New details are emerging in the tragic death of 5-year-old Samuel Olson. The little boy was reported missing on Thursday, May 27, just days before his sixth birthday.
Authorities now believe that Samuel was dead long before police began investigating this case. A source close to Theresa Balboa — girlfriend of Samuel's father, Dalton Olson — says that she claimed the boy had died earlier in the month. These sources are also saying that the body was moved a few times before ending up in the Jasper, Texas, motel room where it was recovered.
Balboa is currently charged with tampering with evidence as investigators continue working to determine what happened in Samuel's final weeks of life. His body has not been officially identified as of yet, but sources close to the investigation and the family are both confident that the remains belong to the young boy as others who loved him begin to mourn his tragic death.
Charging documents against Theresa Balboa, girlfriend of Samuel Olson's father Dalton Olson, share some grim possibilities as to when and how the 5-year-old's life ended. Samuel was reported missing on May 27, days ahead of his sixth birthday. Authorities now believe he could have died weeks earlier.
Samuel was last seen in school on April 30. Since then, he'd reportedly been in the care of Balboa. On May 27, Balboa called Olson to say that Samuel's mother, Sarah Olson, and a police officer had forced her to turn the child over. Sarah Olson provided police with surveillance footage proving she was at her home at this time.
It was Balboa's roommate who was able to provide some of the most pertinent information. He told investigators that Balboa called him and said Samuel was dead on May 10, the Houston Chronicle reports.
According to the roommate, he arrived home to see the boy's bruised, lifeless body on a bed. They then moved him to a bathtub, where he remained for two days.
On May 13, the roommate says he went to Walmart to pick up duct tape and a plastic storage container. He claims they wrapped the boy in a plastic sheet, put it in the container, and took it to a storage unit. From there, Balboa turned to another friend for help.
On May 31, Balboa reportedly called a male friend saying she had been in a fight and needed his help. He picked her up from a Walmart in Cleveland, Texas, and drove her to the storage unit. He helped her put the container, which he claims he didn't know the contents of but noted that it smelled foul, in his car and left her and the container at the Best Western in Jasper, Texas.
Apparently suspicious, this male friend gave an anonymous tip that led police to the Best Western, where they recovered Sam's remains and found Balboa. She was arrested and charged with tampering with evidence, in particular a human corpse. She awaits transfer from Jasper to Houston.
Dalton Olson has asserted that he had nothing to do with his son's death. "(The) family is in mourning, shocked and in disbelief," attorney Samuel Veenstra told 2Houston.
The attorney said that, like all other parties involved, Olson is awaiting answers as to the motive to this heinous crime. He continues to cooperate with police.
The boy's mother, Sarah Olson, is devastated after not seeing her son in nearly a year. She was in the midst of a custody battle with Dalton Olson, who would not return Samuel despite the fact that she had primary custody.
"I'm heartbroken, but I believe that body is my baby," she told People via her attorney.
"All I want is justice for Samuel, my baby. I do not want people to forget Samuel's name."
