HOUSTON – An attorney representing the mother of missing 5-year-old Samuel Olson held a press conference Tuesday evening to discuss the case.
Attorney Marco González spoke on behalf of Sarah Olson and discussed the child custody case and about her missing son around 7 p.m. Tuesday.
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Minutes after the press conference, a KPRC 2 source said that an investigation was underway after a child’s body was found inside of a hotel room in Jasper. According to the KPRC 2 source, the child’s body is believed to be missing Samuel.
Samuel’s father, Dalton Olson, and his girlfriend, Theresa Balboa, told investigators the boy was last seen last Thursday in southwest Houston. Balboa said Samuel’s mother and a man dressed as a police officer came to her apartment and took the child.
Moreover, while the boy’s father alleges the boy’s mother took him, the Houston Police Department said when Sarah Olson was questioned, she told investigators that she does not know of his whereabouts either.
Police said that the last verifiable place Samuel was seen was at his elementary school on April 30.
A spokesperson for the Department of Family and Protective Services would not confirm who had custody of the boy, but acknowledged it is working with investigators.
“We don’t have details to share because investigations are confidential by law, but Child Protective investigators are working alongside law enforcement to try and locate Samuel,” wrote Melissa Lanford, a public relations officer for DFPS.
González said his client had primary custody and was denied for many months from getting the child. He said Sarah hasn’t had access to Samuel since the last time she saw him in January 2020. González said Sarah wanted them to speak so she could have a voice in the case.
He stated that she is very emotional, stressed and wants to know where her child is located. González also said the story Balboa told investigators and the media was a lie and made up, and confirmed she hasn’t seen her child in nearly a year. The attorney said Sarah hasn’t been able to get in touch with Dalton or the grandmother, so she hasn’t had much communication with Samuel.
González said the father took Samuel and failed to return him. He said Samuel went two months without going to school before being taken to another school in Jersey Village. When Sarah and Dalton divorced, the custody agreement allegedly placed the child with the mother, which has not been modified since 2019, according to González. He said Sarah would initially exchange the child through the paternal grandmother, Tonya Olson.
González said Sarah is completely devastated and feels like the system and court have let her down. He said his client has been in cooperation with investigators but does not feel comfortable talking to the media. González said Balboa’s accusations implicating that she had something to do with her son’s disappearance is false, saying that there are “too many holes in that story.”
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