Neighbors React To Body Discovery

Alabama Mobile Police believe a body found in a freezer may have been there for more than three years but neighbors say they had no idea the woman was even missing.

by Jessica Taloney

Published: Tue, July 29, 2008 - 6:17 pm CST

Neighbors living on Ryland's Street in downtown Mobile don't know much about what went on inside Anthony Hopkin's home.

"He didn't never do nothing," says May Wright, who lives across the street. "No more than go to work, drive his motorcycle, ride his truck and go to church."

Wright says Hopkins told his neighbors that his wife, Arletha Hopkins, 36, left him and her eight children and ran away to Georgia. For more than three years neighbors believed that story, until investigators made a gruesome discovery Monday night.

Police say one of the Hopkins' eight children went to the Child Advocacy Center claiming she was raped and sodomized by her dad. During that interview, the girl also lead investigators to what is believed to be her mom's body in a freezer at the family's home.

"We were puzzled why a person could just disappear for that length of time and not be reported or missed. We are simply not sure how that happened," says Mobile Police Chief Phillip Garrett.

Chief Garrett tells News Five no missing persons report has ever been filed for Arletha Hopkins, even though they believe she's been dead for at least three years.

Investigators would not comment on whether the body was intact when they found it in the freezer, but they did say it was wrapped in a sheet. Police will not make a positive identification on the body for several days, but investigators insist they believe it is Arletha.

Anthony Hopkins is charged with murder, rape, sodomy and incest.

He will face a judge for the first time Wednesday morning for his bond hearing.

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