Missing girl Oakley Carlson kept 'locked in a cell' under stairs, new court docs reveal

Recently released court records show that that prior to her disappearance, Oakley Carlson was kept in a locked "cell" underneath the stairs.

GRAYS HARBOR COUNTY, Wash. - A judge sentenced Jordan Bowers to 43 months in prison Monday after she accepted a last-minute plea deal in an identity theft case, not linked to her missing daughter Oakley Carlson.

Judge Katherine Svoboda gave Bowers the top end of the sentencing range, more time than the plea deal she had made for 36 months.

"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," Svoboda said. "She targeted 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. 43 months followed by community custody of 12 months."

Bowers did not agree to the restitution amount requested by the prosecutor to pay the victims $26,850.58. A hearing to address that will be held at a later date.

Jordan Bowers sentenced to 43 months in prison for identity theft

Bowers and her husband Andrew Carlson are the prime suspects in the disappearance of six-year-old Oakley Carlson. She was last seen in Feb. 2021.

Recently released court records show that that prior to her disappearance, Oakley was kept in a locked "cell" underneath the stairs.

When her sister was interviewed by investigators looking for Oakley, she told them that Oakley had started the house fire with the mother’s torch and was subsequently beaten for it. She also told them that Oakley was "under her mother’s bed and in the woods."

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Jordan Bowers, mother of missing child Oakley Carlson, strikes plea deal in ID theft case

Jordan Bowers pleads not guilty to fraud charges

The mother of missing 5-year-old Oakley Carlson was arrested for fraud right after getting out of jail for a child abuse charge

That's one of the details mentioned in a Washington Court of Appeals opinion published this month involving the release of Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF) records regarding Oakley and her siblings to the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office. Jordan had tried to block the release of dependency and juvenile court records to the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office, who requested them in an effort to find information to locate Oakley. The juvenile court specified that it was releasing the records on the "emergent basis" of locating OC, who remained "missing…and [was] extremely endangered."

In previous FOX 13 News coverage, we reported that Oakley’s sister would later tell Grays Harbor County investigators that Bowers "told her not to talk about Oakley," adding that Oakley had "gone out into the woods and had been eaten by wolves."

In the court ruling, her sister confirmed another sibling's statements regarding the mother’s physical abuse of Oakley and that Oakley was not safe in her mother's care.

FOX 13 News recently interviewed Jamie Jo Hiles, Oakley's foster mother who raised her before the DCYF forced her to give Oakley back to Jordan and Andrew Carlson. Both of them served time in jail for exposing their other children to meth, but Carlson was released. They pleaded guilty to child endangerment with a controlled substance. Neither has cooperated with investigators to help find Oakley other than saying that they lost track of her.

When questioned by a police officer, her parents reported that they had "lost track" of Oakley between 5 and 10 days prior, in late Nov. 2021. Carlson then filed a formal missing person report in early Dec. 2021. That was 10 months after anyone else reported seeing the girl.

"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?"

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Grays Harbor Sheriff's Office releases age-progression photos of Oakley Carlson

There is currently an $85,000 reward raised by her community for anyone who can lead investigators to Oakley.

APPEALS COURT CONCLUSION:

The appeals court upheld the decision to release the records to the sheriff's office for the purpose of aiding in the investigation of Oakley’s disappearance. However, they ruled the court erred in releasing the records involving Oakley's sibling (DC). There was an open case for abandonment with that sibling, but that's not why the sheriff's office said they were asking for them, so they should not have been released. Same with the other sibling (BB-P).

"Because DC’s investigation was not the basis for her record release, DC was not ‘the juvenile in question.’ Therefore, the juvenile court erred when it released DC’s records."

Same with the other sibling (BB-P).

We affirm the juvenile court’s order permitting disclosure of OC’s, DC’s, and BB-P’s juvenile court dependency records to the sheriff’s office for the purpose of aiding in the No. 56609-5-II 24 investigation of OC’s disappearance. We reverse the language in the order purporting to unseal BB-P’s, DC’s, and OC’s juvenile court records, and we remand for the trial court to remove the unsealing language from its order. We also conclude that any transcripts of dependency hearings that were not closed to the public are not sealed absent a sealing order from the juvenile court. Finally, we decline to adopt additional procedures for disclosing confidential juvenile court records.