Father of missing Washington 5-year-old girl pleads guilty to endangering her siblings
A 5-year-old Washington girl was last seen over a year ago and her parents are facing charges unrelated to her disappearance.
Oakley Carlson’s father, Andrew Carlson, pleaded guilty to two charges of child endangerment with a controlled substance on Monday, March 14, KING-TV reported.
He faces six to 12 months in jail for both counts, KOMO reported.
Those charges were brought after authorities began searching for Oakley in Oakville and discovered her siblings had been exposed or ingested meth, KING-TV reported.
The child’s mother was also arrested along with her father on Dec. 6, 2021, after a welfare check prompted the search for Oakley.
Jordan Bowers faces the same child endangerment charges, but she hasn’t made a plea as of March 15, KOMO reported.
The couple was first arrested on manslaughter charges, which were dropped and replaced with second-degree abandonment of a dependent person, court documents show.
Investigators learned that since August 2020, Bowers and Carlson had not been providing necessary medication to their 6-year-old who was diagnosed with “failure to thrive,” court documents show.
Bowers and Carlson haven’t told authorities where Oakley is, but they said they last saw her on Nov. 30, 2021, officials said.
The Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office said she was last seen alive on Feb. 10, 2021, KCPQ reported. The child was in foster care from when she was 7 months old until just before turning 3, NewsNation Now reported.
A public Facebook group was created to follow Oakley Carlson’s case and it has garnered more than 11,000 members.
This story was originally published March 15, 2022 at 11:43 AM with the headline "Father of missing Washington 5-year-old girl pleads guilty to endangering her siblings."
