The Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office in Washington state is asking the public to be on the lookout for a little girl whose last location seen is currently unknown.
According to Fox 13, neighbors of 5-year-old Oakley Carlson said they have not seen the child “in quite some time.” One person in the Oakland neighborhood said that it had been so long since Oakley was seen that the school bus eventually stopped coming to pick her up.
Grays Harbor Undersheriff Brad Johansson said Oakley was filed as missing after a concerned citizen called authorities Monday to perform a welfare check. Oakley’s parents, identified as Jordan Bowers and Andrew Carlson, are currently being held in jail on suspicion of manslaughter charges, but police have 72 hours to determine whether the crime actually occurred and whether to formally charge them.
“We’ve had discussions with the parents,” Johansson said. “Overall, they were not cooperating. Initially, they were arrested for obstructing an officer, and since that time they’ve been arrested for manslaughter.”
“Based on the unusual circumstances of the missing child, not knowing her whereabouts and no one has seen her in several days and no one knows her condition, we felt that is in the best interest of the case.”
The most pressing concern, police said, is to locate Oakley. Anyone who has had contact with the child within the past year is asked to contact them. Police didn’t specify whether they know the last time the child was seen.
According to neighbors, Bowers and Carlson have been heard fighting on several different occasions, with some arguments leading to neighbors calling 911.
Oakley, who was raised by a foster family from age six months to three years, was eventually given back to her parents. Foster mother Jamie Jo Hiles told the outlet that the decision to send Oakley back was “rushed,” and unsafe.
“We told them [social services] several times this wasn’t a safe decision,” Hiles said. “We begged them – ‘please don’t let her go back, please don’t let her go back.’”
After 2019, despite contacting social services numerous times, Hiles and her family never heard from Oakley again.
“They made a mistake,” said Hiles. “A big mistake. I told them in my last letter it was going to be on their shoulders if something happens to her.”
Anyone with information on Oakley should call the sheriff’s office at (360) 533-8765. You can also contact Detective Sgt. Paul Logan at (360) 964-1729 or email sodetectives@co.grays-harbor.wa.us.
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[Feature Photo: Handout]
