The body of one-year-old Oaklee Snow, who had been missing for months, has been discovered by investigators in Indiana. Oaklee was first reported missing in January by her biological father, who claimed that the child had been taken by her mother, Madison Marshall, and her boyfriend, Roan Waters, with plans to travel to Indianapolis.
Roan Waters, 25, is now facing murder and neglect charges in connection to Oaklee’s death. Madison Marshall, the child’s 22-year-old mother, has been charged with neglect of a dependant and assisting a criminal.
Waters was apprehended in Colorado by the Greenwood Village Police Department in March on an unrelated outstanding warrant. Investigators believed that Marshall was with Waters, but the couple was not found together. Authorities later tracked Marshall to North Carolina, where she was arrested and subsequently extradited to Marion County.
Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears emphasized the responsibility parents have to protect their children, pointing out that Oaklee’s tragic death and abandonment demonstrated a severe lack of regard for the child’s dignity.
During interviews, Marshall alleged that Waters had killed Oaklee and that they had moved her body to Morgan County in February. Authorities found Oaklee’s remains in a dresser drawer of an abandoned building.
Court documents revealed that Oaklee was last seen alive in February, when witnesses reported seeing her carried out of a “drug house” that was located in Indianapolis. Waters had previously received criminal charges for allegedly hitting Oaklee in the face in November. An arrest warrant has now recently been issued in relation to the murder charge.
Marshall appeared in court for the neglect charges on Monday, and a pretrial hearing has been scheduled for June 28.