Wyoming police locate missing romance novelist Faleena Hopkins after arrest

Police in Wyoming have located a missing romance novelist who allegedly fled to Hawaii after initially being arrested and charged with fleeing police officers.

Faleena Hopkins, who is known for writing several romance novels and for her attempt to trademark the word “cocky” for her books about the “Cocker Brothers,” went missing on Jan. 30, shortly after she was arrested.

Three days before Hopkins went disappeared, she was taken into custody after allegedly fleeing officers approaching her vehicle parked in a remote portion of Grand Teton National Park.

Hopkins was initially given a ticket for driving a “non-oversnow vehicle on an oversnow route” after getting her car stuck and needing a snowplow in order to be removed.

After parting ways with police, officers attempted to stop her shortly after while she was parked “in the highway at Jackson Lake Junction, inside Grand Teton National Park,” according to officials, adding that Hopkins then attempted to flee.

“The officer initiated his patrol vehicle lights, and the woman fled in her vehicle. She began to drive at a high rate of speed” over 75 mph and up to 90 mph, officials said.

Hopkins allegedly drove 24 miles before being pulled over after spike strips were released.

She was charged with fleeing or attempting to elude police officers, stopping or parking upon the roadway, operating a vehicle in excess of the posted speed limit, failing to comply with a traffic control device and operating a vehicle without due care.

She was scheduled to be in court on Feb. 28 in relation to the incident.

Days after the arrest, Hopkins went missing after being last seen in the Jackson, Wyoming area.

Jackson Police Department Lt. Russ Ruschill told Fox News Digital in an earlier statement that “a member of her family” reported Hopkins missing, saying “there is some concern by her family members that she’s in danger.”

Using surveillance cameras, Jackson police detectives tracked Hopkins to Jackson Airport on Jan. 30. Before leaving Jackson, Hopkins also allegedly bought a new cellphone, coming with a new phone number.

Hopkins’ new cell phone pinged in the Hawaiian island of Kauai on Feb. 14, Ruschill told Fox News Digital.

In a statement on Friday, Ruschill said that Hopkins has been located. 

“The Jackson Police Department is happy to report that as of February 17, 2023, at 4:15p.m MST, Faleena Marie Hopkins has been located.  She is safe and her family has been notified.  She is no longer considered a missing person,” Ruschill said. “The Jackson Police Department would like to extend our thanks to the law enforcement agencies who assisted in this investigation as well as the members of the press and citizens who ultimately assisted in locating Ms. Hopkins.”

After Hopkins went missing on Jan. 30, a woman claiming to be her sister posted on Facebook, saying that Hopkins was alone before she was arrested and didn’t realize that the person approaching her was a law enforcement officer.

“EVERYONE WHO KNOWS FALEENA knows that the idea of her running from the police is ludicrous,” the woman, who goes by the name Shann Maureen, wrote. “At the time, she was already in crisis mode and she did NOT recognize this person as law enforcement.”

“Upon exiting the park, there were two (clearly marked) police cruisers and she pulled over,” she added. “She was not running FROM them… she was running TO them.”

“I hope this info serves to help you all make a bit more sense of this story. Everything we know about who Faleena is just doesn’t jive with the idea of her running from police. She has no criminal record, zero history of any type of substance abuse, no DUI’s, no abuse of alcohol, etc.”