In June 2022, the Centennial Elementary community was left puzzled when two students of East Indian descent vanished without a trace. In a turn of events that has since come to light, the children were covertly taken by their parents on an out-of-state trip to Oregon, with the family ultimately boarding a plane to India, leaving behind a community in confusion.
Local resident Jess Davis was among the first to notice the absence. “Tia hadn’t been to school for weeks,” Davis stated, citing her own daughter’s friendship with one of the missing children. The disappearance surfaced during a neighborhood ice cream social, prompting Davis to reach out to the children’s mother for answers. The response was a simple message indicating that the family was out of town.
As it emerged, Tia, aged 10, had been experiencing a social transition related to gender identity, one that was quietly supported within the school environment. This practice, mirroring policies in over a thousand districts nationwide, aims to protect the confidentiality of students navigating gender dysphoria. Regrettably, this meant Tia’s parents were oblivious to the changes occurring in their child’s academic setting until after considerable time had passed.
When confronted with their child’s situation, the parents found themselves at odds with the Olympia School District’s approach to gender identity, which suggests that children might face harm if parents do not fully support their gender exploration. The district’s ideology classifies the parents’ dissent as potentially dangerous, causing the family’s concerns to be dismissed.
Tia’s mother expressed acute distress, fearing the involvement of Tia’s teacher — referred to as Mrs. A — whom she accused of overstepping boundaries. “Mrs. A is stalking my daughter,” she confided in Davis, voicing deep-seated apprehension.
Amid the escalating tension, confidential email correspondences, speculated to be exchanges between Mrs. A and Tia’s school email account, were anonymously delivered to Alesha Perkins, a local mother engaged in activism. These documents, alongside other evidence, may provide insight into the events leading up to this unforeseen separation of the children from their community.
No further sightings of the children have been reported since the family’s departure from Olympia, and the circumstances around this case continue to raise significant questions about student privacy, parental rights, and public policy.
