Missing woman’s son cleared

The son of a missing Post Falls woman is no longer a suspect in her disappearance, according to Post Falls police.

Police said in March that 24-year-old Lawrence Tolson was suspected of involvement in the disappearance of his mother, 46-year-old Roxann Tolson. Police also said they feared the woman was the victim of foul play.

Lawrence Tolson has since passed a polygraph, clearing him of suspicion, police Lt. Greg McLean said Thursday.

His father, William Tolson, remains a “person of interest” in the case, McLean said. He told police his wife went missing in August 2005, but she wasn’t reported missing until months later.

Both men were charged in March with filling Roxann Tolson’s prescriptions in the months since she disappeared.

William Tolson was sentenced to four years’ probation in June. Lawrence Tolson received a withheld judgment earlier this week and was placed on three years’ supervised probation.

Though he was originally charged with two felonies, one of the charges against Lawrence Tolson was dropped in a plea deal. Prosecutors said their sentencing recommendation would depend upon his cooperation with Post Falls investigators.

McLean said Lawrence Tolson was cooperative, but his father still isn’t talking. When William Tolson did speak with police, he allegedly gave them conflicting information.

Suzie Graham, attorney for Lawrence Tolson, said the recent polygraph – which lasted 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 hours – was the third polygraph he had passed.

McLean said police have no new leads in the disappearance of Roxann Tolson. She hasn’t accessed her bank accounts or used her credit cards.

A taxi driver told police last spring that he remembered picking up a woman matching Tolson’s description late one night and driving her to the airport. The taxi driver said the woman told him she was trying to get away from her husband. She reportedly had a swollen eye and bruises on her wrists.