Human remains found in car of pregnant mother who disappeared with daughter more than 20 years ago

Authorities in Arkansas have recovered a car matching the description of one belonging to a pregnant woman who disappeared with her daughter more than 20 years ago.

Human remains found in car of pregnant mother who disappeared with daughter more than 20 years ago

The Pope County Sheriff’s Office detailed that the vehicle was pulled from about eight feet of water Tuesday afternoon.

Investigators later discovered human remains inside the car, the sheriff’s office said.

According to police, the description of the vehicle matches that of Samantha Jean Hopper, 19, who was reported missing on Sept. 11, 1998, along with her daughter, Courtney Holt.

Hopper was nine months pregnant and her daughter was almost two years old when they disappeared.

According to the sheriff’s office, Hopper had reportedly been driving to drop off her daughter before attending a concert in Little Rock.

However, the mother, daughter and the blue Ford Tempo they were riding in were not found until this Tuesday. It is unclear what happened to cause the car to end up in the water.

The vehicle was discovered by a nonprofit group called Adventures With Purpose, whose members travel the United States working on open cases.

An update on the organization’s Facebook page says a team of divers met with the group Tuesday, along with Hopper’s mother, Debbie Mahan, and another daughter, Dezarea Hopper, who was 3 years old at the time of her mother’s disappearance.

The release says the dive teams split up to cover several locations in the Lake Dardanelle area, and the group took a route along Mill Creek, sending divers to Illinois Bayou near Pleasant View Road.

Along with the human remains, a baby seat was found in the back of the vehicle when it was pulled from the water, but it was unclear if the remains of her daughter were also inside the car.