The year was 1997. Saanich, British Columbia, felt like the kind of place where nothing ever happened, until everything happened at once. If you’ve watched the Hulu series Under the Bridge, you know the name Josephine Bell. But Josephine isn’t a real person. She’s a ghost, a fictionalized version of a teenager named Nicole Cook.
While the show paints a vivid, often neon-soaked picture of teen rebellion and "Crip Mafia Cartel" (CMC) gang wannabes, the real story of Nicole Cook is arguably more unsettling. She wasn’t the one who ultimately killed Reena Virk. She didn’t hold her head underwater. Yet, in the eyes of many, she’s the one who lit the match that burned the whole house down.
The Night Under the Craigflower Bridge
It started with a cigarette. That’s the detail that always sticks. On November 14, 1997, a group of teenagers lured 14-year-old Reena Virk to a spot under the Craigflower Bridge. The atmosphere was thick with typical teen posturing, but it curdled into something much darker.
Nicole Cook was 14 at the time, living in a group home called Seven Oaks. She was the "alpha." By her own admission in the MSNBC documentary Bloodlust Under the Bridge, she was the one who initiated the violence. She walked up to Reena and extinguished a lit cigarette on the girl’s forehead.
Imagine that. The sheer, casual cruelty of it.
The assault that followed wasn’t a "fight." It was a swarming. A group of girls—later dubbed the "Shoreline Six"—along with Warren Glowatski, descended on Reena. They punched her, kicked her, and essentially treated a human being like a piece of garbage. Nicole Cook later claimed she was angry because Reena had been spreading rumors about her—specifically, that Nicole had "fake breasts" and "AIDS." In the logic of a troubled 14-year-old, a cigarette to the face was a measured response.
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The "Shoreline Six" and the Fallout
After the initial beating, most of the group walked away. They went back to their lives, or at least back to their group homes to brag. This is where the story splits. Nicole Cook and the majority of the "Shoreline Six" left the scene. They weren't there for the final, fatal act.
That part was left to Kelly Ellard and Warren Glowatski. They followed a limping, bloodied Reena as she tried to cross the bridge to go home. They beat her again. They dragged her to the Gorge Waterway. And they drowned her.
When the dust settled and Reena’s body was found eight days later, the legal system had to figure out what to do with a group of kids who had essentially participated in a pack-style assault.
- Nicole Cook was convicted of assault causing bodily harm.
- She was sentenced to one year in juvenile detention.
- Other girls received sentences ranging from 60-day conditional sentences to a full year.
Where is Nicole Cook Now?
Honestly, this is where the trail gets murky, which is exactly how she likely wants it. Unlike Kelly Ellard—who has spent decades in and out of the headlines with parole hearings and name changes (she now goes by Kerry Sim)—Nicole Cook mostly vanished into the witness protection of a quiet adult life.
She did surface in 2011 for that MSNBC special. It was a bizarre watch. A grown woman, years removed from the bridge, still sounded remarkably defensive. She told the cameras she felt her one-year sentence was "too harsh."
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"I’m not responsible for her death in any way, shape, or form," she said. "I wasn’t there. I didn’t kill her."
Technically, she’s right. Legally, she didn't commit murder. But there’s a nuance here that the show Under the Bridge tries to grapple with: the "butterfly effect" of violence. If Nicole doesn't put that cigarette out, does the swarm happen? If the swarm doesn't happen, does Kelly Ellard find the opening to finish the job?
Most experts on the case, including the late author Rebecca Godfrey, noted that Nicole was a product of a broken system. She was a "state kid," living in group homes, lacking the parental structure that might have checked her worst impulses. But "unlucky" doesn't quite cover the scar she left on the Virk family.
Reality vs. The Hulu Series
If you’re looking for Nicole Cook in the show, you have to look at Chloe Guidry’s performance as Josephine Bell. The show takes liberties—a lot of them.
- The Gang: The "CMC" was real, but it was mostly just kids who liked gangster rap and wanted to feel tough. The show makes them feel a bit more organized than they actually were.
- The Relationship with Rebecca: In the series, Josephine and the author (played by Riley Keough) have this weird, symbiotic, almost manipulative friendship. In reality, Rebecca Godfrey did interview Nicole and the other girls extensively, but she wasn't a "partner in crime" or a local detective.
- The Motive: The show nails the rumor-mill aspect. The stolen address book and the phone calls were real. In the pre-social media era, your "reputation" was everything, and Reena had inadvertently nuked Nicole's.
The Eeriness of "Under the Bridge" Today
Looking back at Nicole Cook under the bridge, the case remains a watershed moment for Canadian justice. It sparked a national conversation about "girl violence." Before Reena Virk, the public perception was that girls were the victims of bullying, not the perpetrators of "swarming."
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Nicole’s role is a reminder of how quickly a "cool girl" dynamic can turn lethal. She wasn't a monster in a mask; she was a teenager with a cigarette and a grudge. That’s what makes it scarier.
If you’re following this story, the best thing you can do is look past the Hollywood gloss. The real Reena Virk was a girl who just wanted to fit in. The real Nicole Cook was a girl who wanted to be feared. When those two desires collided under the Craigflower Bridge, it created a tragedy that still hasn't fully healed 30 years later.
What You Should Do Next
If this case has piqued your interest in the psychology of teen violence or the specifics of the Canadian justice system, here are a few ways to get the full, unvarnished truth:
- Read the Source Material: Pick up Under the Bridge by Rebecca Godfrey. It is a masterpiece of narrative non-fiction that provides way more nuance than a TV script ever could.
- Listen to the Virk Family: Look for interviews with Manjit Virk, Reena’s father. His book, Reena: A Father’s Story, is a heartbreaking look at the victim's side of the story—the part that often gets lost in the "true crime" hype.
- Research Restorative Justice: The Reena Virk case is famous for how Warren Glowatski eventually met with the Virks and earned their forgiveness. It’s a fascinating, complex look at how healing can happen even after the unthinkable.
The story of Nicole Cook isn't a mystery to be solved; it's a cautionary tale about the weight of our actions and the long, cold shadow they cast.