Investigators say human remains were found in a woman’s car. The woman vanished 23 years ago in Arkansas with her child.
The Pope County Sheriff’s Office said Adventures With Purpose, a nonprofit solving cold cases, found Samantha Jean Hopper’s car Tuesday in eight feet of water.
Hopper was reported missing on September 11, 1998. She was supposedly driving to drop off her daughter, Courtney Holt, then going to a concert in Little Rock. But she, her daughter, and her blue Ford Tempo were never found.
The charity found the car buried eight feet underwater. The remains will be taken to the Arkansas State Crime Lab in Little Rock for DNA testing.
The sheriff’s office sent condolences to Hopper’s and Holt’s families and thanked for helping close the 23-year-old case.
Dezarea, Hopper’s daughter, said on a memorial page that her mother was nine months pregnant when she disappeared. Her sister was about two. Dezarea said finding their bodies was a “relief.”
Adventures With Purpose also said, “Samantha and her two babies have now been brought home.”