ZAHRA CLARE BAKER - 10 yo (2010) - Hickory NC

A hearing-impaired North Carolina girl with a prosthetic leg vanished over the weekend, and her father said Monday it was possible that his wife was involved in the disappearance.

The 10-year-old girl's stepmother, Elisa Baker, was in police custody, charged with about a dozen crimes unrelated to the disappearance of Zahra Clare Baker. The child was reported missing Saturday afternoon in Hickory in western North Carolina.

FBI/AP
Zahra Clare Baker was last seen by her stepmother at 2:30 a.m. Saturday.



Zahra's father, Adam Baker, told ABC's "Good Morning America" he hadn't seen his wife much since police were called.

"I just hope I can get my daughter back. I miss her so much," he said, choking up, as he was interviewed alongside the Hickory police chief.

Adam Baker said his wife told him that she last saw Zahra sleeping in her bed about 2:30 a.m. Saturday. A fire was reported in the backyard of the Bakers' home about 5 a.m. He said he was in a big panic after the fire, but didn't check on his daughter.

The FBI was involved in the investigation, and police have collected surveillance video from businesses near the family's home and used dogs to search the neighborhood. Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins said he couldn't rule out any suspects, including Adam Baker.

"As the time progresses, we might be able to rule out folks. But right now, every possibility is out there," Adkins said.

Adam Baker was asked if he thought his wife was involved and said, "I wouldn't like to think so. On what I've heard so far, it could be possible."

Citing an ongoing investigation, the chief wouldn't elaborate on what Baker had heard.

Zahra had bone cancer and uses hearing aids in both ears and a prosthetic left leg from the knee down. She doesn't have her hearing aids with her, police said.

Elisa Baker was arrested Sunday on charges including communicating threats, writing worthless checks, larceny and driving with a revoked license.

It was unclear whether she has an attorney.

Hickory, a city of 40,000 residents, is about 50 miles north-northwest of Charlotte.

TomTerrific0420 wrote:A hearing-impaired North Carolina girl with a prosthetic leg vanished over the weekend, and her father said Monday it was possible that his wife was involved in the disappearance.

The 10-year-old girl's stepmother, Elisa Baker, was in police custody, charged with about a dozen crimes unrelated to the disappearance of Zahra Clare Baker. The child was reported missing Saturday afternoon in Hickory in western North Carolina.

FBI/AP
Zahra Clare Baker was last seen by her stepmother at 2:30 a.m. Saturday.



Zahra's father, Adam Baker, told ABC's "Good Morning America" he hadn't seen his wife much since police were called.

"I just hope I can get my daughter back. I miss her so much," he said, choking up, as he was interviewed alongside the Hickory police chief.

Adam Baker said his wife told him that she last saw Zahra sleeping in her bed about 2:30 a.m. Saturday. A fire was reported in the backyard of the Bakers' home about 5 a.m. He said he was in a big panic after the fire, but didn't check on his daughter.

The FBI was involved in the investigation, and police have collected surveillance video from businesses near the family's home and used dogs to search the neighborhood. Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins said he couldn't rule out any suspects, including Adam Baker.

"As the time progresses, we might be able to rule out folks. But right now, every possibility is out there," Adkins said.

Adam Baker was asked if he thought his wife was involved and said, "I wouldn't like to think so. On what I've heard so far, it could be possible."

Citing an ongoing investigation, the chief wouldn't elaborate on what Baker had heard.

Zahra had bone cancer and uses hearing aids in both ears and a prosthetic left leg from the knee down. She doesn't have her hearing aids with her, police said.

Elisa Baker was arrested Sunday on charges including communicating threats, writing worthless checks, larceny and driving with a revoked license.

It was unclear whether she has an attorney.

Hickory, a city of 40,000 residents, is about 50 miles north-northwest of Charlotte.

Thank you Tom and Kiwi......another stepmother these poor kids

A former neighbor of the Bakers told "Good Morning America" described the stepmother as in cold terms. Kayla Rotenberry, who lived next to the Bakers for about a year in Sawmills, N.C., said that Elisa Baker would force Zahra to walk long distances on her prosthetic leg, threatening punishment if she slowed down.As for Zahra, Rotenberry said she "was the best youngin' you could ever ask for."
"She had perfect manners," she told reporters. "I mean, she used to come to my house and play with my girls. She was a great kid."

Elisa Baker has "submitted to initial interviews," Police Chief Tom Adkins said today in a news conference.

Adam Baker said that because of his work schedule he hadn't seen his daughter since Thursday night. He told "GMA" that his wife was the last person to see Zahra alive when she said the girl was in bed early Saturday morning. Zahra was not reported missing until Saturday afternoon, hours after a fire was reported in the Baker's backyard.

