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In 2020, in a small California mountain town, five women disappeared. I found out what happened to all of them, except one. A woman known as Dia, whose estate is worth millions of dollars. I'm Lucy Sheriff. Over the past four years, I've spoken with Dia's family and friends, and I've discovered that everyone has a different version of events.
Hear the story on Where's Dear? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Voices for Justice is a podcast that uses adult language and discusses sensitive and potentially triggering topics, including violence, abuse, and murder.
This podcast may not be appropriate for younger audiences. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Some names have been changed or omitted per their request or for safety purposes. Listener discretion is advised. My name is Sarah Turney and this is Voices for Justice.
Today, I'm discussing the case of Oakley Carlson. Before Oakley Carlson turned one, she was taken out of the care of her biological parents, Jordan Bowers and Andrew Carlson, and placed with foster parents, Jamie Jo and Eric Hiles. They instantly fell in love with her, and over the next two years or so, they're overjoyed to care for her and watch her grow. They see her first steps, hear her first words, and watch her develop into a happy, confident, well-adjusted toddler.
The plan for Oakley from the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families, or DCYF, was adoption, presumably with Jamie, Joe, and Eric. But their dreams of legally becoming a family with Oakley were crushed when they were notified that the plan changed again, and Oakley would be returning to her biological parents at the end of 2019.
After she was returned, there were several calls made to social services about Oakley, including a call from Andrew Carlson's own mother. But Oakley remained in her biological parents' care. Eventually, around the end of 2021, people began to notice that Oakley wasn't with the rest of her family. Due to some quick thinking by Oakley's sister's school principal, she ultimately led authorities to uncover that there had been no verified sightings of Oakley for almost a year.
When authorities questioned Jordan Bowers and Andrew Carlson, they shut down and became uncooperative. When they searched the family home that had recently been on fire for several hours, they find blood, but no Oakley. This is the case of Oakley Carlson.
Oakley Carlson was born on December 6, 2016, to her parents Andrew Carlson and Jordan Bowers in Washington, but she wouldn't stay with them for very long. At some point in 2017, Andrew is decommissioned from his position as an officer with the Aberdeen Police Department for making a false and misleading statement. By July 2017, a teacher named Jamie Jo Hiles gets a call from a former student, asking if she would be interested in fostering Oakley.
This former student knew Oakley's grandparents and thought Jamie Jo and her husband Eric would make excellent foster parents.
In September 2017, Oakley is placed with Jamie Jo and Eric Hiles, just a few months shy of her first birthday. In an interview with the show Never Seen Again, Eric Hiles says that things went really well. It was basically like a dream. Jamie Jo says that Oakley was doing amazing. She was happy, confident, and could command a room. Oakley fit right in with the couple and their lifestyle. At just a year and a half old, Oakley loved practicing with Jamie Jo's dance club.
and would even do their stretches with them. Jamie Jo would later describe what Oakley is like on the Justice for Oakley website, quote, Oakley is someone who did not know a stranger. She always had a smile on her face, and she was kind. She loved to make people laugh, so when she knew how to make you smile, she would always remember that and try to do it again. She liked to tell jokes, and would often follow up a joke with Waka Waka, just like Fozzie Bear from the Muppets.
For being almost three years old, she was incredibly smart. She spoke in almost complete sentences, demonstrated empathy, and questioned things that did not make sense to her. My favorite example of this is when she first watched the movie WALL-E and totally realized that WALL-E was lonely and did not have friends.
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she asked why he did not have any friends. She then rejoiced when Eva showed up later in the movie, and suddenly Wally was not lonely anymore. Oakley loved to dance, and it was quite frequent that we would have dance parties in the living room for her to groove to. She admired my dance team, and would always ask for me to play their songs from practice so that she too could dance like them. I bet you we have played Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys at least a thousand times.
