William Cole

William Cole was a guest at the Chandler Plaza Hotel who contracted the Cordilla virus.

Day 3

Cole was having a one-night stand with Kathy McCartney, whom he had met at a bar. Sometime after 4:02 AM, he got out of the hotel before a CTU team led by Michelle Dessler could lock down all the hotel's exits. When Cole did not show up in the lobby, Kathy reported it to Michelle Dessler that he was missing, and they quickly began a manhunt to quarantine the virus. Cole went home to see his wife, Susan Cole, who thought he was at an all-night staff meeting, and in the bathroom began showing symptoms of the virus.

When his nosebleed didn't stop, Cole visited a nearby pharmacy on his way to work to ask the clerk for some medicine. He unknowingly infected the clerk, Sam Tyler, and three others in the store, including Anne Schwartz whom he bumped into. When he next went to an urgent care center, he saw a news report on TV about the Chandler Plaza and told the receptionist that he had been there and needed help.

Cole realized that he was infected

She recognized Cole from a composite sketch that CTU had distributed and immediately called the authorities to quarantine the care center, starting a ripple effect. However, six patients who had come into contact with Cole had left before the quarantine was imposed. Chase Edmunds visited the care center the same hour to interrogate Cole about how many people he had come into contact with.

Background information and notes

• Because Cole developed the symptoms of the virus, his death was guaranteed, even though it was not shown onscreen whether or not he took the suicide capsule route instead.