Mom, 3-year-old son found dead in remote wooded area after boy's dad arrested for murder: Officials

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(YAMHILL, Ore.) -- The bodies of an Oregon mother and her 3-year-old son have been recovered, authorities said, weeks after they went missing and the little boy's father was arrested for murder.

Karissa Fretwell, 25, of West Salem, and her son William Fretwell, who went by Billy, were last seen on May 13 and relatives reported them missing on May 17, the Salem Police Department said.

Billy's father, Michael John Wolfe, 52, of Gaston, Oregon, was arrested in May and charged with aggravated murder and kidnapping, police said.

On Saturday searchers found the bodies of Karissa Fretwell and Billy in a heavily wooded and very remote area of Yamhill County, about 10 miles west of the city of Yamhill, according to a joint statement from the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office, Salem Police Department and Yamhill County District Attorney.

Karissa Fretwell died from a single gunshot to her head, authorities said, and the death was ruled a homicide.

Billy's cause and manner of death are not yet known and require more testing to be determined, authorities said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Wolfe is set to be arraigned on Thursday. His attorney did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.

A potential motive was not immediately clear.

Karissa Fretwell had sole custody of her son, according to the sheriff's office.

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