Oakley also loved to read and be read to. It was never just one book at bedtime, but at least four or sometimes five. It was not uncommon to find her asleep in her bed with books as well, or all around her in the morning. Lastly, Oakley loved to show you that she loved you. I have countless photos of her hugging my family and friends, and she always made sure to tell you that she loved you. She loved to hug, snuggle, and just touch you. Men
Many times we'd be on the couch together, her little foot would be touching my side, just because she wanted to be touching me. Her love radiated out of her, and she always let it show. Oakley was the biggest blessing to my husband, our families, and our friends. Many times Eric and I would ask each other how we got so lucky with having her, because she was so happy all of the time, and was just an all-around good kid.
When you see the photos of Oakley, that's genuinely how she was with us all the time. Just happy, polite, and loved. It seems very clear that Jamie Jo and Eric loved Oakley to pieces, and seemed to provide her with an incredible environment to blossom. Now, when a child is in the foster care system, those handling the child's case are responsible for checking in on them, and for creating long-term plans for them to be placed into and hopefully remain in a stable environment.
Basically, the big question comes down to, should the plan for this child be reunification with their biological parents, or for them to be adopted by another party? Well, by July 2018, court documents show that the plan for Oakley was to be adopted. It's not always a given that those fostering the child or children will be the family that ends up adopting them, but given how much Jamie Jo and Eric love Oakley, I have no doubt that they were going to fight to be the family that adopted her.
It's not exactly clear why the plan for Oakley changed to adoption at this point, but it's worth mentioning that this same month, Oakley's biological father, Andrew Carlson, was arrested for assault after allegedly attacking Oakley's biological mother, Jordan Bowers. He is asked to participate in a domestic violence treatment program. So, Jamie Jo and Eric continue caring for Oakley, under the assumption that they would adopt her as soon as they were legally able to.
But despite the adoption plan, Oakley continues having supervised visits with her biological parents. In March 2019, Oakley returns to the Hiles after a two-hour supervised visit with Carlson and Bowers. And they notice that her diaper hasn't been changed, and she has some concerning scratches on her cheek and chest. They're
There is a picture of these scratches posted on a website created by Light the Way Missing Persons Advocacy, justiceforoakley.wixsite.com. They have been working alongside Jamie, Joe, and Eric to fight for Oakley.
The scratches didn't draw blood, but they are definitely cause for concern in my opinion. In the picture, it looks like she has about five scratches on the right side of her face. There is no picture of the scratches on her chest posted. But considering this was a two-hour long supervised visit, Jamie Jo and Eric understandably asked the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families, or DCYF, visit supervisor what happened. Basically, they say they don't know and move on.
On May 13, 2019, the domestic violence treatment program that Andrew Carlson was enrolled in writes to DCYF, informing them that he has failed to comply with the program and has been discharged.
At this time, the prosecuting attorney asks for Andrew to be found guilty for the assault. Over the summer, there is no resolution to this. But in a very strange turn of events, at the end of September, Jamie Jo and Eric are told that the plan for Oakley is no longer adoption, but reunification with her biological parents, and they're told that they're going to increase the number of visits with them.
Jamie, Joe, and Eric are crushed. They're also extremely concerned. In October, they meet with DCYF, but they're basically told Oakley isn't your daughter. And when they raised concerns about neither of Oakley's biological parents having jobs to care for her, they were told that being poor isn't a reason for someone to not have their children.
On October 19th, Oakley has her first unsupervised visit with Andrew Carlson and Jordan Bowers. And quickly, Jamie Jo and Eric see a lot of cause for concern. After a visit on the 29th, Oakley tells them that she saw Bowers hit Carlson. So, Jamie Jo and Eric report this to DCYF. They're told that Oakley loves her parents. She would even tell them she loved them without being prompted.
On November 6, 2019, Jamie Jo emails Oakley's social worker to again express concerns about the possibility of domestic violence in the house, and that she thinks the reunification plan is moving too quickly. DCYF informs them that Oakley is actually going to be reunified with them even sooner than expected, now at the end of the month.
Three days later, Oakley has her first overnight visit with Jordan Bowers and Andrew Carlson, just weeks before they were to take custody of her again. And things seem to be going in their favor, because on the 13th, the assault charges against Andrew Carlson are dropped. Jamie Jo and Eric email DCYF again on November 17th, saying this is all moving way too fast, but they never receive an answer.
