Is There Hope for Hope Meek?

In the Southeast corner of Oklahoma, near the Texas and Louisiana border, is the small town of Valliant which sits on land originally designated as Indian Land and part of the Choctaw Nation.  In the 1970's Weyerhouser Paper Mill (now International Paper Company) came to town and, at that time, was the largest mill in the world. The company also brought with it many jobs for the surrounding area and prosperity to the residents of Valliant.  As in other small towns across America, everyone knows everyone, and most of their business.

Hope and Jerry Meek, along with their three young children, lived on Section Line Road, most likely a road cut by the section of timber which Weyerhouser may have been harvesting at one time.  Hope Meek worked as a jailer who transported inmates to court, and was preparing to soon graduate with a degree in criminal law. Jerry Meek worked for Weyerhouser (International Paper Company) when, in February, 2002, Hope disappeared.

Family members describe Hope as being very close to her family, talking to her mother by phone several times throughout each day, which is verified by phone records, so when there was no word from her the family was worried and took action by sending the police to the home for a wellness check.  On that day, Jerry Meek told them Hope had just left to go to the store, however, upon searching the home they found that her vehicle was still there, all her belongings, credit cards, her purse, cell phone, and her glasses and contacts, unusual for someone who can't see without them.  The three children were also at home.

It was five days before Hope Meek was reported missing, at the insistence of her immediate family.  Apparently Jerry Meek changed his story about Hope going to the store and admitted that he hadn't seen her for five days, reporting that he had taken the children camping, at a location he was unable to remember 5 days later. According to accounts from friends and family, the winter night of February 21 was quite cold, too cold for three small children (ages 6, 3 and 10mo.) to be sleeping outdoors.

Family and friends allege the marriage was beginning to unravel, there were police reports made about domestic violence incidents and the couple were separating.  The night he went camping with the children, Jerry Meek says he left Hope with $500, and when he returned, she was gone as well as the $500.

Her employer, McCurtain County Sheriff's Department, says it was not in Hope's character to be absent from work without a valid excuse, and was highly unusual that she did not pick up her paycheck.  As in almost all cases of missing mothers, friends and family say that she would NEVER leave her children behind and discontinue contact with them.

According to public records found online, Jerry Meek petitioned for divorce from Hope Danielle Meek on March 6, 2002, 10-12 days after Hope went missing.  Others report that another woman, a former babysitter and now elementary teacher, moved into the marital home within a short period of time.  According to family members, Jerry Meek was having an affair with the "other woman," and Hope knew, but that wouldn't be a reason for her to leave everything and walk away.

Nine years have gone by, and Jerry Meek has managed to erase Hope's very existence in the lives of her children, including fighting Hope's family for full custody of her oldest child from a previous marriage.  Hope's family has been denied visitation which was court ordered, leaving them with no contact with her biological family, and theirs.

Jerry Meek has not cooperated with investigators, searched for his wife, nor answered any questions concerning what has happened to her.  He refuses to take a polygraph.  In this writer's opinion, Jerry Meek is probably well connected to the area, being born and raised there, and someone, somewhere is covering up the truth of what happened to Hope Meek.

In cases such as this, speculation runs very high, but no matter what the circumstances are today, the fact remains that Hope Meek is missing and needs to be found to give her family peace of mind and her children the truth.

Missing Since: 02/21/02

Missing from: Valliant, Oklahoma

Classification: Endangered Missing

Date Of Birth: 1976

Age at disappearance: 25 years old

Height:5’1

Weight:90 lbs.

Hair Color: Sandy Blonde

Eye Color: Blue

Race: White

Gender: Female

Distinguishing Characteristics: Hope wears eyeglasses,

but she left her pair behind inside her residence at the time of her disappearance.

NamUs MP # 5169

.

Investigating Agency

If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Valliant Police Department

580-933-4555

OR

Oklahoma State Bureau Of Investigation

800-522-8017

If you have any information on this case please contact CUE Center For Missing Persons at (910) 343-1131   24 hour tipline (910) 232-1687.

