No one knows what happened to Carla Owens 26 years ago. On June 30, 1981, the 14-year-old girl, who was living with her family across from the Kalaloch Lodge in west Jefferson County, took a baby-sitting job in a trailer in Clearwater 10 miles away.
She was never seen again.
No trace of Carla was found, but she apparently didn’t leave the trailer without a fight, according to a Jefferson County sheriff’s detective who is investigating the case.
The baby’s mother returned after a night out to find the infant alone and a broken, blood-spattered Galliano liqueur bottle on the floor, said Detective Joe Nole.
Broken Galliano bottle glass also was found in a truck that had been driven by a logger named Ken Berry.
Berry was questioned in connection with Carla’s disappearance, but the investigation died for lack of evidence.
Berry himself died several years later.
The case was never closed, but it grew cold.
Now, it’s been reactivated, prompted by Carlsborg resident Sterling Epps, a retired senior special agent with the U.S. Customs Service who is a consultant for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
And members of Carla’s family find themselves with a nagging hope.
“You’ve got to keep your hope built up,” said John Owens, 72, Carla’s father.
He and Carla’s mother, Gail, now live in Winlock.
“If they can find something, it’d be just to know where she’s at.”
Carla, who was born Feb. 19, 1967, would have just turned 40, said her big sister, Clara Duce, who lives now in the Port Angeles area,
“You never give up the hope,” said Duce.
“You never put it away completely.
“She was a big part of your life.”