In a heartbreaking interview with Never Seen Again, Jamie Jo explains that they just kept crying and counting down the time they had left with Oakley. Only one day left. Only four hours left. Only 30 minutes until we have to give her back. They knew Bowers and Carlson would never let them see her. After Oakley was gone, they closed the door to her room and couldn't bring themselves to look at it again for over six months.
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Out of respect for Oakley's siblings' privacy, I'm keeping information about them to a minimum in this episode. But it's important to note that Oakley wasn't alone in the home with Bowers and Carlson. She has a younger brother, an older sister, and an older brother that appears to have split time between living with Oakley and his mother Jordan Bowers and his biological father. All kids were under the age of 10 at this time.
Now, we don't have the DCYF file for Oakley, and it seems that some of the information we have comes from another child's case and another agency, CPS. So it's hard to say exactly what was going on in her home during this time. But we do have some snippets of happenings reported by the Justice for Oakley website, alongside some official documents. So here's what we know. By the end of June, the same month Oakley's dependency matter was closed, George's
Jordan Bowers had to provide some documentation for a custody hearing not related to Oakley. She's ordered to undergo a UA, or a urine analysis, basically a drug test, and Jordan makes a statement to the social worker to the effect that she knows how to pass a UA.
She also states that both she and Andrew Carlson have completed court-ordered services related to domestic violence. While discussing Jordan Bauer's domestic violence assessment, it's revealed that she had two. Basically, the first one said, yes, she did need services. But apparently, she had a second assessment where she was not honest, resulting in a recommendation that no services are needed.
In addition to that, CPS expressed concerns that Andrew Carlson and Jordan Bowers were not adequately caring for one of their disabled children, specifically that they did not attend an appointment made at a hospital for the child despite being given a gas card to do so.
Now, a whole lot of nothing comes from all this. Basically, everything is just being logged, and it seems no action was deemed necessary by DCYF or CPS, though it's hard to say how often, if at all, DCYF and CPS were communicating about Oakley and her siblings.
On Christmas 2020, Oakley visits with her paternal grandparents. Her grandmother later reports to Children's Services that Oakley didn't look well. She says that she was pale, had dark circles under her eyes, and had scratches or sores on her face. She never hears back about the report. But this upset Jordan Bowers and Andrew Carlson enough to cut his parents off. They never see Oakley again.
And the reports just keep rolling in. On January 26, 2021, Jamie Jo calls DCYF after she sees a picture of Oakley with what looks like a black eye from December. Jamie Jo also informs them that she heard that Andrew Carlson had been fired from his job for drug use.
Ultimately, DCYF tells Jamie Jo very sternly that since she didn't see anything she's talking about firsthand, they have to assume the information is false. And on top of that, they say that she should be careful because she could get in trouble for making false reports.
Now, Jamie Jo doesn't back down. She's like, listen, I'm a teacher, a mandated reporter, and I'm concerned. Now, they don't really give any answers to Jamie Jo, but the next day, a DCYF caseworker does go visit Oakley. We don't have information about this visit, but we know that Oakley wasn't removed from her biological parents' care. On February 10th, Oakley is seen again by either social services or a family friend. Reports differ.
Then, on March 24th, 2021, Jamie Jo gets a phone call that makes her stomach drop. It's DCYF. They want to know if she's seen Oakley or her sister. They don't explain why. Jamie Jo says she hasn't. By the end of March, the complaint is closed without anyone seeing Oakley.
Fast forward a few months to November 6, 2021. Just before 5 p.m., Andrew Carlson calls 911 to say that his daughter, referring to Oakley, lit their couch on fire with a cigarette lighter. He says there is no emergency now. It took a few hours, but he and Jordan Bowers battled the fire themselves and put it out. He just wanted to call and report the fire for insurance purposes.
Now, this entire fire situation is just extremely odd. The family does live on a huge 300-acre property, and they say that they apparently couldn't find their cell phones to call 911 to help put out the fire. So instead of maybe running to a neighbor's house, they decide to battle the fire themselves for hours. Then once the fire is put out, they miraculously find their cell phones to report the fire.
