Police seeking Gaston man for questioning in Salem mom's disappearance | Salem Reporter
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Outside her apartment, a green Mercury Mountaineer on Thursday afternoon had doors sealed with red evidence tape. A search warrant listing Wolfe as a suspect in her disappearance was visible on the driver’s seat, signed Tuesday, May 21, by a Polk County judge.
Technicians collected DNA swabs and other items from the car, those papers said.
Early Thursday, police continued a search of Wolfe’s home, about a mile outside of the rural community of Gaston and approximately 40 miles from Salem. Police said that search triggered a second search on rural property about 30 miles south in Hopewell. The searches were still underway Thursday evening.
Police search the Gaston-area home of Michael J. Wolfe on Thursday, May 22. (Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter)
The Wolfe home sits in the hills south of Gaston, about two miles up winding Phillips Road. The 100-yard driveway to the home slopes down to a ranch-style home surrounded by a handful of buildings, including an old red barn that police walked in and out of through the afternoon.
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The search team used a nearby bed-and-breakfast as a staging area. Upkes said the bed-and-breakfast was not the target of the search, but was close to the fields that were. Efforts to search the area remained underway into the evening.
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At the Wolfe home, police remain staged in the driveway for the search work there, including six police cars, a mobile command center and a Sprinter-style police van.
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He said he noticed the command center set up Sunday at about 9 p.m. The next day he noticed a fleet of police vehicles – Oregon State Police, FBI, county sheriff and local police. He said there were about 14 police cars lining the road, and the driveway was packed with more. They’ve been there ever since, Ruggles said, including an state police forensic team earlier in the week.
In West Salem, the porch light outside Fretwell’s apartment was still on Thursday afternoon, and her exterior storm door was covered in what appeared to be fingerprint powder.
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Polk County records showed that her son was conceived in 2015, but his actual birthdate wasn’t disclosed. With the help of the Polk County District Attorney’s Office, she asked for a court order in June 2018 to establish paternity, citing Wolfe as the father.
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Records of the Polk County Circuit Court show Wolfe contested an original assessment for child support, leading to a court hearing on April 15. A judge’s order setting his support obligation at $904 was filed May 17 -- four days after Fretwell’s disappearance.
Police evidence tape marks a car belonging to Karissa Fretwell on Thursday, May 22, in Salem. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
Karissa Fretwell's car remains parked outside her Salem home on Thursday, May 22, in Salem. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
A receipt for a police search rests inside a car belonging to Karissa Fretwell on Thursday, May 22, in Salem. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
Police continue to search the Gaston-area home of Michael J. Wolfe on Thursday, May 22. (Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter)