“She is safe” - Wyoming police locates missing romance novelist Faleena Hopkins

On Friday, February 17, romance novelist Faleena Hopkins was discovered 18 days after she was reported missing. While authorities have not confirmed where they found the 52-year-old, they confirmed that she is currently safe.

In a statement to Fox News, Lt. Russ Ruschill said:

“She is safe and her family has been notified. She is no longer considered a missing person."

Faleena Hopkins is best known for authoring the Cocker Brother series. She emerged in the public eye in 2018, after she attempted to trademark the word "cocky," claiming that other romance authors were using the word to exploit the success of her work.

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Faleena Hopkins led officers on a high-speed chase before she was arrested

As previously reported by Wyoming Tribune Eagle, Faleena Hopkins went missing after her release from a Wyoming jail on January 30.

She was arrested on January 27 after receiving a ticket for driving a “non-oversnow vehicle on an oversnow route.” After she was released from custody, on the same day, authorities attempted to pull her over once again. This time, for illegally stopping her car on a highway in Grand Teton National Park's Jackson Lake Junction.

She then led the officers on a high-speed chase through the National Parking for 24 miles before authorities disabled her vehicle using spike strips.

After the chase, Hopkins was arrested and charged with parking on the roadway, driving in excess of the speed limit, and attempting to escape from the police. When she was released from jail on January 30, the novelist's friends and family noted that she was behaving in an unusual manner.

At the time of the search, Ruschill said:

“She is a noted romance author, successful author, 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. That’s where the trail gets really fuzzy and kind of weird."

As per Big Island News, officers tracked Hopkins to Jackson Airport but were unable to locate her. On February 14, her cell phone activity indicated that she was on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, though officials have not confirmed whether or not this is where they found her. Soon after, her phone pinged once more within the vicinity of a Lihu'e Walmart.

Ruschill said:

“We got almost 12 hours worth of data from the cellphone, suggesting she was on the island."

While authorities initially began pursuing Hopkins because she was due in court to face her charges, they believed that her behavior indicated that she was potentially a danger to herself.

Faleena Hopkins is due for her arraignment on February 28.