Samuel Olson: Dad’s girlfriend planned to flee state with boy’s body

A Texas woman behind bars in connection with the death of 5-year-old Samuel Olson reportedly had plans to flee the state with his body.

According to a motion for bail obtained by the Daily Beast, 26-year-old Theresa Balboa is accused of making plans with friends to travel to Louisiana with the child’s remains. She was captured in Jasper, Texas, at a Best Western motel before she could carry out her plans after a friend called in a tip to Crime Stoppers.

Balboa is the girlfriend of Samuel’s father, Dalton Olson.

Balboa was transferred back to Houston on Friday, on charges of tampering with evidence. She’ll likely face additional charges once the autopsy results are available. Police said upgraded charges could happen as soon as today.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Samuel was reportedly last seen May 3 in Houston, in the 8800 block of McAvoy Drive. Balboa said someone dressed up as a cop showed up with the boy’s mother and took him.

Houston police announced that no one outside of Samuel’s family had seen him since April 30, when he attended class at Holbrook Elementary in Cy-Fair ISD.

Balboa reportedly insisted that she last saw Samuel on May 3.

“I was going to take Sam to school when his mother showed up with the police officer, or who I was under the impression to be a police officer, and they demanded me to release Sam,” Balboa said.

Investigators cleared the mother, who was out of town, and said she hadn’t seen Samuel in over a year.

Charging documents say that Balboa called her roommate weeks before the child was reported missing and told him the boy was dead, KFDM reported.

The roommate said when he returned home from work, Samuel was on the bed, unresponsive. He said he also noticed bruising on the child’s body.

The roommate added that he helped Balboa put Sam’s body in the bathtub, KPRC reported. He told police he bought duct tape and a plastic tote from Walmart.

He and Balboa wrapped the boy’s body in a plastic sheet, put it into the tote, and loaded it into his vehicle, the documents say. Then they drove to a storage unit 25 miles southeast of Houston in Webster, where they left the container.

Anyone with information on the case should call 911, or the Houston Police Department Missing Persons Unit at 832-394-1840.

Check back for updates.

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