True Crime Tuesday - Missing - Oakley Carlson
Oakley was living in foster care from when she was three months old until she was three years old. At that time, she was sent to live with her biological parents, Jordan Bowers and Andrew Carlson. The foster parents raised alarms when the decision was made, but the state moved ahead with the placement.
In early 2021, neighbors noticed that 5-year-old Oakley was no longer being picked up by the school bus. Realizing the little girl hadn’t been seen in quite some time though her parents still lived in the same location, a request for a welfare check was made.
Now, two years later, there is still no sign of Oakley. Her parents have been questioned about her whereabouts and haven’t disclosed them. Both parents have or are still serving time for unrelated offenses. Her father, Andrew Carlson served a year for allowing two other children in the home to be in contact with methamphetamine and for not providing one of the children their required medication.
Jordan Bowers, Oakley’s mother, is serving 20 months for child endangerment. She was sentenced to another 36 months for identity theft. It’s been reported that Jordan struggles with a serious gambling addiction, leading some to theorize that she could have sold her daughter for money.
One child in the home has told people that quote ‘there is no Oakley’ and that after a house fire, Oakley was quote ‘under her mother’s bed and in the woods’. The woods had been mentioned to another adult by that same child, where they were described as saying Oakley had wandered off and been eaten by wolves. Abuse towards Oakley had been witnessed by the other children in the home. It was even reported that Oakley had been kept locked in a cell under the stairs.
Since the parents haven’t been working with the police, putting together a timeline has been difficult, as has an investigation. A formal report was filed in early December 2021, even though Oakley hadn’t been seen for approximately 10 months before that.
There is currently an $85,000 reward for information that leads to finding Oakley. She was last seen in early 2021. The sheriff’s office worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to create an age-progressed photo showing what she might look like as a 6-year-old.
If anyone has any information about Oakley Carlson’s location or disappearance, you are asked to contact the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office at 360-964-1729.