When a child is reported missing, it is something that needs to be taken seriously. Police in Oregon acted rapidly after being told a nearly 1-year-old baby was missing, but things quickly didn’t add up. Although police haven’t shared exact details, they knew that the father, Jared Stoller, might not have been telling them the whole truth when he reported his son missing. Sadly, their hunches were right. Stoller made a shocking confession that changed the entire scope of their investigation. There was no way to save Stoller’s son, and now the father faces murder charges.
Police haven’t shared why Stoller reported his son as missing.
Shortly before 10 a.m. March 15, 2026, 27-year-old Stoller called 911, according to a report from People that cites a news release from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. He told dispatchers that his 11-month-old son, Jackson Stoller, had gone missing from his hotel room at Relax Inn in Sutherlin, Oregon.
Officers from the Sutherlin Police Department responded to the call and “determined there to be suspicious circumstances involved.” They brought in the Douglas County Major Crimes Team to assist with the investigation.
“Stoller was interviewed by detectives from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and eventually confessed that he had murdered Jackson days earlier at a location in Roseburg,” the sheriff’s office’s release shared.
The father told detectives that he had disposed of his son’s body in the South Umpqua River.
What was supposed to be a missing person’s search turned into a body recovery mission.
Divers from the Sheriff’s Office Dive Team were assisted by boats provided by the Oregon State Police and Douglas County in their attempt to find Jackson’s body. The baby’s body was found in the river just before 6 p.m. near Old Melrose Road.
Jackson’s body was turned over to the Douglas County Medical Examiner’s Office, and an autopsy is expected to take place in the next few days.
Stoller was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse, the sheriff’s office’s release noted. He is being held at the Douglas County Jail. The homicide is still under investigation.
He apparently owed child support.
According to court records obtained by KATU, Stoller had two children with a woman living in Roseburg. In December 2025, he was ordered to pay $100 per month in child support. Additionally, he was ordered to pay another $200 in back child support. Jackson Stoller’s mother had full custody of him, KEZI reported.
A woman who wished to remain anonymous told the news outlet that she had previously been in a relationship with Stoller.
“The mother didn’t deserve her child being ripped away,” the woman told KEZI. She also expressed disbelief that Stoller was capable of such a horrible thing.