Now, there are pictures of the chart house, so we know that there was apparently some type of fire that seemed to burn through a lot of the home. But in the end, fire investigators determined that the fire did not start on the couch as reported, but likely in the microwave on the kitchen counter.
On November 10th, the principal of Oakville Elementary, Jessica Swift, visits the home to bring supplies after the fire. I think it's worth noting that Jessica set this up in advance with Jordan Bowers, so it's not as if this was a surprise visit. Jessica stays for about 45 minutes. In that time, she notices that Oakley's siblings are there, but not Oakley. Swift later told News 8, quote, I saw all the other kids running around and playing, and I didn't see Oakley, and I thought that was a little odd. I had to go to the hospital.
I asked where she was, and they told me that she was in her room in timeout. A week later on the 17th, someone starts to go fund me for Bowers and Carlson, titled, quote, Help the Carlsons Recover from a House Fire. They end up raising $2,325 before it closes. Now, when Jamie, Joe, and Eric see this, they're obviously concerned about Oakley's living conditions, so they contact their social worker, but they never hear back.
On November 24th, the school principal, Jessica Swift, visits the home again to drop off more supplies. This time, she only stays for about five minutes. Again, she sees Oakley's siblings, but not Oakley.
Not long after this, Jessica Swift is in a meeting with the teachers at her school, when one of them raises concerns about what's happening at Oakley's home. In the end, Jessica Swift decides to dig deeper, and she plans a playdate for the next day between her daughter and Oakley's sister to see if she can learn more about what's going on at the home.
Swift told 8 News, quote,
On Never Seen Again, Swift elaborated, saying that Oakley's sister was discussing how her brother always follows her around. Swift asks if he does that with Oakley too, and her sister says, quote, When Swift presses her, asking what she means, she curls into a ball in the corner of the couch and starts shaking.
Now, the playdate basically became a sleepover after Oakley's sister asked to stay the night. The next morning, Sunday, December 5th, 2021, Swift tries to ask about Oakley again. Oakley's sister says that Oakley was so bad she went to go live with her former foster parents. At this point, Swift calls the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office to confirm Oakley's placement. And they say that Oakley is not in the foster care system.
At this point, obviously Jessica Swift is beyond concerned and confused. She wants to call for a welfare check on Oakley, but she doesn't want to give Oakley's sister back to Bowers and Carlson. So she calls Jordan Bowers and tells her that the girls are having such a great time together that she would love if Oakley's sister could stay another night. She says she'll just take both girls with her to school on Monday morning. Jordan Bowers agrees.
On Monday the 6th, Oakley's fifth birthday, Swift takes the girls to school and calls for a welfare check, and officers immediately realize that something is very wrong.
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By December 6, 2021, Oakley Carlson's fifth birthday, her biological parents have moved the family into a hotel after being displaced from their home by a house fire. This falls under the jurisdiction of the Tumwater Police Department. They arrive at the motel at 10 a.m. Oakley is not with the family. Andrew Carlson tells them Oakley's with his parents in Oakville, but when officers ask for their phone number or address, he isn't able to provide them with either.
Officers do eventually get in contact with Andrew's father, who says he hasn't seen Oakley since December 2020, when he and his wife express concerns about her welfare to social services. When officers tell Andrew that Oakley is not with his parents, apparently he does not act surprised. At this point, basically Andrew Carlson and Jordan Bowers stop answering questions.
But about 10 minutes after officers leave, Andrew Carlson calls the police to report Oakley missing. He says they haven't seen Oakley since November 30th, 2021, just under a week ago. And we don't know which one, but either Carlson or Bauer's factory resets their phone.
While all of this is happening, Jamie Jo and Eric Hiles get a phone call from DCYF, letting them know that it appears that Oakley's missing. They ask the couple if they'll take Oakley and her younger brother when Oakley is found. At this point, DCYF doesn't really stress the urgency of the situation. They basically say they think Oakley is probably just with a family member, or possibly with her biological parents as they avoid the police and having their children taken from them again. Jamie Jo and Eric Hiles get a phone call from DCYF,
Jamie, Joe, and Eric don't skip a beat. They say of course they'll take them, and start making preparations to do so.
