SALEM, Ore. (KOIN) — A young mother and her 3-year-old son have not been seen since May 13, worrying her friends and family who reported her missing.
Detectives were at Karissa Fretwell’s apartment on Monday in Northwest Salem but police aren’t releasing many details about this case. Investigators spoke with neighbors trying to learn more about the 25-year-old woman.
Neighbors who spoke with KOIN 6 News said Karissa has typically been quiet and kept to herself. One neighbor believes she may have worked a security job of some sort.
They also recall seeing her with her son, Billy.
Alec Richards said he thinks she’s lived at this apartment for at least a year.
“It was either Friday or Saturday at about 4 in the morning, my wife heard a knock at the dooer and I guess it was the Salem police,” he said. “Just wanted to know if we knew the girl, the lady, that’s missing.”
Robert Allen said he noticed something unusual at her apartment about 2 months ago but has no idea if it’s related.
“We heard a man and woman arguing incredibly loud,” Allen said. “The man was swearing a lot and there was a kid crying in the background, and the woman was yelling at him to get out of her apartment.”
Allen said a woman who claimed to be Karissa’s sister “came by a couple nights ago, pretty late in the evening, asking if we knew anything and stated that her sister had been missing for a while.”
He said the woman “was pretty upset, concerned, really concerned.”
Allen’s and Karrisa’s back doors face each other, so he said he told the woman he’d look in periodically at the apartment.
“I have noticed that the television screen, it’s been on the same screen for about a week, so obviously there’s no one in the apartment.”
A white Grand Am registered to Karissa is parked on the street in front of the apartment. A child’s car seat is in the back. A green Mercury Mountaineer is parked in front of it and on the passenger seat is a college financial aid application that appears to be signed by Karissa.
Police declined to confirm or deny if there was a custody issue involved. Authorities are also not releasing where she was last seen or whether they think the mother and child might be in danger. They are also not commenting on whether any of her belongings, like a purse or a cell phone, are missing.
Karissa Fretwell is white, 5-foot-9 and about 135 pounds with naturally blonde hair currently dyed red and blue eyes. Billy is white, about 3-feet tall and 30 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes.
Anyone with information should call Det. Jake Burke at 503.588.8477 or the non-emergency line at 503.588.6123.
