Toddler’s body found in bottom of dresser drawer in abandoned home, police say

MARION COUNTY, Ind. — The body of a 1-year-old girl was found in the bottom drawer of a dresser in an abandoned home, ending a national search that began in Oklahoma and stretched across four states.

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According to the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, Roan Waters, 25, and Madison Marshall, 22, are facing charges in the death of Oaklee Snow, whose body was found in a home in Morgantown, Indiana, the Indianapolis Star reported.

Waters has been charged with murder, two level one felony charges of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a level three felony charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious injury, a level six felony charge of neglect of a dependent for abandoning or cruelly confining the dependent and two level six felony charges of neglect of a dependent for placing the dependent in a dangerous situation, according to the prosecutor’s office.

He is also facing a level five felony of battery resulting in the injury of a victim under the age of 14.

Marshall faces two level one felony charges of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a level three felony charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious injury, a level six felony charge of neglect of a dependent for abandoning or cruelly confining the dependent and two level six felony charges of neglect of a dependent for placing the dependent in a dangerous situation.

Marshall, the mother of the child, and Waters, her boyfriend, are accused of abducting Oaklee and her baby brother from their biological father’s home in Cromwell, Oklahoma, WXIN-TV reported.

“We were hoping for a better outcome,” Seminole County Investigator J.T. Palmer told the Star on Wednesday.

Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said that Oaklee Snow had a brutalized life.

“Her time on this earth was very much defined by adults abusing her and the allegation here is that abuse eventually led to her death,” Mears said, according to WXIN.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Waters and Marshall fled Oklahoma with Snow and her younger brother on Jan. 19, the Star reported. The children’s biological father reported that the couple “took his children from his home.”

They headed to Indianapolis, where Waters has relatives in the area, according to the newspaper. They stayed at a “trap house,” Waters told law enforcement when he was arrested in Colorado on March 3, so they could do drugs.

Waters told detectives that he and Marshall had decided to abandon the boy at the “trap house,” and told detectives they had also left Snow behind in Indiana before traveling to Colorado, WTHR-TV reported.

The boy was eventually located by Waters’ sister and was reunited with his biological father on March 6, the Star reported.

Marshall was not detained by Colorado police. She was eventually located in North Carolina and arrested. She was then extradited to Marion County, prosecutors said.

On Friday, Marshall allegedly confessed to her role in disposing of Snow and led them to the scene, according to the newspaper.

“As parents we have a duty to protect our children. Not only did these two individuals fail to live up to that responsibility, but the allegations in the probable cause affidavit indicate that Oaklee suffered a horrific death and an abandonment that diminished the dignity that any child deserves,” Mears said in a statement. “I want to thank the multiple law enforcement agencies and our prosecutors who worked tirelessly to locate this child and seek justice on her behalf.”