An Oregon man charged with the murders of a missing woman and their 3-year-old son was ordered to pay child support to the boy’s mother about a month before their unsolved disappearances.
Citing court records from April, KGW reported Michael Wolfe, 52, was ordered to pay $900 a month in child support to Karissa Fretwell, 25, for their son, William. The Fretwells were reportedly last seen in Salem on May 13 and Yamhill County authorities continue to search for their bodies.
Wolfe remains jailed on aggravated murder and kidnapping charges. Yamhill County District Attorney Brad Berry said Tuesday that there’s a “mountain of circumstantial evidence” proving Wolfe murdered the pair, according to KGW.
Wolfe allegedly claimed he was working a night shift at Cascade Steel when the Fretwells vanished. However, detectives said surveillance footage showed him leaving the area in a golf cart to a carpenter shop, then walking into a group of trees behind the shop that led to his job’s parking lot, according to KPTV.
Approximately six hours later, at 2:35 a.m. on May 14, Wolfe was reportedly filmed near the same trees holding a white trash bag containing unknown items.
The news outlet reported that cell phone data not only contradicted Wolfe’s timeline but showed that he and Karissa’s phones were near each other when she and their son vanished.
According to The Oregonian, a probable cause affidavit stated that William’s babysitter claimed Wolfe and his wife threatened to take the toddler and get custody of him.
“Based on the interviews of Karissa’s family and friends, I believe the only known person who would benefit from the disappearance or criminal homicide of Karissa and William is Michael,” an investigator wrote.
Wolfe’s next hearing is scheduled for June 7.
[Featured image: Michael John Wolfe, Karissa Fretwell, and William Fretwell/Salem Police Department]
