By Joe Johnson
Athens-Clarke County police are investigating the death of an Athens resident whose body was found Sunday morning in the parking lot of a Baxter Street restaurant.
Clarke County Coroner Sonny Wilson said that 40-year-old Kimberly Patricia Cope’s body was found at about 6 a.m. by a jogger in the parking lot of Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers at 795 Baxter St.
He said the body displayed no signs of trauma.
An officer who responded to the report of the jogger's discovery identified the body as that of Cope, whose apartment was in walking distance from the scene, at 810 Baxter St., according to the police report.
The officer met with friends of Cope who were at her apartment, and they indicated that they last saw Cope at around 1 and 3 a.m. while using Wi-Fi across the street from Cope’s apartment, according to the report.
"They stated a white SUV pulled up and was speaking with Kimberly unknown if she got into the vehicle or not and when they looked outside again Kimberly no longer was in sight,” the officer wrote in the police report.
Cope’s body was to be transported Monday to undergo an autopsy at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s State Crime Lab. Wilson said.