INDIANAPOLIS — The mother of a missing 2-year-old girl is now back in Marion County to face charges in connection with her disappearance.
Madison Marshall, 22, was being held in the Marion County jail on Friday, records show. She faces two counts of neglect of a dependent in the disappearance of her daughter, Oaklee Mae Snow, and the abandonment of her 7-month-old son in Indianapolis back in February.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Oaklee's father Zachary Snow told police in Seminole County, Oklahoma, that Oaklee and her brother had been taken by Marshall, their biological mother, and Marshall's boyfriend on Jan. 19.
Investigators say Marshall and her boyfriend took the children to Indianapolis, where the family of Marshall's boyfriend lives.
On Feb. 9, investigators say the couple abandoned the 7-month-old boy at a home on the south side on Indianapolis in the 300 block of Albany Street.
Marshall's boyfriend's mother and sister retrieved the boy at the Albany Street home. The baby was in the arms of the man who lives there and had no clothes on, according to the affidavit.
The boyfriend told his mother that he and Marshall left the boy because they had to rush Oaklee to the emergency room after she was injured in a fall, investigators say.
The boyfriend's relatives turned over the boy to the Department of Child Services and told officials they feared that Oaklee may have been badly injured, according to the affidavit.
Investigators say Marshall and her boyfriend left Indiana after that and traveled to Colorado.
On March 3, investigators say police in Greenwood Village Colorado arrested Marshall's boyfriend at a hotel on a domestic abuse-related warrant out of Oklahoma. The charges against the boyfriend were for allegedly hitting Oaklee in the face and bloodying her mouth.
Police in Colorado believe Marshall had been staying in the hotel room with her boyfriend, but she wasn't there when he was arrested. Police found no evidence of any children in the hotel room, according to the affidavit.
The boyfriend told police in Colorado that he, Marshall and her two children stayed at a "trap house" in Indianapolis before they traveled to Colorado.
"He further stated that he and Marshall made the decision to abandoned (the seven-month-old boy) at the trap house, and also left (Oaklee) behind in Indiana before traveling to Colorado," Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Detective Nicholas Hubbs wrote in the affidavit. "(The boyfriend) was unwilling or unable to provide any further information about the trap house or the locations of either child."
The boyfriend was being held in a Colorado jail awaiting extradition to Oklahoma and had frequent telephone calls with his mother, the affidavit said.
"During these calls, he informed (his mother) that he had lied to police and had indeed been present when the children were each abandoned," Hubbs wrote. "He admitted to assisting Madison Marshall with specifically dropping (Oaklee) off somewhere. However, he did not provide specific details."
Marion County court records publicly available do not show that the boyfriend has been arrested or charged in connection with Oaklee's disappearance in Indianapolis.
DCS officials returned Oaklee's baby brother to the custody of his father in February, according to the affidavit.
Police have found no trace of Oaklee, the affidavit states.
"It is believed that she is deceased and disposed of," Hubbs wrote in the affidavit.
Some of Marshall's family was part of a prayer vigil held in Indianapolis on April 17.
"We're stressed. We're tired. It's on our mind every single day from the minute that we wake up to the minute that we go to bed," Christene Cooper, Oaklee's grandmother told WRTV at the vigil.
Cooper told WRTV Marshall had been arrested and in jail in North Carolina since late March.
Records show Marshall was booked into the Marion County Adult Detention Center on Thursday. She is scheduled to appear Monday in Marion Superior Court for an initial hearing on two counts of neglect. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of two-and-a-half years in prison if convicted.
Contact WRTV reporter Vic Ryckaert at victor.ryckaert@wrtv.com or on Twitter: @vicryc.
