This story was originally published on LincolnChronicle.org and is used with permission.
The father of a 2-year-old boy who drowned in the Siletz River in March after last being seen playing in his yard has been charged with neglect.
A massive search effort took place last spring when Dane Paulsen went missing from his parents’ property along the Siletz River on March 1. Investigators later said the toddler appeared to have gone down a river bank and slipped into the water.
His parents, Chamet Jackson and Aaron Paulsen, who own the Chowder Bowl restaurant in Depoe Bay, told deputies he was last seen playing in the front yard of their house bordered by the river and Highway 229.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s office, bands of Siletz neighbors and people from across the county spent 10 days searching for the missing boy, combing forest land, the family property, and the river with divers and boats.
The search came to a halt after 11 days when a volunteer diver from California who specializes in recovering bodies from rivers and lakes found the boy three miles downstream from his home. Officials determined that the cause of Dane’s death was by drowning and that he had no other injuries.
More than six months after Dane died, a Lincoln County grand jury on Oct. 16 issued a secret indictment of Paulsen on one count of second-degree child neglect, which is a misdemeanor. His mother has not been charged with any crime. The filing became public Wednesday.
The indictment said that Paulsen while in “custody or control of Dane Paulsen, did unlawfully and with criminal negligence leave Dane Paulsen, a child under the age of 10 years, unattended in or at a place, for such period of time as was likely to endanger the health or welfare of said child.”
The Lincoln County district attorney’s office and the sheriff’s department did not respond to requests for comment or more details about the case and investigation.
Lincoln Chronicle was unable to reach the lawyer representing Paulsen. Dane’s mother, Chamet Jackson, told KATU News that her husband had just gotten home when Dane went missing and denied he played a role in their son’s death.
A warrant for Paulsen’s arrest was filed Oct. 20. His bail is set for $20,000 and his arraignment is scheduled Monday, Nov. 3. According to Lincoln County jail logs, he is not currently in custody.
- Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org