Meanwhile, investigators are busy trying to obtain a search warrant for the Bowers-Carlson home. After they get the green light to search the home, they discover some pretty discouraging evidence. They see that there seem to be clothes, toys, and separate living spaces for all of the children except for Oakley. It's also been highlighted that when investigators spoke with Bowers and Carlson, they discovered that the family vehicle only had one car seat in it, despite presumably having three children aged six and under.
In the state of Washington, there are car seat laws. Oakley and her siblings were, by law, required to be in a booster seat until they reached 4 feet 9 inches tall. In relation to the single car seat, Chief Schrader from the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office said, "...so that right there, that's a clue that something's wrong. But it gets worse. They also find blood on the blinds and the front door, and some type of handprint in the hallway downstairs."
They try to question Jordan Bowers again, but she apparently becomes uncooperative. Andrew Carlson also stays pretty quiet, but made statements, quote, to the effect of Oakley being dead or not coming back for a reunion. According to the Justice for Oakley website, at 5.10 p.m., Jordan Bowers is booked into the Grays Harbor County Jail for allegedly obstructing law enforcement and on suspicion of first-degree manslaughter.
At 9.30pm, Andrew Carlson is arrested, facing the same charges, obstruction of justice and suspicion of first-degree manslaughter. From here, law enforcement only has 72 hours to charge them or let them go, so they get busy looking for any evidence related to Oakley.
On Tuesday, December 7th, Jamie Jo is shopping at Target when she gets the news from a friend that Bowers and Carlson are being held on manslaughter charges. Jamie Jo doesn't immediately understand that it's in connection to Oakley, but once she does, she immediately runs outside and throws up. Then she calls her husband, Eric.
On the same day, the family that Oakley's sister was placed with calls her caseworker to ask about medication that she's supposed to be on, and they find out that she hasn't received it in 15 months. Now, in his interview with Never Seen Again, Chief Kevin Schrader from the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office says that they were trying to build cases against Bowers and Carlson to keep them in jail, so they used this to their advantage to tack on another charge, abandonment of a dependent person in the second degree.
The search continues. They dig, they bring in specialists, divers, aerial support, the whole crew. In the end, they don't find anything related to Oakley. Or at least they don't tell the public.
On December 9th, the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office announces the charges of abandonment of a dependent person against Bowers and Carlson, but also announced that the manslaughter charges were being dropped. Chief Schrader told the media, "...we decided to drop our charges of manslaughter, which would allow us more of an opportunity to thoroughly investigate."
Now, during this time, Oakley's siblings are being interviewed, and two of them, one 6 years old and the other just 2 years old, have hair follicle samples taken from them for testing. When the testing came back, it was discovered that both children had substantial amounts of meth in their systems. They can't say if the children just had heavy exposure to it or actually ingested it, but Bowers and Carlson each get charged with two counts of child endangerment by a controlled substance.
During the interviews with the kids, more was revealed. One of Oakley's siblings said that Oakley went into the woods and was eaten by wolves. Eric Hiles later told Never Seen Again that he believes the kids were likely told that Oakley was bad or in trouble and was eaten by the big bad wolf. And even though this seems pretty outlandish, the sheriff's office did follow up on the lead, but they found that there were no wolves in the area.
Oakley's brother told investigators that Jordan Bowers would put Oakley in the closet, possibly under the stairs. He also said he saw Bowers beat Oakley with a belt, and he was worried about Oakley starving. By December 13th, officials announced that while Oakley's case is still being worked, the search of the family property was over.
On December 30th, Bowers and Carlson appear in court for their charges of abandonment of a dependent person, the charge they got for not giving their daughter her necessary medication. In this hearing, Chief Criminal Deputy Jason Walker brought up Oakley briefly, saying that Bowers and Carlson, quote, "...clearly know what happened to the five-year-old child, and they're not saying anything."
