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The smiling face of two-year-old Dane Paulsen was seen on flyers across the community until his body was found in the Siletz River last March.
Chamet Jackson, Dane’s mother, says she thinks there are still loose ends after a massive investigation. Meanwhile, Aaron Paulsen, her partner and the boy’s father, pleaded not guilty to a child neglect charge.
Since the day Dane disappeared, Jackson says she’s been living a nightmare, arguing the recent charges against her partner have only reopened old wounds. Months after the toddler went missing, she says she’s still fighting for answers in her son’s death.
“I just want answers, and I feel like I deserve some answers for Dane. I don’t think any parent should have to go through what we’re doing,” Jackson said.
More than six months after Dane was found dead in the Siletz River, his room remains exactly as he left it.
“Life will never be the same without Dane,” Jackson said.
His mother says she was in the trailer with her father when she noticed a man near the property moments before Dane vanished from their yard on March 1.
“Worst day of my life… Dane giggled like somebody was tickling him. And I was like, ‘bubby,’ and the trailer window was open, and I couldn’t see him, but I could hear him. And then he was like, giggling, and then went silent….and I went around the trailer, and he was gone,” Jackson said.
Panic set in – prompting a massive 10-day search that ended in heartbreak when she got a call from a diver.
“My poor baby,” Jackson said.
She rushed to the spot where Dane was found in the river three miles downstream.
“For him to be so close to home, and so beautiful — he looked like he was sleeping,” Jackson said.
At the time, authorities declared the boy had drowned and claimed there was no evidence to suggest criminal actions. However, last month, a Lincoln County grand jury indicted Dane’s father, Aaron Paulsen, on a charge of second-degree child neglect.
He pleaded not guilty Monday.
“What the state anticipates the evidence will show is that he was left in the care of his father, that his father watched him walk out the door, knowing that there was no other adult outside to supervise and did not follow after him,” said Lincoln County District Attorney Jenna Wallace.
“It’s reliving a nightmare and inducing emotional trauma that is long-lasting,” said Jackson, adding that she wants to know what investigators did to follow up on the car seen nearby.
While the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office later cleared the driver, Jackson argues other details still don’t add up.
“He didn’t leave the house with his jacket on, zipped up. Dane cannot dress himself. He was found with his jacket completely zipped up and his hood on,” Jackson said.
In a statement, Lincoln County DA Wallace said, “The number of investigative resources devoted to Dane Paulsen’s disappearance and death, including the exploration of other possible explanations, was extraordinary and exhaustive.”
Jackson said she will continue to be the voice of her son, Dane, remembered as a rambunctious and curious bundle of joy to all.
“It’s not that I don’t respect my law enforcement. I do, and I’m grateful for all of them, but it doesn’t dismiss my questions for Dane,” Jackson said. “You’re labeled as some hysterical mother who won’t quit — What parent would quit?”
Rich Cohen, Aaron Paulsen’s attorney, sent a statement to KOIN 6 News reaffirming his client’s innocence.
“My client’s entry of a plea of not guilty can be accurately viewed as a public assertion of his innocence,” Cohen said.
KOIN 6 News also received the following statement from Lincoln County DA Jenna Wallace in response to our inquiry for a comment:
“The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Lincoln County Major Crime Team and the FBI, thoroughly investigated all feasible leads and community tips in the disappearance of Dane Paulsen. Regardless of the evidence pointing to Dane wandering down to the river unattended, 40+ detectives and investigators continued to pursue and exhaust any alternative, workable leads. At the conclusion of this lengthy, multi-agency investigation, verifiable evidence pointed to Dane being at the river’s edge before falling in. An autopsy confirmed his cause of death was drowning with no additional trauma to his body. The number of investigative resources devoted to Dane Paulsen’s disappearance and death, including the exploration of other possible explanations, was extraordinary and exhaustive.
“The district attorney’s office presented this investigation to the grand jury to ensure community oversight in a tender-age child fatality, while also seeking community discernment regarding potential criminal liability on such a devastating set of circumstances. The grand jury heard evidence regarding the investigative efforts into alternative theories of Dane’s disappearance. This evidence did not dissuade them in their decision to indict Aaron Paulsen for his neglect of Dane on March 1, 2025.”
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