Oakley Carlson

Manslaughter Charges Dropped for Parents of Missing 5-year-old Girl ‘Eaten by wolves’: Police

The parents of a missing Washington girl are now facing charges in connection with their other daughter.

On Friday, police dropped the manslaughter charges against Jordan Bowers and Andrew Carlson, identified as the parents of 5-year-old Oakley Carlson, who was reported missing Monday. They were initially charged with suspicion of manslaughter after they failed to provide police details about Oakley’s whereabouts.

The pair is now facing “abandonment of a dependent person in the second-degree” charges, with bail set at $150,000 for each, according to the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office.

The new charges came about after the suspects allegedly failed to give Oakley’s 6-year-old sister her prescribed medication for at least 15 months.

“Andrew Carlson and Jordan Bowers have not been providing medication prescribed to their other daughter who is six years old as required by her doctor,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook. ”

“The medicine has been withheld for approximately 15 months. The medication is necessary for her physical wellbeing and puts her at risk for physical impairment and could eventually result in death.”

Oakley Carlson/Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office

Where is Oakley?

Police are trying to determine the last time Oakley was seen. As of now, the last confirmed sighting of Oakley happened on January 27, 2021.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Oakley’s neighbors said they have not seen her “in quite some time.” Another 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 authorities arrived at her family’s residence Monday to perform a welfare check, at the request of Oakville Elementary School Principal Jessica Swift.

Oakley’s parents told investigators that the last they saw her alive was on November 30. They didn’t provide any information about where the child could be, police said.

“The parents have given no indication that Oakley is in the care of an adult and cannot account for her whereabouts or condition,” police said in a news release. “Investigators believe Oakley would be unable to survive on her own for this length of time.”

Jordan Bowers and Andrew Carlson/Police Handout

NBC 5 reports that Swift contacted social services after her child and Oakley’s sister had a playdate together at her house. While there, Oakley’s sibling became upset and said, “Oakley is no more.”

Investigators interviewed the 6-year-old, who initially said her mother told her not to talk about it. She eventually admitted she hadn’t seen her sister in a long time; she began crying when a detective asked her if Oakley was hurt.

“Her mother Jordan told her not to talk about Oakley and that she had gone out to be eaten by wolves,” a police report read.

However, the girl also said that she remembered the fire and everyone got out of the home except for Oakley.

When police questioned Bowers about Oakley’s disappearance, she allegedly became furious and refused to answer questions.

“She became enraged, yelling, clenching her fists, and refused to answer any further questions about the welfare or wellbeing of her daughter,” the report read.

During a search of the couple’s residence, police found “blood splatter on the blinds near the front door, on the front door and a handprint on the wall in the downstairs hallway.” They also found signs of other children being in the home but no signs of Oakley.

Investigators are also looking into a fire that started on the couple’s 300-acre property in November. Fox 13 reports that the suspects said they didn’t call for help about the fire because they could not find their cellphones. A friend set up a GoFundMe account for the pair shortly after.

“It’s unusual that a fire department wasn’t called, I would say,” Undersheriff Brad Johansson said.

Swift told police that she had been to the home on numerous occasions after the fire and never once saw Oakley.

Handout

Oakley’s foster mother, Jamie Jo Hiles, heard about the fire and contacted the Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF) in November after seeing the GoFundMe account, which has since been deactivated.

“If no one has seen her, what could have happened to her? Was it the fire? Was it something else?” Hiles asked.

Hiles and her husband cared for Oakley for almost three years. Then, in 2019, the courts gave Oakley back to her biological parents. Despite contacting social services numerous times, Hiles and her family never heard from Oakley again.

“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.’”

“They made a mistake. 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]