David Alan Cohen disappearance

Last known movements

Cohen, a West Virginia resident born July 31, 1972, was traveling to visit a friend in Lacey Township. He checked into the Red Lion Motel and bought food at nearby Red Star Pizza that evening. Video reportedly showed him alone and apparently well. He was reported missing on April 22.

His truck remained locked at the motel. Inside were his laptop, suitcase, unopened phone, and room key; Cohen and his keys were gone. The circumstances make the direction and method of his departure uncertain. The New Jersey State Police Red Lion Station investigated.

A search produced a separate identification

On May 1, 2016, Greater Philadelphia Search and Rescue was looking for Cohen near Route 70 and Hog Farm Road when searchers found another person’s remains. Authorities identified her as Angelina “Angel” Cocuzza, 61, who had disappeared from Lumberton Independent Living in January 2013. The discovery resolved Cocuzza’s disappearance but did not locate Cohen.

Local context

The author’s field note emphasizes the sparse farms, woods, and limited late-night destinations around the Route 70–206 circle. Weather observations for the night are preserved in a separate entry. Earlier podcast notes about Amatol and the Atlantic City Speedway are regional background only and have no demonstrated connection to Cohen.

The search continued into hunting season

A December 8, 2015 report records a specific State Police appeal to hunters in Burlington and Ocean counties to report unusual discoveries. It confirms April 20 as the last-seen date and April 22 as the missing-person report date. The appeal shows that the case remained an active search months after the motel stay; it supplies no confirmed route into the woods. PhillyVoice report of the police appeal.

The Charley Project classifies Cohen as endangered missing and describes a one-night motel booking and a medical condition requiring treatment. The entry was last updated January 8, 2017, so its continued online presence is not a newly issued police update. Its account and the 2015 appeal disagree slightly on height and weight; the archived appeal also contains inconsistent ages. The stable identifiers are his name, the April motel stay and the investigating Red Lion station. Charley Project case record.

Official case record

Cohen’s case remains open in the Department of Justice’s National Missing and Unidentified Persons System as NamUs #MP28525, created May 1, 2015, and last modified March 6, 2025. A modification date shows only that the record was edited then; on its own it is not evidence of investigative activity. NamUs lists him as last seen departing a pizzeria in Southampton Township and staying at the Red Lion Motel, wearing a green T-shirt, blue jeans, and black shoes; the record marks the case unresolved. NamUs currently lists the investigating agency as the New Jersey State Police Troop C Bordentown Station, differing from the “Red Lion Station” attribution in earlier contemporary reporting; both may reflect the same troop’s organization at different times, and this entry notes the discrepancy rather than resolving it.