Girlfriend charged after boy, 6, 'found dead in tote bag'
"Why? He loved you so much."
That is the devastating question a father says he will ask his girlfriend after she was arrested over the death of his 6-year-old son.
The body of Samuel Olson was found in a bag in a hotel room in the US state of Texas, police said on Wednesday (local time).
The boy's father, Dalton Olson, said he could "barely breathe" after learning what happened, local news station KRPC-2 reported.
Asked what he would say to Theresa Balboa, his girlfriend who is now charged in the case, he had a gut-wrenching reply: “Why? He loved you so much. I do not understand what happened. Why did you, why did you do this?”
The boy’s disappearance was reported on May 27, but investigators now believe he had been missing for weeks, in a case that has rocked the local community.
Police said the arrest came after they received an anonymous tip the child was inside a Best Western motel room. When they arrived, Balboa was also in the room where the boy's body was reportedly found in a tote bag.
It is with great sadness that I share with you that a body - of who we believe to be 6-year-old Samuel Olson - was recovered in a motel room in Jasper, Texas, earlier this evening. 1/2
— Troy Finner (@TroyFinner) June 2, 2021
Prosecutors in Houston have authorised a charge of tampering with evidence against the woman, but more charges are possible once an autopsy on the boy's body is complete.
Balboa was being held in a county jail Wednesday (local time) and it wasn’t clear whether she had a lawyer who could speak on her behalf, the Associated Press reported. But earlier in the week she told Houston TV station KTRK that the boy’s mother had earlier taken the child from her. Police said they don’t believe that’s true.
Authorities are now investigating how long Samuel may have been missing and how he ended up in the hotel room, more than 200 kilometres from home. Police said the last confirmed sighting of the boy was at school on April 30.
A lawyer representing the boy's biological mother, Sarah Olson, issued a statement to the media saying she's "completely heartbroken" and feels Sam's father and Balboa are "100 per cent" responsible for his death.
with AP
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