Adam said he was dealing with firefighters and did not know Zahra was missing until Elisa Baker came to him in a panic. Zahra was gone with her prosthetic leg, but her hearing aid remained.

"She didn't know very much. She came out crying and panicking. She told me Zahra was gone," Baker told "GMA." Baker said he searched the house and then the block before calling the police.

"I think just about every officer in Hickory came to the house," the father said before getting overcome with emotion. "I just hope I can get my daughter back. I miss her so much."

Cops: Longer Girl's Missing, Less Chance of Survival


FBI photos shows Zahra Clare Baker, a Carolina girl disabled by cancer. Zahra was last seen by her stepmother at 2:30 a.m. Oct. 9, 2010.
(FBI/AP Photo)

Cops: Longer Girl's Missing, Less


Since Zahra was homeschooled, police are depending on interviews with neighbors and surveillance footage from local businesses in order corroborate the Bakers' timeline of events, police said. They're also trying to work up what "Zahra's life looked like before her disappearance."

"We think it's an important part of the investigation," Adkins said.Elisa Baker has been arrested for making threats, writing bad checks, larceny and driving with a revoked driver's license, according to The Associated Press. She is being held on $31,500 bond.Police issued an Amber Alert Saturday and, along with the FBI and U.S. Marshals, have been searching the neighborhood and surrounding woods.

"Obviously the longer that we go without knowing where she is, the less of a chance she's going to have to survive," Hickory police officer Cory Smith told "GMA" Sunday. "So we need to do all we can to find her as soon as possible."

HICKORY, N.C. — A North Carolina police chief said Monday that investigators are having trouble finding any non-relatives who saw a disabled girl alive in the weeks leading up to a weekend report that she had vanished.

Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins said at a news conference Monday that police are seeking anyone who may have seen Zahra Clare Baker in the last few weeks. The girl whose bone cancer left her with a prosthetic leg and hearing aids was reported missing on Saturday, hours after a fire at the home where she lived.

The girl's father said the stepmother saw her sleeping early Saturday. He also said it was possible the woman could be involved in the disappearance.

The police chief said investigators were having trouble establishing a timeline for the disappearance: "We don't know the last time anyone saw her."

Adkins said a ransom note was found at the house but wouldn't elaborate.

The stepmother, Elisa Baker, was arrested on unrelated charges Sunday.

On Monday, friends of the family said they were bracing for the worst.

"I just don't have a good feeling about this," said former neighbor Kayla
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39617740/ns/us_news-life/

so who knows how long she has been missing at this point?

Ransom note found in missing Hickory girl's home

HICKORY, NC (WBTV) - An AMBER alert remains in effect for a 10-year-old Hickory girl who was reported missing Saturday afternoon, and authorities said Monday afternoon they found a ransom note in the girl's home.

Zahra Claire Baker was last seen on Saturday at 2:30 a.m. sleeping at her home on 21st Avenue Northwest. However, police say the girl was not reported missing until 12 hours later around 2:30 p.m.

Monday afternoon, Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins said a search warrant was executed at the girl's home and that a ransom note was found.

Adkins made a plea for the public to help in locating the girl. "We are running out of time folks," Adkins said.
On Sunday, the Hickory Police Department placed Zahra's stepmother, Elisa Baker, under arrest on several outstanding warrants.

Adkins said inconsistencies with Elisa Baker indicate "...she has not been truthful." For now, police have not ruled her out as a suspect in the case.

Elisa Baker is charged with driving with license revoked, larceny by employee, unsafe tires, six counts of worthless checks, and four counts of communicating threats. She is being held at the Catawba County Jail under a $31,500 bond.

"I hope and pray we find her and she'll be okay," said family friend Kayla Rotenberry.
She and her fiance, Bobby Green, used to be next door neighbors to the Bakers. Their girls used to played together.
Rotenberry said Zahra has been through a lot in her 10 years and that she is a tough little girl.

She's a cancer survivor and wears a prosthetic leg. Zahra is also hearing impaired. Police say her hearing aids were found in the house.

"I think the cops know more than they are releasing," said Rotenberry.

Police say the likelihood that Zahra was abducted by a stranger is low.

On Sunday, investigators gathered surveillance video from businesses near the girl's home to establish a better timeline of events leading up to her disappearance. They also spent the day canvassing the area around her home.
Adkins said investigators made a follow-up call to the home after firefighters were dispatched there for a possible brush fire early Saturday morning. Adkins would not say whether the fire had anything to do with the case.

