SEATTLE — A court of appeals opinion published earlier this month details alleged abuse that a Grays Harbor County girl endured before going missing.
It’s been almost two years since then-5-year-old Oakley Carlson went missing.
“Waking up every day since Dec. 6, 2021 and thinking, is today going to be the day that I get the call?” said Jamie Jo Hiles, who was Oakley’s foster mom for two and a half years.
“She loved people and people loved her. She was just a force to be reckoned with,” said Hiles.
In 2019, the state ordered Oakley to be returned to her biological parents, Jordan Bowers and Andrew Carlson. In December 2021, the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation into the child’s disappearance. Oakley Carlson was last seen alive in February 2021.
“That hole in my heart and that concern for Oakley was there the moment she left,” said Hiles.
Hiles called the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) twice out of concern for Oakley and now an opinion published Aug. 1 in the court of appeals outlines the state's response to allegations of abuse for Oakley and her siblings. The documents reveal Hiles wasn't the only one to call.
“There were 11 calls from 2013 to 2021. Which one of those was ignored that could have saved Oakley and her siblings?” said Hiles.
Of the 11 calls, DCYF said it investigated eight of them. The calls alleged "domestic violence, physical abuse, parental drug use and medical neglect."
The documents also outline some of the abuse Oakley allegedly endured. Siblings said Oakley was kept in a "locked cell underneath the stairs" and that their mother "physically abused" Oakley and another sibling.
“When you read those reports about the abuse that she suffered, how can you not let your mind think of dark things,” said Hiles.
Bowers was the only one who tried to keep these documents sealed.
The Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office said its investigation is completely different from what DCYF did or didn’t do.
“Our investigation is all about Oakley. Where is Oakley? What happened to her and why don’t we know where she’s at?” said Paul Logan, chief of special services for the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office.
Logan said it’s frustrating that they don’t have the answers they want and that detectives work on Oakley's case every week.
“We have avenues of investigation that we’re still working on that are independent from anything in court,” said Logan.
Despite reading these new details, Hiles wears a bracelet every day that says 'Hope' on it. She still fights for the young girl she helped raise, saying, “I just want justice.”
The report came as Oakley's mother was sentenced Monday in a Grays Harbor courthouse for charges unrelated to Oakley's disappearance. Bowers took a plea deal and was sentenced to 43 months for theft and identity theft, according to the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office.