Samuel Olson Death: Autopsy Positively Identifies Remains, Says Missing Boy Was Homicide Victim

An autopsy has officially identified the decomposed remains of little Samuel Olson, a 5-year-old missing child whose death was ruled a homicide Tuesday caused by "violence with blunt head trauma."

The girlfriend of Samuel's father has been charged with evidence tampering involving a human corpse. She was in court Monday, where her bail was increased to $600,000. Theresa Balboa, 29, was charged in November with assault for allegedly choking Dalton Olson, the boy's dad.

Additional charges are expected to be filed against Balboa said prosecutors, who told Monday's court hearing that the boy's death was a "murder or capital murder" investigation.

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences conducted the autopsy.

The boy's father called police May 27 to report Samuel's disappearance. Balboa falsely told officers the boy's mother arrived that morning with a uniformed officer and took the child, authorities said. But her story began to fall apart as investigators spoke to the boy's mother, who provided home surveillance video showing she had never left her house, according to court documents.

An arrest warrant affidavit said Balboa's roommate told investigators he arrived home May 10 to find Samuel bruised and unresponsive on the bed. He and Balboa put the boy's body in their bathtub and left him there for two days, the document said. He then helped her move the child's remains to a storage locker after placing them in a black plastic bag and stashing them a bin, the affidavit says. 

Another friend helped Balboa retrieve the bin on June 1, which was emitting a foul odor, and drove the woman to a Best Western motel in Jasper County, Texas, some 130 miles away, according to court documents. After helping Balboa move the bin into the room, the friend went home, and later called Crime Stoppers to report Balboa's location, authorities said.

Balboa is being held at the Houston County Jail.

Related Stories