Interview 5/5/2011 with sister of Hope Meek




http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/hope-danielle-meek/#comments
http://hope-meek.memory-of.com/About.aspx
http://lostnmissing.posterous.com/unsolved-missing-hope-meek-25-oklahoma-who-ha
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/valliant-ok/TM9KOQNOK62MBI7LF
http://blogs.discovery.com/criminal_report/2010/05/hope-meeks-family-demands-answers-in-loved-ones-disappearance.html
http://www.valliantchamber.org/index.html
http://projectjason.org/forums/index.php?topic=637.0
https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/5169
http://www.helpfindthemissing.org/forum/showthread.php?t=21141

UPDATE

AUGUST 11, 2012

OSBI agents arrested Jerry Meek, 39, where he works, at the International Paper Company in Valliant.

He was booked into the McCurtain County Jail on one count of first degree murder. His bond was set at $250,000.

The bureau said the arrest was made possible by a new District Attorney, who was willing to prosecute the case despite the lack of body. They said they believe the passage of time proves Hope is deceased.

http://www.newson6.com/story/19249969/osbi-makes-arrest-in-decade-old-disappearance-case

http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/OSBI-makes-arrest-in-10-year-old-case/AKw41av4b0ydrzzCqXCABw.cspx

Mothers Gone Too Soon

In remembrance of all the Mothers written about on this site, as well as all the missing mothers who have not yet come home.  May their children know that they are loved always and forever.

Jana Morton:Still Missing After One Year

Jana Morton left her ex-husband's home to visit her mother in Caswell County, NC.   Although her ex-husband, Charles Morton, wasn't too concerned when she didn't return the next day, he knew that when she hadn't been heard from in a week that something was wrong.  Her daughter reported that she was missing and her car was found weeks later in the parking lot of a grocery store.

According to reports it would be unusual for her to abandon her car, it was the only thing she owned and it was unlikely that she would give it up willingly.  Charles Morton admits that Jana "fell apart" when he got sick and had to have a leg amputated, she got into the wrong crowd and started using drugs.   She had been arrested and had just finished serving a short jail sentence, but was in need of help.

It's reported there is a person of interest in the investigation, Robert Mitchell Foust, who has a long criminal record including drugs and violence related crimes.  He admitted to authorities that he had possession and use of Jana Morton's car.

There is a family who waits for any bit of information on what happened to Jana, living with the fact that she is most likely deceased, except for her 17 year old daughter who holds out hope that her mother has just lost her memory and will come home safe.  Jana Morton's mother, Sherry Cloninger, hopes her granddaughter is right, but accepts that it's unlikely.

The teen has created missing person posters. The latest one announces that the family and sheriff’s department are offering a $6,000 reward for information about her disappearance. The poster says that “Michelle is a mother of a 17-year-old girl and 7-year-old boy who miss her.”

Jana Morton is part of Project Jason's Angels Awareness Program and you can go to their site and download a missing persons's poster to have copies made and distribute in the area of Alamance and Caswell Counties in North Carolina.  If you live near the area from which Jana vanished, please consider helping this family bring their loved one home.

The investigation into the disappearance is open and ongoing.  If you have any information you can add to help this family find their loved one, please call authorities.

“I drive to Burlington or Graham and I think and wonder if she is there,” Cloninger said. “I see a stretch of woods or a pond and wonder could she be there. It’s constant. It’s not just trying to accept the fact that she is gone. You just want to know where she is at. You just want to bring her home. I don’t want my kids to have to continue to live with it.”

When Morton’s white 1997 Dodge Intrepid was found, it had some damage to the hubcaps and steering. Cloninger wonders if anyone saw the car stuck somewhere before it was found on Feb. 27. She doesn’t know if anyone saw anything that could help the case. But if someone did, she hopes that person will come forward and give that information to the sheriff’s department.

Morton is white. She is 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs about 115 pounds. Her hair is brown. Her eyes are hazel. She was last seen wearing a tie-dyed short sleeve shirt, blue jeans and white tennis shoes. She has a tattoo of a rose on her left upper chest.

Anyone with information can contact the sheriff’s department at 570-6313 or can give information anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 229-7100.