Wyoming police locate missing romance novelist Faleena Hopkins after arrest

The romance novelist who went missing after leading police on a high-speed chase through a Wyoming national park was found safe Friday, police confirmed to The Post.

Jackson police did not say where Faleena Hopkins, 52, was found, but said members of the press and citizens helped law enforcement track her down 18 days after she disappeared.

“She is safe and her family has been notified.  She is no longer considered a missing person,” Lt. Russ Ruschill told Fox News in a statement.

Hopkins — well-known for coining the term “cocky” in her raunchy “Cocker brother” series — vanished on Jan. 27, the day she was released from jail for her dramatic run-in with Wyoming cops.

Three days earlier, she had been 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 letting her go, cops tried to stop her again while she was parked “in the highway at Jackson Lake Junction, inside Grand Teton National Park,” but Hopkins took off.

She led police on a 24-mile pursuit — topping speeds at 90 mph — through the park that only ended when officers used spike strips to deflate her tires.

Hopkins was charged with stopping or parking on the roadway, fleeing or attempting to elude police and driving in excess of the posted speed limit.

She was jailed until Jan. 30, when friends and family concerned with her erratic behavior said it was the last time they heard from her.

That day, Hopkins allegedly bought a new cellphone with a new number, police told Fox News. Officers tracked her down to Jackson Airport, but lost her until her new cell phone pinged on the Hawaiian island of Kauai on Feb. 14.

Hopkins is a well-known romance writer with nearly 50 titles on her Amazon page.

She trademarked the word “cocky” — which she coined in her 22-book “Cocker brother” series — in 2018, which sparked widespread controversy dubbed “Cockygate.”

Hopkins took action against other authors that utilized her work in their own romance novel titles, a move that caused huge upheaval in the romance novel industry and caused Hopkins to eventually surrender the trademark registration.

Hopkins is still due to appear in federal court at 10 a.m. Feb. 28 for an arraignment.