This episode includes discussions of child abuse, neglect, and the disappearance of a young child.

Some details are disturbing and may be difficult to hear.

Please use care in listening, especially around children or if these topics are personally triggering.

Listener discretion is strongly advised.

I'm Ashley.

And I'm Ricky.

And this is Crime Salad.

There is currently a $100,000 reward for information leading to answers in the disappearance of a little girl from Washington State.

The Gray's Harbor County Sheriff's Office considers her missing and presumed deceased.

Her name is Oakley Lynn Carlson.

Oakley's case is heartbreaking, and not only because of the tragedy surrounding her disappearance,

but because it shines a light on how our child welfare system can fail children.

Oakley was last seen alive in February of 2021 when she was just four years old.

And despite thriving in foster care, she was returned to her biological parents under

Washington's reunification policies.

And within a matter of months, she vanished.

Reunification with biological parents is often treated as the ultimate goal of foster care, even when there are warning signs.

And for Oakley, that meant leaving a safe, stable foster home and going back to an environment that was unstable, unsafe, and ultimately, allegedly, led to her disappearance.

Today we're going to walk through what happened in Oakley's case, the red flags that were overlooked,

and why so many child advocates believe the system's focus on reunification over safety and consistency

has devastating consequences for children like her.

On December 6, 2016, Oakley Lynn Carlson entered the world. Growing up, Oakley was the kind

...