Fact Check

Jessica Koopmans

Jessica Koopmans: missing child or Internet hoax?

Published May 30, 2001

Claim:

Claim:   A 5-year-old girl named Jessica Koopmans is missing from her Alberta home.


Status:   Not any more.

Example:   [Collected on the Internet, 2001]




Jessica Koopmans went missing from her front yard in North Lethbridge on Friday, May 4, 2001 at approximately 5:00 p.m. All efforts are being made to locate her and we hope to get this out to as many people as possible in as little time as possible.

Jessica is 5 years old. She is 4 feet tall and weighs 40 lbs. She was last
seen wearing a white tank top, blue jean shorts, and pink sandals. She has shoulder length brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles.

We are hoping that this will make it to as many people as possible in Alberta and the surrounding area so that her mom, Sylvia; her dad, Darren and all of her relatives and friends will see that sparkling smile once more. We haven't given up hope that she is out there somewhere and we will get her back.

If you have any information or if you see Jessica please contact the Lethbridge City Police at 1-403-328-4444.



Origins:   This missing child alert was true; unfortunately, the missing child has since turned up dead.

On the evening of 4 May 2001, 5-year-old Jessica Koopmans disappeared from her home in northwest Lethbridge, Alberta.

Jessica Koopmans

She was last seen leaving her home that Friday night at about 5:30 P.M.. The little girl had been sitting with her 7-year-old sister, Siera, when she told her mom she was going down the street to play with friends. She was given 20 minutes to visit before returning home for supper, but she never came back.

After a massive search of the area turned up nothing, police converted the case from a search and rescue initiative to a criminal investigation. Sadly, a week after her disappearance, Jessica's body was found in a farmer's field in Fort Macleod, Alberta,

A family friend, 31-year-old Anthony Harold Gallup, was apprehended on 12 May 2001 in High River, Alberta, and charged with Jessica's death. He was subsequently convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Barbara "vigil for the Herald angel" Mikkelson

Last updated:   27 March 2005





  Sources Sources:

    D'Amour, Mike.   "Anger Spills Over."

    The Calgary Sun.   23 May 2001   (p. 3).

    Reid, Mark.   "Foul Play Feared."

    Calgary Herald.   8 May 2001   (p. A1).

    Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.   "Missing Girl's Body Found in Alberta Field."

    12 May 2001.

    Canadian Press.   "City Scoured for Missing Girl."

    The Edmonton Sun.   6 May 2001   (p. A4).


Article Tags