Oakley Carlson at age 3 (left) and an age-progressed photo of her at age 6.Photo:Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Department
Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Department
More than two years after a5-year-old girl from Washington State went missing, newly released court documents detail the alleged abuse she and her siblings endured at the hands of her biological mother prior to her disappearance.
The Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office sought records from the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) pertaining to the home lives of Oakley Carlson and her two siblings in the hopes of obtaining information that might help recover the girl, according to the court filing published on Aug. 1.
Oakley was last seen alive in February 2021, andinvestigators have named her parents, Jordan Bowers and Andrew Carlson, as suspects in her disappearance. Neither has been charged in connection with Oakley’s disappearance.
The mother opposed the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office motions, arguing that the sheriff’s office did not have standing to access the juvenile court records and questioned how it would help in finding Oakley, the documents state. Ultimately, an appeals court ruled the sheriff’s office did nothing wrong in requesting the documents.
After conducting a welfare check at their Oakville home, the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office arrested Oakley’s parents, Bowers and Carlson.
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Deputies initially took Oakley’s parents into custody on obstruction charges after they allegedly refused to cooperate with investigators, PEOPLE reported. The pair were later charged with second-degree abandonment in connection to an alleged incident involving their other children.
However, those charges were eventually dropped, and both Bowers and Carlson were convicted in 2022 of two counts of child endangerment with a controlled substance for child abuse unrelated to Oakley’s disappearance,KATU reports.
According toThe News Tribune,Bowers was ordered to spend 20 months in prison due to her criminal history, while Carlson was sentenced to one year in prison. It’s unclear if Carlson has been released from custody since his sentencing in March 2022.
Shortly after Bowers’ release in January, she was arrested on identity theft charges in a separate case, according to KATU. She will spend 43 months in prison.
Meanwhile, no charges have been filed in connection with Oakley’s disappearance andsuspected homicide.
The Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office has since offered a reward of $85,000 for information leading to Oakley’s whereabouts. Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact the sheriff’s office at (360)-964-1729.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