Carlson and Bowers remained in custody, and pretty soon, demonstrators began gathering outside the courthouse when they were due for an appearance, demanding answers, including Jordan Bowers' 9-year-old son. He told the Chronicle Online, "...I feel like I want some justice. I want my mom to tell us where she is finally."
On January 10th, 2022, Carlson and Bowers enter pleas of not guilty in relation to the abandonment charges. And on February 7th, they do the same for the charges of child endangerment with a controlled substance. The protests continue.
Finally, between March and April 2022, Bowers and Carlson take some accountability. They plead guilty to the two counts of child endangerment with a controlled substance, the charges they got after their two children were found to have meth in their systems. Ultimately, Andrew Carlson is given 12 months, and Jordan Bowers is given the max of 20 months due to her having priors.
Carlson is also ordered to not have unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18, with the exception of his children. Jordan Powers tries to set up telephonic visits with her children, naming Oakley specifically in the motion, but the judge denied the request, saying it was not in the best interest of the children.
In August 2022, Andrew Carlson was released from the Grays Harbor County Jail, but he's a no-show for his next court date to discuss his chemical dependency evaluation that was supposed to be completed within 45 days of his release. Carlson's lawyer basically says he has no idea where he is, but he's well aware of his court date. A bench warrant is issued for Carlson, but he shows up to court later that day and the judge revokes the warrant and sets another hearing for the next week.
Carlson isn't able to provide the necessary documentation at this hearing either, but the judge is very kind and gives him another week. Finally, Carlson produces the paperwork and is found to be compliant with his court order. He is basically a free man, though he would continue to be monitored. Outside the courthouse, people screamed, do the right thing. And how do you live with yourself? Carlson didn't respond. This is Jessica Knoll, host of the new series, Back in Crime.
If you're a follower of true crime, you're probably familiar with some of the most shocking stories from our history. Horrific tragedies like the Columbine Massacre. And notorious criminals like cult leader Charles Manson.
In a scene described by one investigator as reminiscent of a weird religious rite, five persons, including actress Sharon Tate, were found dead at the home of Miss Tate and her husband, screen director Roman Poliansky. But what if we were to turn back the hands of time and relive these events as they unfolded? Follow along each week as we take a fresh look at crimes from the past. Back in Crime is available now.
Unfortunately, that's basically where Oakley's case is today. Oakley's biological father, Andrew Carlson, is basically a free man, and her biological mother, Jordan Bowers, is set to be released in January 2023.
I have so many questions, and I'm sure you do too. I intentionally kept details about Oakley's siblings vague in this episode, but as far as I could find, none of them have been returned to Andrew Carlson's care after he was released. Officials determined that the last verified sighting of Oakley was on February 10th, 2021, nearly a year before she was reported missing on her fifth birthday.
The blood found in the house was tested, but as of recording this episode, those results either haven't come back or haven't been released, so we don't know who it belongs to. There was an investigation launched into what happened with DCYF and Oakley's case, but in the end, they basically said that while it seems that Oakley could have used more time to bond with her biological parents before being returned to their custody, DCYF did nothing wrong.
DCYF has stated that they are legally unable to release more information about Oakley until she is declared dead or someone faces criminal charges. But local news stations have fought back against this, saying they've released information to them about other cases in the past.
Until one of those two things happen, it seems we aren't going to have the entire story of Oakley's time in the foster care system, how she ended up back in the hands of her biological parents, and what if any action was taken related to the many complaints filed against them leading up to the time when she was last seen. So what happened to Oakley?
While some theorize that Oakley may have been trafficked, was sold, is being hidden, overdosed on a substance like meth, or may have wandered out into the family property and something horrible happened, King 5 News reported that detectives do believe Oakley was killed. I do think it's worth noting here that one of Oakley's siblings said that everyone made it out of the fire in their home, except for Oakley.
We saw a very similar situation in the case of Harmony Montgomery. She too was unexpectedly taken out of foster care and returned to a biological parent, only to supposedly go missing on an unknown date and be reported missing nearly a year later. In the end, her father is now facing charges for her murder.
