Missing Washington girl was allegedly 'locked in a cell' prior to her disappearance
08/08/2023 12:42 pm PDT
GRAYS HARBOR COUNTY, Wash. (TCD) -- An appeals court decision is shedding light on the home life of a missing 6-year-old girl who has not been seen since 2021.
Oakley Carlson’s "last credible sighting" was Feb. 10, 2021, in Oakville, Washington, though her parents, Andrew Carlson and Jordan Bowers, allegedly told the Grays County Sheriff’s Office that they last saw her alive Nov. 30, 2021. She was reported missing to the Grays County Sheriff’s Office in December 2021, and officials said her disappearance and the circumstances around it were "suspicious."
The Sheriff’s Office believes Oakley’s disappearance is "criminal in nature." Bowers and Carlson are the main persons of interest.
Carlson and Bowers allegedly withheld necessary medicine from Oakley's sibling for about 15 months that the Sheriff’s Office said was "necessary for her physical well-being and puts her at risk for physical impairment and could eventually result in death."
On Aug. 1, the Washington State Court of Appeals published an opinion after the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office filed motions with the court to unseal juvenile records relating to Bowers and Carlson’s children. According to the court document, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) conducted 11 investigations into the family since April 2013, including eight separate occasions relating to allegations of domestic violence, abuse, drug use, and medical neglect.
Oakley’s sibling, who was referred to as DC in the court document, has a "developmental disability caused by a rare genetic syndrome that requires daily injections." There were allegations Bowers had "unaddressed mental health issues and she was not accessing services" for the 1-year-old child in June 2017. DCYF conducted an investigation but did not follow up because the intake was "screened out."
A month later, there was another intake alleging DC did not get her medicine and that there was domestic violence and meth use inside the home. Oakley and her sister, DC, were placed in different care, while another sibling was put with his father.
In January 2021, officials got reports Oakley appeared to have some scratches and bruising on her face. Bowers and Carlson "refused to cooperate" with the investigation. Then, before Oakley disappeared, Bowers allegedly told Oakley’s school she started a fire in their home. When school officials went to Oakley’s home, she was nowhere to be found.
Carlson and Bowers allegedly told police they "lost track" of Oakley around that time, and Carlson reported her missing in December. Oakley’s grandfather, however, said he had not seen the little girl since Christmas 2020. Carlson and Bowers were arrested for obstruction. DCYF filed dependency petitions for Oakley, DC, and another sibling, JC, following the arrest.
According to the opinion, DC told police Oakley "started the house fire with the mother’s torch and was subsequently beaten for it."
DC also reportedly said Oakley was "under her mother’s bed and in the woods."
She said Oakley and JC were "not safe in the mother’s care."
Oakley and DC’s other sibling, who is referred to as BB-P in the court document, allegedly informed police Bowers abused Oakley and JC and that Oakley was "kept in a locked 'cell' underneath the stairs."
KCPQ-TV reports Bowers was sentenced Monday, Aug. 7, in a separate identity theft case that has no connection to her daughter’s disappearance.
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