Carla Kaylene Owens

Carla, circa 1981; Age-progression to age 48 (circa 2015)

  • Missing Since 07/01/1981
  • Missing From Clearwater, Washington
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 02/19/1967 (57)
  • Age 14 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'4, 110 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A light blue zip-up sweatshirt, blue jeans and thong sandals with dark blue velvet straps.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, hazel eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Carla last seen in Clearwater, Washington on July 1, 1981. She lived with her parents and two siblings in Kalaloch, Washington. That night, she left her family's home to babysit an infant at a house ten miles away. The baby-sitting job was expected to extend into the Independence Day weekend.

Carla left home with the woman whose child she was supposed to watch, and they were driven in a pickup truck by Kenneth Barry, a transient logger. When the baby's mother returned home that evening, Carla was gone and the baby was asleep on the couch, evidently uncared-for for some time.

There were large bloodstains on the living room floor and pieces of a broken, blood-spattered Galliano bottle, but there wasn't enough blood to indicate a serious or fatal injury had occurred there. Carla has never been heard from again. When police searched Barry's pickup truck, bloodstains and broken glass from a Galliano bottle were found.

Barry died suddenly of a heart attack in 1986 or 1987. He was never charged in Carla's case, but is considered a suspect.

Although the blood found at the scene of Carla's apparent abduction and the blood in Barry's truck were Carla's blood type, DNA testing that would have proved the blood was hers did not exist in 1981. In the decades since Carla's disappearance, police have lost the blood samples her parents provided. Her disappearance remains unsolved and foul play is suspected.

Investigating Agency

  • Jefferson County Sheriff's Office 360-385-3831

Updated 5 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated November 14, 2018; details of disappearance updated.