Houston Police: Samuel Olson found dead in motel room, dad’s girlfriend arrested

HOUSTON (TCD) --

A boy’s body was found in a Texas motel room Tuesday night, and Houston Police believe the boy is 6-year-old Samuel Olson, who was reported missing last week. Olson’s father’s girlfriend has been arrested in connection to the death.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner tweeted a body they believe to be Samuel Olson was found in a motel room in Jasper, Texas, on Tuesday night.

Samuel Olson was reported missing at about 6 p.m. on May 27, KHOU-TV reports. Houston Police officers interviewed the boy’s father, Dalton Olson, at a house on the 8800 block of McAvoy Drive that night. They also interviewed Theresa Balboa, Dalton Olson’s girlfriend.

Balboa told officers the child’s mother and another man, dressed as a police officer, had picked up the boy around 7 a.m. that day. Balboa told police the officer with Olson’s mother said Balboa would be charged with kidnapping if she did not turn the boy over, KHOU reports.

Houston Police investigators later said Samuel's mother was actually at her own home the morning of May 27, KTRK-TV reports.

Police said Balboa made inconsistent statements. After interviewing family members, homicide detectives began investigating, and on May 29, police notified the public about the missing boy. Police did not include information about Balboa’s claims about the boy’s mother or the supposed officer, KHOU reports.

May 29 was also the boy’s 6th birthday.

On May 31, police searched Theresa Balboa’s apartment on the 15000 block of Gulf Way in Webster, a city within the Houston metropolitan area, and towed her car.

On June 1, Jasper Police investigated a Crime Stoppers tip at the Best Western Inn on West Gibson Street in Jasper, about 150 miles northeast of Houston, where they found Balboa. Then officers found a boy’s body in room 106. Balboa was taken into custody. Hours later the Houston Police chief announced they believe it was Samuel Olson’s body.

The boy’s identity won’t be officially confirmed pending the medical examiner’s report.

Houston Police said 29-year-old Theresa Raye Balboa is charged with tampering with evidence. Balboa was held in the Jasper County Jail. She was expected to face further questioning in Harris County.

Assistant Houston Police Chief Heather Morris said more charges are possible once an autopsy is complete.

KTRK reports Houston Police confirmed that at the time of her arrest Tuesday, Theresa Balboa had been out on bond for assault with intent/impeding breath in a November 2020 case. The complainant in that case was Dalton Olson.

KHOU reports that according to court records, a man allegedly met Theresa Balboa at a Walmart parking lot in Cleveland, Texas, and picked her up, along with a black plastic box. Court records state they drove to the Best Western motel in Jasper and are seen on motel surveillance tape arriving, and the man is seen unloading the black plastic bin and carrying it into room 106 before leaving. KHOU reports that court records state the same man later called Crime Stoppers with a tip about location of motel and a foul-smelling bin.

MORE: