A $10,000 reward is being offered for information to help find Marie Jane Carlson, a Fort Walton Beach woman who has been missing since October 2011, according the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The reward money has been raised from donations from Carlson’s family and friends.
“Please help us find the person or persons responsible for this heinous act and the loss of a loving, beautiful soul,” reads her fundraising page. “Marie never put herself first. We need to put her first now.”
Carlson was last seen Oct. 18, 2011, by James Flanders, the father of her then newborn daughter, at their home on Revere Avenue in Ocean City, FDLE Special Agent Ronnie Austin said. Flanders told law officers she was at the house when he left between 6 and 7 p.m.
On Oct. 19 a text message from Carlson’s phone was sent to several people. The message said she left Fort Walton Beach to do something she always wanted to do.
The infant was being babysat when she disappeared, Austin said.
Flanders found her vehicle Oct. 21 at Northwest Florida Regional Airport, according to a news release from the FDLE. Investigators determined Carlson did not leave the area by plane or by a vehicle rented at the airport. She also did not leave the United States.
Flanders has since moved to Arizona with the child.
Marie Carlson’s ex-husband, Jeff Carlson of Kentucky, who she also has a daughter with, reported her missing and endangered to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 24.
Austin said Jeff and Marie Carlson were in close contact before her disappearance. She spoke to their daughter the weekend before her disappearance and made no mention of any plans to leave Fort Walton Beach.
Marie Carlson also spent time with her sister the weekend before she disappeared and did not mention any plans to leave or a desire for a change, Austin said.
The disappearance is not a cold case, Austin added. Law enforcement is still pursuing leads.
“We just want to make sure everyone in the community knows it’s still fresh to us,” he said.
Carlson is 5 feet, 4 inches tall, weighs 130 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes. She has a tattoo on her right wrist that says “Pray Without Ceasing.”
Anyone with information about her disappearance is asked to contact Austin at 850-595-2046 or Sheriff’s Investigator Keith Matz at 609-2000.
Anonymous tips can be made through Emerald Coast Crime Stoppers at 888-654-TIPS or at www.emeraldcoastcrimestoppers.com.
TO LEARN MORE: Visit a special Facebook page for Marie J. Carlson or her fundraising page. She also has been featured on the blog Missing & Unidentified People: Let’s Find Them.
Daily News Staff Writer Lauren Delgado can be reached at 850-315-4445 or ldelgado@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenDnwfdn.
