Romance author vanishes after Wyoming arrest — then phone pings in Hawaii, cops say
A romance author and actress is missing following her arrest in Wyoming, and the trail has become “really fuzzy and kind of weird,” police said.
Faleena Marie Hopkins, 52, was reported as a missing person on Jan. 30 by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. Her disappearance came just after her arrest in Grand Teton National Park.
Hopkins was involved in a high-speed chase with law enforcement on Friday, Jan. 27, according to the Jackson Hole Daily. Hopkins, who is a Washington resident, fled from an officer at speeds up to 90 mph after a ranger tried to engage with her due to her “positioning in the middle of the highway,” the outlet reported.
“Due to weather conditions and potential risks, National Park Service officers did not pursue her, but instead deployed spike strips at the Glacier View Turnout.” Valerie Gohlke, the public affairs officer for Grand Teton National Park, told the Jackson Hole Daily.
Hopkins was charged with speeding, stopping or parking in the roadway, failing to comply with a traffic control device, careless operation of a vehicle, and fleeing or attempting to elude police officers, according to Law & Crime.
After she was released, the author hasn’t been seen — but Wyoming police believe she may be in Kaua’i after her phone pinged on the Hawaiian island, Hawaii News Now reported.
Officials were able to trace Hopkins after she took a Delta flight to Salt Lake City, where she bought a new phone — the one that later pinged in Hawaii, police told Kaua’i Now.
“We got almost 12 hours worth of data from the cellphone, suggesting she was on the island,” Lt. Russ Ruschill with the Town of Jackson Police Department told Kaua’i Now.
Ruschill told Kaua’i Now there was concern regarding Hopkins’ state of mind considering she disappeared after her arrest and is “not the kind of person to leave her home and drive for 10 hours overnight and get in pursuit with law enforcement in the middle of Wyoming.”
Hopkins is 5 feet, 7 inches tall and 135 pounds, according to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. She has an infinity symbol tattoo on her left wrist, “Follow All Instincts” on her right wrist, a lion on her left shoulder and a hummingbird on her right ankle.
Hopkins is a writer, director and actress and played the lead role in the 2018 film “Just One More Kiss,” which won Best Feature Film at the Big Apple Film Festival in 2019 and helped land her a distribution deal with Lionsgate, according to the Internet Movie Database. She is well known for her romance novels and has sold more than a million copies of her 40 published books worldwide.
Anyone with information on Hopkins’ whereabouts is asked to contact the Jackson Police Department at 307-733-1430 or the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation at 307-777-7181.
This story was originally published February 17, 2023 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Romance author vanishes after Wyoming arrest — then phone pings in Hawaii, cops say."
