A mother who refused to cooperate with the police in the disappearance of her five-year-old daughter has been convicted of identity theft.
Jordan Bowers, the mother of missing five-year-old Oakley Carlson, was sentenced to 43 months in prison on Monday in Montesano, Washington.
The sentencing comes as authorities struggle to locate the little girl, last seen in February 2021.
Her disappearance was not reported until her home burned down in December 2021, with Bowers allegedly telling her other daughter that Oakley had been “eaten by wolves.”
Jordan Bowers has been sentenced to forty-three months in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of identity theft
Oakley Carlson was reported missing in December 2021, but has not been seen since ten months prior
Bowers was sentenced to forty-three months in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of identity theft. She had initially pleaded not guilty, but reached a plea on July 24.
According to authorities, Bowers created four credit card accounts after stealing the personal information of friends and family members. NBC King5 reported.
She then used the credit cards to collect more than $40,000 in debits from Walmart, on eBay – even to withdraw money to gamble at a casino.
Three of the fraudulent credit cards were discovered hiding a toilet when authorities searched her hotel room while looking for her missing daughter.
While Bowers reached a 36-month plea deal, Judge Katherine Svoboda used her discretion to provide the best sentencing guidelines, imposing forty-three months followed by 12 months of community detention.
Jordan Bowers had pleaded for 36 months in prison. But the judge used judicial discretion in her case to increase the sentence to 43 months on charges unrelated to her daughter’s disappearance
The mother did not agree to reimburse the victims a sum of $26,850.58, and a future hearing will be held to address that matter. Fox13 reported.
“I just don’t believe Mrs. Bowers would insist that she helped these people. You can’t have it both that she was so drug addicted and so are the victims that their credibility is questionable, but still she is the person they would turn to for help. It just doesn’t make sense,” Judge Svoboda said.
‘She focused on vulnerable victims. She took advantage. She really hasn’t taken responsibility in any meaningful way, so it deserves a sentence at the top of the standard range. It’s all the court can do. 43 months followed by 12 months community service.’
Bowers had been arrested just minutes after being released from prison on identity theft charges for endangering the welfare of her other children with meth – a crime for which her husband and Oakley’s father Andrew Carlson had also been convicted.
The mother and father remain the prime suspects in the disappearance of the little girl, of whom no trace has ever been found.
Oakley was barely five years old when she went missing. She has not been seen since February 2021 and detectives say they have not cooperated, This was reported by Komo News.
Oakley had previously been placed in foster care with a couple who hoped to adopt her, but was returned to her biological parents in 2019.
The child’s foster parents remain deeply concerned about the child’s well-being. Jamie Jo Hiles, Oakley’s foster mother, spoke to Fox13 and said, “I don’t feel good knowing Andrew is out.”
While Bowers will serve her identity theft sentence, Andrew has been released following his sentence for endangering a child. “He’s living a good life there in Wenatchee, and Jordan’s going to serve for a while and then she’s out,” Hiles said. “Where does that Oakley stand? Where does that put her siblings?’
Oakley’s sister described disturbing incidents involving the missing girl, who was reportedly locked in a cell under the stairs. She claims Oakley was beaten after using her mother’s torch to start a house fire.
The missing girl’s sister later told investigators that her mother had told her not to talk about Oakley and that she had “went into the woods and been eaten by wolves.”
When asked about Oakley’s whereabouts, her parents told detectives that they “lost track” of Oakley in late November 2021. However, they did not file a police report until December 2021. 10 months after that everyone had reported seeing the child alive.