis Mayor Martin L. (Red) Cooper, was found shot to death Thursday in a swamp about 12 hours after she was abducted from her home, state police said. David B. Mills, 19, of Davis, was captured Wednesday night and charged with kidnapping and murder in connection with Mrs. Cooper's death. He was in Tucker County Hospital Thursday with facial cuts received when he tried to escape in a car and crashed into a snow bank, authorities said. State police said the kidnapper had demanded a $750,000 ransom and the release of a prisoner charged with a state tropper's death in return for Mrs. Cooper's release. However, Tucker County Prosecutor J. Pat Nichols said, "I have no idea in the world" of Mills' connection with Frederick Hamilton, 19, of Davis, who is charged in the slaying last Oct. 14 of trooper Bruce Brown. There is "no evidence a this time of a conspirace bewteen Mills and Hamilton," Nichols said. The first report that Mrs. Cooper had been kidnapped came Wednesday afternoon when a man, who identified himself as "Scorpio," telephoned a reporter at the Elkins Inter-Mountain newspaper and demanded the money, a 4-wheel drive vehicle, and Hamilton's release by 9 p.m. "We have Red Cooper's wife, Ida Cooper, at gunpoint," the man said. "Scorpio" permitted the reporter to talk with Mrs. Cooper, who said, according to state police: "This is true. He's got a gun on me. He broke into my house when I was in town." State police said they "strongly believe" the abductor then drove Mrs. Cooper from her home to a swampy area 14 mile south of David and shot her at least twice. Authorities theorized that after shooting Mrs. Cooper, the kidnapper called the newspaper a second time to repeat his demands, then made a collect telephone call to state police at Elkins. State police, working in the newsroom, traced the call to a telephone booth at Canaan Valley ski area. Troopers said Mills was spotted Wednesday night at the Canaan Valley ski area and tried to flee in the Coopers' sedan, but he ran into a snow bank. A number of guns were found in the car, state police said." (10) Social Security Death Index, Social Security card issued in West Virginia before 1951. (11) 1940 Census, Kanawha County, WV.