Man admits to taking murdered woman’s memorials

A La Quinta man has admitted to taking memorials left at a missing Rancho Mirage woman’s last known location.

Rebecca Modrall, 33, was last seen on February 5, 2019. She told multiple friends and family members she would be visiting her longtime boyfriend, Joe Coker III, who lived in the La Quinta Polo Estates.

Modrall’s family has left five memorials outside of the upscale gated community since her disappearance.

“Now we’ve put (the memorial) up five times and it’s been taken every single time,” said Amber Ryan-Merill via Skype from Portland, OR. “It’s just hard to wrap your mind around why anyone would want to take a memorial down for anyone. Regardless of the situation.”

The last memorial was taken on Sept. 10. Tips lead police to a home on Rancho Las Mariposas. Assessors’ records confirm the home is owned by Joseph Clarence Coker and his wife Katherine.

A man at the home, who identified himself as Coker’s son-in-law, Todd Sperber, stated “he was taking the roadside memorial down,” according to a police report obtained by News Channel 3.

Sperber told the officer that Rebecca’s mother Sarah “was harassing him and his family by placing this memorial near his mother’s house, and by contacting the news making up stories about his family.”

He said he “would continue to take the memorial down as long as (the family keeps) putting them up at that location.”

The admission does not come as a surprise to Modrall’s family.

“I think it makes them look very guilty,” said Ryan-Merrill. “If they had nothing to do with Rebecca’s disappearance, why would it be difficult for them to see this memorial? Why would it be difficult for the mother to have to drive down the street and see this? If they had nothing to do with (Rebecca’s) disappearance and didn’t know where she was?”

Reached over the phone by News Channel 3, Sperber declined to comment.

However, in his interaction with police on Sept. 10, Sperber said he has spoken with “multiple people from both IID and the police department, who have informed him he is within his right to take the memorial down due to where it has been placed.”

Ryan-Merill disputes the statement.

“We were very careful about the location that we chose to put this memorial. We wanted to make sure that we weren’t breaking any laws, that the city wasn’t going to come by and remove it,” Ryan-Merill said. “So our understanding, with all of our communication with many different departments, was that it is not illegal to put up in this location. It’s on public property. It was in front of a telephone pole. The city owns that area, and..we checked with many different departments.”

Ryan-Merill also stated the family checked with construction crews in the area to make sure the memorial would not disturb their work.

“Everything. And we were told every single time, that what we were doing was completely legal.”
Police reports obtained by News Channel 3 show the officer marked previous police reports where the memorial was taken as “theft.”

“The officer that we spoke to added the $1000 fine into it,” said Ryan-Merill. “And we were told that if we could find out who was taking it, that they would take action against that person. And then come to find out..when we found out who it was.. and absolutely nothing was done.”

City of La Quinta Code Compliance Supervisor Kevin Meredith told News Channel 3 regarding roadside memorials,”Our policy is that if it’s not a safety issue, or impeding traffic or pedestrians in any way, and has not become dilapidated or offensive in any manner, then we do not remove them.”

Meredith said none of those criteria would apply in the case of the Modrall memorial and was not aware of any complaints about it.

He said that even if the memorial violated municipal codes, “Municipal code is enforced by code compliance or police, not private citizens,” and the city would not remove it.

The police report prepared on Sept. 10 stated La Quinta municipal code violations regarding notices or devices calculated to draw the attention of the public on the roadside, and prohibition of signs to utility poles. The incident on Sept. 10 was “deemed a civil matter,” and Sperber was not criminally cited.

When asked if he would be willing to return the memorial to Rebecca’s mother, Sperber told the officer he had thrown the memorial away.

“That memorial was definitely not put there to harass anybody,” said Ryan-Merrill. “That was the closest we could get to Rebecca’s last known location, and I think anytime anyone is killed or dies in a tragic accident, anything… You put that memorial up in the last place they were seen. Clearly we’re not going to put the memorial in the front yard of their house.”

Ryan-Merill also said the family increasingly believes the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is not doing all it can to bring closure to Rebecca’s case.

“We have been told that they just don’t have the resources to thoroughly investigate and dig into everything that is needed in order to bring this case before the DA, so by them not acknowledging it in public, I think that gives them… that makes them feel that they don’t have to do anything further.”

A spokesman from the Sheriff’s Department said “the homicide investigation is ongoing, and very much active.” Any tips can be reported anonymously or to 760-393-3528.

“We want everyone to know that we’re not in this to upset anyone, or, cause them harm or feel like we are harassing them in anyway,” continued Ryan-Merill. “But I do think it’s important for people to think about, if the tables were turned and this family had lost one of their loved ones… Rebecca didn’t have family down in that area. We are all out of state. We are doing every single thing we can to keep this in the public eye, and two, get the attention of the DA and the mayor and the FBI. Anyone else who needs to be involved. Not because we are trying to cause problems, but because we are trying to find closure and justice.”

The family has also paid for billboards requesting information that could help solve the case.

Read the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s full statement:

On September 10, 2019 at 10:29 AM, deputies from the Thermal Sheriff Station received a report of a civil dispute. Deputies learned of an ongoing issue near the intersection of Avenue 52 and Madison Street in the city of La Quinta. The reporting party explained her daughter was missing and presumed deceased, so the family kept erecting a roadside memorial in her honor. The reporting party explained the memorial had been stolen several times, and believed she had tracked the whereabouts of the memorial. The investigation led deputies to a residential home within a community in La Quinta. Deputies learned a male at the location had removed the memorial. After investigating the incident further, deputies learned the city of La Quinta has several ordinances which prohibit the type of roadside memorial. La Quinta Municipal Code 5.20.030 and Code 9.160.100 apply to this specific case. The findings were provided to the reporting party and the incident was deemed a civil matter.

The Sheriff’s Department must consider facts when dealing with the removal of the memorial. We understand the sensitivity to the specific incident, and unfortunate the memorial was removed, especially when it is in violation of a municipal code.

The homicide investigation is ongoing, and very much active. We are hoping anyone with information would contact us. We would like to remind the public that there are ways to anonymously report information as well.