Human remains found inside car belonging to mom who went missing with daughter in 1998

by KATV Staff Saturday, October 30th 2021



Human remains and a vehicle that is possibly connected to a missing persons case from 1998 were found Tuesday in Pope County (Photo: Pope County Sheriff's Office)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KATV) — Human remains and a vehicle that is possibly connected to a missing persons case from 1998 were found Tuesday in Pope County, an Arkansas sheriff's office reported.

Deputies received a call from some people who said they had possibly found a vehicle in some water, according to the sheriff's office. The callers said the vehicle matched the description of the car belonging to Samantha Jean Hopper, who was reported missing on September 11, 1998.

The sheriff's office said Hopper was reportedly traveling to drop her daughter, Courtney Holt, off before continuing on to a concert in Little Rock. However, Hopper, her daughter and her blue Ford Tempo were never located. According to a memorial fund set up for Hopper, she was nine months pregnant and her daughter was 22 months old when they disappeared.

Investigators requested assistance to remove the vehicle from about 8 feet of water, the sheriff's office said. The vehicle was reportedly around 25 yards from the bank. Once the vehicle was removed from the water, human remains were found inside the car. Those remains were sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab in Little Rock for DNA testing.

The vehicle was found by the non-profit group, Adventures With Purpose, which travels the country working on cold cases.

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