An Oregon father who admitted he never got up to check on his toddler now faces trial — and the story only gets worse from there.
A Lincoln County, Oregon father sat on his couch binge-watching a sitcom and tapping away on phone games while his 2-year-old son slipped out a sliding glass door — and never came back. Ten days later, little Dane Paulsen’s body was pulled from the Siletz River.
Aaron Scott Paulsen, the boy’s father, told investigators he watched Dane walk out of the house on his own but did not get up. He said the child had been gone 15 minutes before his mother, Chamet Jackson, came inside looking for him. Jackson, who had been in a trailer on the same property, heard a knock and reportedly said to herself, “Oh s— the baby’s out” — yet still did not open the door immediately.
A fisherman fishing near the Siletz River that evening called 911 after hearing a woman screaming along the bank. Deputies arrived to find Dane had followed a trail leading from the family’s backyard straight to the water. He did not know how to swim.
This Was Not The First Time
When Dane was just 18 months old, a teenage stranger found him walking alone along a highway — 100 yards from home — wearing only a diaper and a sweater. The teen walked him back. His parents, investigators say, seemed unbothered. The same teen later reported regularly seeing Dane unsupervised in the front yard, sometimes only in the care of the couple’s then-8-year-old daughter.
Paulsen was indicted by a grand jury in October 2025 and charged with second-degree child neglect. He has pleaded not guilty. His next court date is June 22, with a jury trial set for July.
Dane was reported missing on March 1, 2025. His body was recovered from the river ten days later.
