THE sister of a missing six-year-old girl told investigators her sibling had been beaten and locked in a cell before her disappearance came to light, new court documents have revealed.
Oakley Carlson was officially declared missing on December 7, 2021 - a month after a fire was reported at her parents' home in Oakville,Washington.
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Oakley was not, however, found at the property after the fire, with officers noting February 2021 as the last credible sighting of her.
When her sister was interviewed by investigators looking for Oakley, she told them her sibling had started the fire with their mom's lighter.
She also said she was beaten for it - and that prior to her disappearance she had been kept locked in a "cell" under the stairs, the recently released court documents obtained by Fox13 show.
The six-year-old had been staying with her biological parents, Andrew Carlson and Jordan Bowers after spending most of her life with her foster parents, Erik and Jamie Jo Hiles.
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"She was so kind and smart, she loved to read," said Hiles.
"She would fall asleep with books in her bed."
The couple told local media that they took Oakley in when she was seven months old and cared for her until the court ordered she be returned to her biological parents, Carlson and Bowers.
Jamie Jo Hiles said she believes the decision to send Oakley back to Bowers and Carlson was "rushed."
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Oakley’s sister also told investigators that the girl was also “under her mother’s bed and in the woods.”
Earlier this week, Judge Katherine Svoboda sentenced Bowers to 43 months in prison after she accepted a plea deal in an identity theft case unrelated to her daughter’s disappearance.
“I just don't buy this that Ms. Bowers maintains that she was helping these people. You can't have it both ways, that she was so drug addicted and so were the victims that their credibility is questionable but yet, she's the person that they would turn to for help. It just doesn't make any sense,” said Svoboda.
“She tagged vulnerable victims. She took advantage. She really has not in any meaningful way taken responsibility so it merits a sentence at the top of the standard range. It’s all the court can do. Forty-three months followed by community custody of 12 months.”
“I don’t feel good about knowing that Andrew is free,” said Hiles.
“He’s out there in Wenatchee living a good life, and Jordan is going to serve some time and then she’s free. Where does that put Oakley? Where does that put her siblings?”
Bowers and Carlson still remain prime suspects in Oakley’s disappearance.
When questioned by police, Oakley’s parents said they “lost track” of her between five and 10 days prior in late November 2021.
They were arrested in December on allegations of child abandonment, and recently prosecutors added new charges on exposure of methamphetamine to their other children,Fox Newsreports.
Although Oakley's siblings of around the same age told law enforcement that they fear she may have been eaten by wolves,criminal profiler John Kellyhas told Fox News that he believes Carlson is still alive.
Kelly has said that the silence Oakley's parents have is still more of an indication that they were involved in the disappearance, rather than it means she's dead.
For him, the child's clothes and toys being gone is why he believes she is still alive.
"To me, that looks like she was packed up, because how many kidnappers go and say, ‘Where’s your toys kid? Where's your clothes?’" Kelly told Fox News.
At the time, Kelly set a reward of $10K leading to Oakley's whereabouts and safe return.
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With the case becoming worse every day, the reward has increased exponentially and is now at $85,000.
Aside fromOakley's six-year-old sistersuggesting she had been "eaten by wolves," Oakley's nine-year-old brother has explained that he did witness her get beat with a belt and that he has been "worried about her starving," perFox 13 Seattle.
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