Last June, Texas police announced that they have found a little boy’s body wrapped inside a tote bag inside a Best Western in Jasper, Texas and they were later able to confirm that this was indeed the missing 6-year-old Samuel Olson.
Authorities indicated that they had been tipped off to the hotel off of West Gibson Street in the town of Jasper at around 6 p.m. that day. Jasper Police Chief Gerald Hall noted that while it did take some time to identify the body, they were ultimately able to determine that sadly, that yes, the deceased remains was indeed that of Samuel Olson.
The child’s body had been found inside the tote bag inside one of the rooms at the Best Western and the authorities noted that there was indication that the deceased child had been there for some time.
Crime Online originally reported that Samuel Olson, 6, had reportedly been last seen that preceding Thursday in the 8800 block of McAvoy Drive, according to Samuel’s grandmother, Tanya Olson.
Indeed, the grandmother claimed that someone dressed up as a cop showed up with the boy’s mother and took him. Moreover, Tanya said she believed that Samuel was being taken care of by a friend of his father’s girlfriend when this incident occurred.
It was on a Tuesday in that tumultuous week in June the Houston police announced that literally no one outside of the boy’s family had seen him for several months, some as early as April 30th when he was spotted at Holbrook Elementary in Cy-Fair ISD.
“It’s cause for concern,” Houston Police public information officer Kese Smith told Newsweek.
The father’s girlfriend was identified as Theresa Balboa, and she reportedly insisted that she had last seen Samuel that Thursday.
“I was going to take Sam to school when his mother showed up with the police officer, or who I was under the impression to be a police officer, and they demanded me to release Sam,” Balboa said.
Houston Police Department Executive Assistant Larry Satterwhite said that no one in their department had been able to verify whether Balboa’s claims are accurate or not.
“All we have are reports. The last time we know, for a fact, he was in school and that was April 30th,” Satterwhite added.
The search expanded after it was verified that one of the last known places that Samuel had been seen alive was at a southeast Houston apartment complex near Gulf Breeze that belonged to a friend of Miss Balboa.
Authorities would ultimately impound a vehicle from that apartment. Not soon after, Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller became involved in the search, but he said he wasn’t optimistic.
“I’ve worked many, many of these cases. I don’t have a good feeling,” Miller said. “Nobody can find out anybody that’s credible that can tell us the last time he was seen and where.”
Unfortunately, he was right. The deceased young child found in the tote bag in the Best Western did indeed turn out to be Samuel Olson.
UPDATE: Last July, Theresa Balboa was charged with capital murder in the death of little Samuel.