Mother of three children found in filth faces drug charge

LAKE STEVENS — Legal troubles keep piling up for the mom of three children who were rescued from a filthy Lake Stevens house last month.

Police say the children, ages 7 years, 3 years and 11 months, were abandoned in squalid conditions. There was no food or heat in the home, which was littered with garbage and animal feces. The infant — dehydrated and hypothermic — was found locked in a room alone. The children were placed in protective custody.

Prosecutors have charged Amanda Foley and Mark Dorson, both 32, with multiple felonies in connection with the case. Dorson was released from jail earlier this week after posting bail. Foley remained behind bars. She has told authorities that she is three months pregnant.

The Lake Stevens woman now is facing another felony charge. The drug possession stems from a 2012 investigation into her then-boyfriend, the father of the two older children. Foley pleaded not guilty earlier this week.

A Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy reportedly witnessed Foley and the man smoking methamphetamine inside a Lake Stevens garage, according to the court papers filed late last week. The deputy had gone to the house to arrest the man, who had six outstanding felony warrants. He spotted the pair in the garage, sharing a meth pipe.

He knocked on the front door and after a few minutes the man came out of the house carrying one of his children. Foley came out with their other child.

She allegedly told the deputy she was having trouble coping with a death in the family. The couple allowed the deputy inside the house. He found a sunglasses case containing less than a gram of meth inside. He also discovered multiple pieces of stolen mail.

The man admitted that he was responsible for the stolen mail. He was arrested on the warrants. Foley was not taken into custody.

The deputy did not call Child Protective Services, sheriff’s spokeswoman Shari Ireton said.

“He didn’t feel like the children were in immediate danger at that specific time,” Ireton said.

He also wanted to gain the couple’s cooperation to further the mail theft investigation, she said.

“Taking the children away would not have helped that investigation,” Ireton said.

Foley was living at a different house than where her children were found last month.

The case was forwarded to prosecutors, who declined to file any charges against the man. He had pleaded guilty to another property crime and was facing a three-year prison sentence. A judge gave him a special sentence for drug offenders, allowing him to convert half of his prison sentence to drug treatment. He was released from prison in April. He was allowed to move to Alaska where he is on community supervision until November, according to the state Department of Corrections.

Foley was offered an expedited prosecution based on her lack of significant criminal history and the small amount of drugs involved. She was given the opportunity to pay a $1,000 fine and be on probation for two years to avoid a felony conviction. Foley failed to show up for her court hearing in September 2013. A warrant was issued for her arrest. It’s unclear how long she was on the lam. Foley made arrangements for another court hearing and was in district court Jan. 27, four days before her children were rescued from the house in Lake Stevens.

The expedited offer was revoked and the new drug charge filed once prosecutors learned she had been arrested and is under investigation for abandoning her children.

She and Dorson both have prior felony convictions. Foley graduated from drug court in 2009. Three years later she was convicted of stealing a Ford Explorer. He was sentenced to eight years in prison for a shooting in 2001 in Arlington.

CPS officials have declined to discuss any history with the family.

The older children attended schools in the Lake Stevens School District. Staff and counselors called CPS on Oct. 2, Dec. 9 and Jan. 30 with concerns about the children missing school and the older girl’s health.

It’s unclear if any social workers attempted to contact the family at the house in Lake Stevens where the children were found in squalor.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.