Dateline NBC: Where was Carrie Olson found?

Carrie Olson disappeared under mysterious circumstances on December 28, 2013, and her remains were discovered on April 5, 2014, in a vacant lot in a secluded wooded area near Hastings, Minnesota. She was described to be a person with a “heart of gold” by her friends and family.

Oson was captured on surveillance cameras of Rock Island 7-Eleven and a Rock Island gas station the day she disappeared.

The Dateline NBC episode titled Without a Trace: Carrie Olson showcases the murder of Olson and the conviction of her ex-boyfriend Timothy McVay, who swears his innocence till today. The synopsis reads:

"Carrie Elaine Olson goes missing and the current boyfriend and ex-boyfriend are suspects. Circumstantial evidence starts mounting and pointing to one suspect."

Season 24 Episode 8 re-airs on December 30, 2023, at 9 p.m. EST on NBC.

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Where were Carrie Olson's remains found? Details explored

Carrie Elaine Olson was last spotted on December 28, 2013, by her partner, Justin Mueller, before she stormed out of her home after an argument. Two days passed by, but she failed to return which raised concerns among her family.

Carrie helped her family's business of flooring and carpeting, Dave's Floor Trends, and her father noticed her absence from work when she was reported missing. Carrie Olson was filed as a missing person on December 30, 2013, and a search for her began.

The surveillance footage at the 7-Eleven on 38th Street in Rock Island, IL recorded her around 4 p.m. on the day she went missing, according to NBC News. Another report by WQAD-TV mentioned her to have been captured at a Rock Island gas station.

The investigators of the Davenport Police Department found her cellphone to have last pinged to Camden Park where search parties looked for her including the areas of Black Hawk State Historic Park and Campbell’s Island.

As the case started to turn cold, her family resorted to billboard posters and a $10,000 reward for information.

Her body was found on April 5, 2014, at 5:15 p.m., on a piece of isolated property known as Presley Circle near Hastings, in rural southern Dakota County.

The Republican Eagle report stated that the Minnesota police officer, Shaun Anselment, thought he had spotted a dead deer under the tree on his property which was north of 175th Street East in Ravenna Township.

Olson's body was unclothed and her hands were above her head.

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Olson's ex-boyfriend Timothy McVay charged with first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death

The investigators at the Davenport Police Department got a hold of Carrie Olson's ex-boyfriend, Timothy McVay, once he was back from his trip to Las Vegas.

He spoke to the authorities saying that Olson had shared her thoughts on ending her relationship with her live-in boyfriend and war veteran, Justin Mueller. She had allegedly stayed the night at McVay's Rock Island home.

McVay had borrowed her grey 2005 Toyota Avalon with Iowa plates to drive to the Minnesota Airport for his flight to Las Vegas. He was caught trying to use her debit card at a gas station.

According to Oxygen, he had additionally tried to withdraw $400 from her bank with the wrong PIN in three separate attempts.

Once the body found near Hastings was confirmed to belong to Olson, the autopsy found fibres of a carpet that matched the ones from the carpet in Tim McVay's home.

The crime scene also came with a price tag for a kid's shovel from Big Lots in Lacrosse, Wisconsin which tied McVay to the crime with an idea of his movement on the day.

He had also sent a voicemail to Olson's phone on April 7, 2014, mentioning him reading an article about the woman's body found near Hastings which fit the missing girl from Quad Cities.

McVay was found guilty of first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death on July 17, 2015, and sentenced to 40 years in prison.