Zahra is about 5'1" tall, weighs about 85 pounds, and has short reddish, blond hair. Zahra was last seen wearing a camouflage army t-shirt and black knee-length tights.
The State Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are all assisting the HPD in the search for the girl.

"We are using every available resource we have at our disposal to find Zahra," Adkins said. "We are not giving up hope that Zahra will return home safe and sound."

Investigators are working several leads and they are especially trying to find out more about the girl's activities late last week. Family friends said Zahra is currently home-schooled by her stepmother.

Caldwell County Schools spokeswoman Libby Brown said Zahra was not enrolled in their school system this year, but she was enrolled at Granite Falls and Hudson Elementary the previous two school years.The family moved around a lot and police are trying to track down recent neighbors.

The Department of Social Services will not confirm or deny that social workers were ever called out to the home.

If you have seen Zahra, call the Hickory Police Department 828-328-5551 or 911.

This scenario is becoming all too familiar. Step-mom's & boyfriends, shoot 'em all. I have no doubt the father knows more than what he's saying also. This just doesn't bode well for precious Zahra. Just keep praying for her, either that she's found alive or, that she's not being hurt anymore and has passed on, one way or the other this little girl needs to be found.

I don't understand - Amber Alerts were supposed to be issued when a suspicious vehicle was involved or so I thought? they don't have anyone who can say the last time they saw this child, except these parents. how sad is that?

There were red flags according to one article quoting a neighbour who said the stepmother used to make Zarah walk long distances on her prosthetic leg under threat of punishment. We don't know yet if this neighbour or anyone who saw her being treated badly by her stepmother bothered to notify authorities. Combine the fact that Zarah's stepmother obviously hated her with taking her out of the school system and this should have been very preventable.
Obviously nobody did anything to help rescue this child - or at the very least not enough was done.
People out there need to wake up. If someone is being cruel to a child in front of you, just imagine what they are like when there are no witnesses around.

kiwimom wrote:There were red flags according to one article quoting a neighbour who said the stepmother used to make Zarah walk long distances on her prosthetic leg under threat of punishment. We don't know yet if this neighbour or anyone who saw her being treated badly by her stepmother bothered to notify authorities. Combine the fact that Zarah's stepmother obviously hated her with taking her out of the school system and this should have been very preventable.
Obviously nobody did anything to help rescue this child - or at the very least not enough was done.
People out there need to wake up. If someone is being cruel to a child in front of you, just imagine what they are like when there are no witnesses around.

Your very right about that Kiwi, people need to start getting involved. This just breaks my heart, this little girl has battled hell in her short life and now this, just makes me sick.

Oh no
Police dogs smell remains at missing girl's house

By MITCH WEISS(AP)–45 minutes agoHICKORY — A search warrant says police dogs detected the smell of human remains on two cars at the house where a missing North Carolina girl lives.The document filed Monday didn't indicate that police found any remains in their search, which was conducted the previous night.Ten-year-old Zahra Clare Baker was reported missing over the weekend, but police say they're not sure if anyone outside her home has seen her in weeks.The warrant says the dogs detected the smell on cars belonging to the father and stepmother of the girl, who suffers from bone cancer and had a prosthetic leg.The girl's stepmother, Elisa Baker, was arrested on unrelated charges over the weekend.Her father, meanwhile, said it was possible his wife could have been involved in the disappearance.http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h4rxdEVLLWNY3lLWF2wqDQ34pAEwD9IPOQ900?docId=D9IPOQ900

Police dogs smell remains at missing N.C. girl's house
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By MITCH WEISS Associated Press Writer
ICKORY, N.C. (AP) - Investigators cast doubt Monday on accounts given by the father and stepmother of a missing 10-year-old whose battles with bone cancer left her with a prosthetic leg and hearing aids in both ears.

A search warrant revealed Monday that police dogs had detected the smell of human remains on cars belonging to the couple. Hours earlier, the police chief said investigators were having trouble finding anyone outside the household who had seen Zahra Clare Baker alive in the last few weeks.

The warrant filed in a Hickory court didn't indicate that police found any remains in their search Sunday. It said the dogs detected the smell on a sedan and SUV.

The couple had told police they discovered the girl was missing on Saturday and that one of them had seen her sleeping in her room hours earlier. Yet Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins said investigators were having difficulty with that account.

"We don't know the last time anyone saw her," he said an afternoon news conference. "We're having a difficult time establishing a true timeline."

When the search warrant was filed hours later, police declined to comment further but said Adkins would issue a statement Tuesday morning.

