Human remains found inside car belonging to Arkansas mom who went missing with daughter in 1998
Authorities in Arkansas have recovered a car that matches the description of one belonging to a woman who went missing with her young daughter more than 20 years ago.
The Pope County Sheriff's Office says the car was pulled from about 8 feet of water on Tuesday afternoon. Investigators also discovered human remains inside the car, the sheriff's office said.
According to police, the vehicle description matches one belonging to Samantha Jean Hopper, who was reported missing on Sept. 11, 1998, along with her daughter, Courtney. According to memorial fund set up for Hopper, she was nine months pregnant and her daughter was 22 months old when they disappeared.
"Samantha was reported to have been traveling to drop her daughter, Courtney Holt, off before continuing on to a concert in Little Rock; however, Samantha, her daughter, and her blue Ford Tempo were never located," the sheriff's office said.
The vehicle was found by a non-profit group called Adventures With Purpose, who travel the U.S. working on cold cases, the office said. The remains found in the car will be sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for positive identification.
"The Pope County Sheriff's Office would like to send our sincere condolences to the family of Samantha Hopper and Courtney Holt, and we are thankful to have been a small part of helping bring this 23-year-old case to closure," Pope County Sheriff Shane Jones said.