Investigators were called to the scene and requested assistance from a crane and a towing service to remove the car from eight feet of water.
After the car was pulled to shore, human remains were discovered inside the vehicle. They were sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab in Little Rock for DNA testing, the sheriff’s office said.
Hopper who was pregnant at the time, was reportedly traveling to drop off her 22-month-old daughter, Courtney Holt, in her blue Ford Tempo before continuing on to a concert in Little Rock when they went missing.
“The Pope County Sheriff’s Office would like to send our sincere condolences to the family of Samantha Hopper and Courtney Holt,” Pope County Sheriff Shane Jones said. “We are thankful to have been a small part of helping bring this 23-year-old case to closure.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story gave the wrong year the mother and daughter went missing. It was 1998.