The money raised from the 5K will go toward the reward fund for information on her whereabouts.
THURSTON COUNTY, Wash. — It has now been more than three years since 5-year-old Oakley Carlson was last seen alive on Feb. 10, 2021. Her foster mom spent the weekend hanging up new flyers throughout Grays Harbor County to bring awareness to her case.
Putting up posters and signs around the south Sound is one way to keep Carlson’s case in the spotlight, it’s what captured the attention of a teen in Thurston County who is on a mission to help.
“Every time we hit a milestone whether it’s her birthday or her last scene anniversary, it’s sad,” said Jaimie Hiles, Carlson’s foster mother. “And I don’t want to say that I lose hope, but I just feel a little bit of like, I thought we had no more by now.”
Although her biological parents were arrested, charged and sentenced to prison for crimes unrelated to their missing daughter, there have been no answers to Carlson’s disappearance
“Sometimes the further you get away from our counties, people don’t know her story all the time,” Hiles said.
Recently, a poster hanging up in Elma caught the attention of a Thurston County teen, but not just any teen, Miss Thurston County’s Teen 2024, Emma Adams.
Adams said she felt compelled to learn more.
“At that moment, I was like, this is the case I want to work with,” Adams said. “This is who I want to help support.”
Adams’ service initiative with Miss Thurston County Teen surrounds missing persons and cold cases.
“The full title is Out of the Cold: Bringing Unsolved Homicides and Missing Person Cases into the Light, and I’m kind of just working to advocate and fundraise for these unsolved cases throughout Washington in general,” Adams said.
Adams is now planning a 5K in honor of Carlson’s case scheduled for March 16. The money raised will go to the reward fund for information on Carlson’s whereabouts.
“I am just so excited to see her put together this 5K and also just the feeling that so many people that I’ve never met before, hear Oakley’s story and it moves them and that this is a way that they can participate and help and help raise her reward fund,” Hiles said.