Zahra's father, Adam Baker, said during a morning TV interview that it was possible his wife could be involved in the disappearance, which was reported after a fire in the home's yard. Elisa Baker was arrested Sunday on about a dozen charges unrelated to the girl's disappearance.

Adkins said the father was cooperating with police, but Elisa Baker wasn't.

A reporter saw what appeared to be remnants of clothes among burned branches from the fire at the house.

The search warrant said that police responding to the fire early Saturday found what appeared to be a ransom note addressed to Adam Baker's boss on the windshield of Baker's car. Police went to that man's house, and found him and his daughter to be fine.

"Mr. Coffey, you like being in control now who is in control we have your daughter," the warrant quoted the note as saying. It asked for $1 million dollars and said "no cops."

On Saturday afternoon, Adam Baker called to say his daughter was missing.

Zahra was described by family friends as shy but constantly smiling, in spite of her health problems. The stepmother could be short-tempered toward her, two former neighbors said, but the woman also fought tears when a charity fitted her for hearing aids a few months ago.

"I just hope I can get my daughter back. I miss her so much," Zahra's father, Adam Baker, told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday.

The girl's stepmother told her husband she last saw Zahra sleeping in her bed at 2:30 a.m. Saturday, about 2 1/2 hours before the fire was reported. Adam Baker said he was panicked after the fire, but didn't immediately check on his daughter.

The police chief said he wouldn't rule out any suspects, including Adam Baker.

Adam Baker was asked if he thought his wife was involved and said, "I wouldn't like to think so. On what I've heard so far, it could be possible."

On Monday, several of Adam Baker's friends stood outside his one-story house in Hickory, a city of 40,000 residents about 50 miles northwest of Charlotte.

"I just don't have a good feeling about this," said former neighbor Kayla Rotenberry. "She was such a sweet girl. This is just a nightmare."

Rotenberry said she and her fiance were good friends with the Bakers when they lived in the nearby town of Sawmills, and saw Zahra often. The couple was skeptical of the girl's stepmother, in part because she claimed to write songs for musician and "American Idol" finalist Chris Daughtry, and told other far-fetched stories, Rotenberry said. Daughtry's manager said he was unaware of any connection between Elisa Baker and the singer.

"We just got to the point where we didn't believe her. We knew they were lies," said Rotenberry, 23.

The stepmother also had a short temper, Rotenberry said.

Rotenberry said about six months ago she noticed that Elisa Baker's hand was swollen. "She told me that she was trying to spank Zahra, but hit her on her prosthetic leg," she said. "When Adam asked her about the injury, she said she fell and hurt her hand. She didn't want him to know. She knew he would be mad."

Another former neighbor, Brandy Stapleton, 22, of Lenoir, said that Elisa Baker told her the same story about how she injured her hand. "She wasn't the person everyone thought she was."

Adam Baker was from Australia, and met his current wife over the Internet, Stapleton said. Zahra's mother lives outside the U.S.

Zahra had two hearing aids, which were left at the house, and a prosthetic left leg from the knee down, police said. She was being home-schooled, but had attended public schools in the past.

The child had lost part of her hearing during chemotherapy for two bouts of cancer, her stepmother told the Independent-Tribune of Concord-Kannapolis in May during a charity event where she got free hearing aids.

Family friends said the girl also had the prosthetic leg because of cancer.

Elisa Baker was arrested Sunday on charges including communicating threats, writing worthless checks, larceny and driving with a revoked license. It was unclear whether she has an attorney.

She has two daughters and a son from a previous marriage. The mother and son don't have much of a relationship, the man said, after he stayed with his father when they divorced. The daughters went to live with their mother.

Still, 22-year-old Douglas Proctor said he had spoken to investigators about his mother and was dismayed over news of the case.

"It's not something that you want to open up a paper and see," he said, adding he'd met Zahra only once.

http://www.kidk.com/news/national/104741634.html

Annabeth wrote:Tom how come they issued an Amber Alert, thought they needed more info before they did this.....never issued one on Haleigh or Kyron....hmmmm

Annabeth, the police department themselves are who determines if an Amber Alert should be called and the reason this was reported as such is because the department felt that the child was in "imminent danger" due to the fact (I'm assuming) that the disappearance was reported as "missing from her bed" and the fact she has bone cancer, hearing impaired and a prosthetic leg. With all the combining factors they determined that this would certainly not be a case in which a child just up and left or went off with a friend after school and not reporting home, etc.. So each department can "declare" what they feel may be extraordinary circumstances that entitles them to call an actual Amber Alert. Unfortunately other departments may "go by the book" and feel they need a description of an abductor or vehicle before issuing one:(