IDAHO FALLS, ID — The family of Amber Hoopes and the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office are inviting the public to gather Saturday at the Bonneville County Courthouse for Missing Persons Day 2026. The annual observance is meant to draw attention to active missing persons cases across Idaho and to keep unresolved disappearances in the public eye.
The event has a direct link to Hoopes’ case, which helped inspire the statewide recognition. Her disappearance became the center of a long campaign by family members who wanted a formal day to remember missing people and the families left searching for answers.
A family effort that turned into a statewide observance
Missing Persons Day began in 2005 after Audra Burgener, Hoopes’ aunt, petitioned the Idaho Legislature to set aside Sept. 14 for the observance. Burgener pushed for the day after her niece disappeared four years earlier, and the annual event has continued as a way to honor Hoopes while also recognizing other Idaho families in similar situations.
Burgener said this year’s program will include musical performances and remarks from Sergeant Lovell. She described the gathering as an important reminder that the cases remain open and that the people involved should not be forgotten.
What happened to Amber Hoopes 25 years ago
Hoopes disappeared from her grandparents’ home in the middle of the night 25 years ago. Although a primary suspect later died by suicide during a police standoff, Hoopes has never been found.
Her family continues to hope that new information may still surface. Burgener said the goal is not only to keep Amber’s name alive, but also to recognize every missing person whose case remains unresolved in Idaho.
Speakers will include family members who have stayed quiet for years
Sergeant Bryan Lovell, the public information officer for the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office and the original investigator on the Hoopes case, is scheduled to speak about why the event matters to both law enforcement and the wider community. His role connects the ceremony to the long-running effort to keep attention on missing persons investigations.
Burgener also said Hoopes’ mother and father will speak publicly, something they have not done in 20 years. Another speaker will be a young woman who was taken off her trampoline, and Burgener said this will be her first time speaking in public.
Idaho’s missing persons count remains high
There are currently 183 active missing persons cases in Idaho, according to the figures cited for the event. That number leaves nearly 200 families still searching for answers, and it underscores why the annual observance continues to draw attention from relatives and law enforcement.
On a national level, the National Crime Information Center reports more than 83,000 open missing persons cases. Those numbers help place Idaho’s case load in a broader context, showing that unresolved disappearances remain a major issue well beyond a single community.
Saturday’s gathering at the Bonneville County Courthouse
Missing Persons Day 2026 is set for Saturday, Sept. 12, at 12 noon in front of the Bonneville County Courthouse at 605 N. Capital Avenue in Idaho Falls. Organizers say the public gathering will bring together families, law enforcement, and community members who want to show support for people still waiting for answers.
The event’s continuing purpose is simple: to remember those who have not come home and to make sure their cases stay visible. For Hoopes’ family, that means keeping pressure on the public to share information and keeping the community focused on a disappearance that has lasted a quarter-century.
Local news that matters, from Dulaney Griffin.