On the Justice for Oakley website, Jamie Jo wrote a letter to Oakley. It reads, quote, Dear Oakley Lynn, My Noodle Girl, When I lay in bed at night, I can't believe that you used to lay in our bed with your feet on my back, and it would bother me. I would do anything to have you put your clammy feet on my back now. I can't thank you enough for all the memories you gave Daddy and I, through the good and the bad.
When you came to us as a little baby, I didn't even know how to change a diaper or install a car seat. Through you, we learned so many things that I didn't know I would have to learn. You had an ear infection, and I was so scared for you to be sick. I'll never forget the time you had to get another shot. Those are so painful. And you knew as soon as the nurse was laying you down that you were getting another shot in the leg. You looked at me, and I held your hand. And the look you gave me said, please don't do this again.
We both cried, and afterward a nurse walked in with a popsicle, and I didn't know if it was for me or for you because we were both so upset. "'I know that I didn't give birth to you, but I wish I did. You were everything I'd ever dreamed of having in a child. Daddy and I wished and waited so long for a baby, and even though you came to us in an unconventional way, I loved you like you were my own biological child.'
I loved when strangers told us that we had the same smile, because it meant that people thought I could have even an ounce of your beauty. I will never forgive myself for not protecting you more when you went back to your biological parents. I thought I was doing everything by calling CPS and making reports to DCYF, but it didn't save you. And for that, I am so sorry.
If I could mail this letter to you, I'd want you to know that you're making waves and that so many people are taking action. People in our little town, around the state, and around the world know who you are and are thinking of you, praying for you, and doing everything in their power to make sure you're found and this doesn't happen again.
I knew that you'd be influential someday. I just wish it wasn't breaking our hearts in the process. Thank you for loving us, and I promise you that we will do everything we can to bring you justice and to protect your siblings. Lovingly, your mama. We don't know what happened to Oakley, but we can still help. I think this is a great time to highlight the foundation working with Jamie Jo and Eric Hiles as well as leading these protests.
They're called Light the Way Missing Persons Advocacy. You can find them on Twitter talking about Oakley all the time. They also created the website Justice for Oakley, which is where I got a lot of information for this episode. They hold weekly phone and letter-writing campaigns each Thursday to contact the governor, attorney general, legislators, and DCYF leadership to have an outside agency review Oakley's DCYF case.
Thanks in large part to this group and their incredible fundraising efforts through a variety of events and campaigns, their reward for information about Oakley is up to $85,000. Jamie Jo told Fox 13 News, quote,
This group calls themselves and others who help Oakley, Oakley's Angels, and they are constantly urging others to get involved. Which brings me right to our call to action. You can help Oakley. You can share her story. I've said it a million times before and I will keep saying it because it's true. Media pressure moves mountains.
You can also contact Washington State DCYF Secretary Ross Hunter by email to voice your opinion about Oakley, and if you feel so compelled, to ask for an outside agency to review her case. His email is ross.hunter at dcyf.wa.gov. As always, if you choose to reach out, please be respectful.
Honestly, I'm getting really sick of covering these cases of kids going missing or getting killed after being placed in an abusive home by social services. We don't have the case file. We don't know what opportunities there were to save Oakley. But we know there was at least one visit where they were unable to locate Oakley and then closed the complaint. As it stands, there's basically zero accountability from anyone when these things happen.
But my hope is, if we're loud enough about these cases, at the very least, these organizations and their leaders will realize that while they may find it acceptable for children to slip through the cracks of the system, there is a large community of people who will continue to demand answers and bring attention to the gaps these kids are falling through. As a reminder...
It's believed Oakley Carlson was last seen on February 10th, 2021, near Oakville, Washington. She should have been celebrating her sixth birthday the week this episode airs. We don't know what Oakley's current height or weight would be, but she was last known to be three feet tall.
and weigh approximately 50 pounds, and she has brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Grace Harbor County Sheriff's Office at 360-533-8765, or you can contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST. But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.
Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney, and is a Voices for Justice media original. If you love what we do here, please don't forget to follow, rate, and review the show in your podcast player. It's an easy and free way to help us and help more people find these cases in need of justice. And for even more content, check out my other podcast, Disappearances, only on Spotify.