NC - Zahra Clare Baker, 10, Hickory, 9 Oct 2010 - #12

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imamaze

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If you have any information regarding this abduction, call the Hickory Police Department immediately at (828) 328-5551, (828) 328-5551 or call 911 or *HP.

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116947"]Zahra Baker timeline and media links only[/ame]

Please Continue Here...
 
BBM

Behind the Ear hearing instruments are quite expensive. They start out around $1,500 each. They can cost as much as $3,000 or $4,000 each. I am a hearing instrument repair tech and work alongside a dispenser. I was floored when I saw the price!

Oh my god, really? I'm 100% certain if Zahra had them supplied and fitted in Australia, Medicare would have covered it ... can any of the other Aussies help with my understanding of that (i.e. confirm whether I'm right or wrong)? I'm sure it would be considered a basic medical requirement, not an 'extra' that would require private health insurance.

I wonder why she didn't have her aid's supplied while she was in Australia? It seems she received good medical care here and lots of community support for her illness.
 
Police face hurdles in hunt for Zahra
Ely Portillo, Steve Lyttle and Franco Ordonez
October 16, 2010

MORGANTON, North Carolina: Investigators seeking clues over the disappearance of a 10-year-old Australian girl, Zahra Baker, have been searching the property where her father worked.

Authorities are also reported to be planning a search of the home where Zahra and her parents, her father Adam and stepmother Elisa, lived before moving to Hickory, North Carolina, six or seven weeks ago.

Police trying to establish what happened to his daughter say Mr Baker has not been co-operative.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/police-face-hurdles-in-hunt-for-zahra-20101015-16nnh.html
 
NewsChannel 36's take on the alleged furniture store sighting of Z.
Furniture store employees put Zahra in Hickory two weeks before disapperance

---
"We have cartoons for children playing on the TVs... and she was standing in the aisleway. As I walked past, I just touched her on the shoulder and said ‘Excuse me, sweetheart’ and she just looked up at me and smiled," floor manager Pat Adams told NewsChannel 36.
---
Other employees of the "In Your Home Furnishings" store on US-70 noted the little girl's prostetic leg.

"We saw on TV about the little girl was missing and we started talking about it, and that was who it was—the little girl," explained Israel Valle.

Police tell NewsChannel 36 this information is the only tip that confirms that Zahra Baker was ever in Hickory alive.
---

more at
http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Zahr...weeks-before-her-disappearance-105082544.html
 
I just think the attic was used to hide drugs. I don't think they went to alot of trouble to do it. Just plopped em' right inside the access and had easy access to them.

I think you're right, but I also think they could also used it as a punishment spot for her. Or a place to stash her when they didn't want her in the way. I don't think she lived up there, but I think of it like a closet - out of sight, out of mind. Put her up there and leave her there, probably without hearing aids, leaving the prosthetic leg on, and let her be tortured by trying not to fall through the ceiling until mom or dad can get her back down again. And if they doing drugs and forget about her...

When people torture other people, they're not thinking about comfort and convenience. It wouldn't have mattered that she could fit or not. They weren't thinking about her needs when they were torturing her, just their own.

So I think it was both a stash spot and a punishment spot, but not a spot where she lived.
 
Oh my god, really? I'm 100% certain if Zahra had them supplied and fitted in Australia, Medicare would have covered it ... can any of the other Aussies help with my understanding of that (i.e. confirm whether I'm right or wrong)? I'm sure it would be considered a basic medical requirement, not an 'extra' that would require private health insurance.

I wonder why she didn't have her aid's supplied while she was in Australia? It seems she received good medical care here and lots of community support for her illness.

IIRC from the time line, she got her second bout of cancer, the lung cancer, when she was 61/2 - 7. That treatment is why she lost her hearing. She was not long in remission from that cancer when they took her to the US. She was about 8 when they left Australia and I guess she had only just lost her hearing.

Father of the year couldn't be buggered waiting in OZ for little Zahra to get her hearing aids? EB pressuring husband to return to US and couldn't give a stuff about what Zahra needed?
 
As to the landlord/neighbors that "never saw her" it is very possible that she was told not to be seen or heard by authority figure (SM) so the landlord would not know. I think they weren't honest on their application.

As to the school back and forth, we don't know what schedule of the landlords was, perhaps their work schedules had them out before time to get Zahra up for school.

We don't know what Zahra's attendance record was at that time period at school (if we do please someone correct me)

Lastly, Lastly, if SM was as abusive towards Zahra as reported and drugs were an issue, at 10 Zahra may hav ebeen expect, nay required, to get HERSELF off to school.
 
I'm flabbergasted Zahra had to have her hearing aid's donated. I mean, it's not as if they are new technology with a hefty price tag.

I worked with a girl that had hearing aid's - she constantly needed them adjusted, checked and serviced by an ear specialist. From what we know now, I bet regular checks weren't part of SM & AB's fabric.

Back to the girl I worked with, she would politely request that we shouldn't yell or raise our voices for her to hear us ... apparently it can actually hurt their ears. If Zahra was yelled at constantly, imagine the pain in her ears.

ETA: Any new updates from the US? We seem to be getting yesterday's news about Zahra from our news sources.

I'm not sure exactly what hearing aids would cost. My brother mentioned to me recently that he'd been told $3000-$4000 each. He has health insurance too. I'm not sure if that was the cost for someone with insurance or not. The Bakers probably didn't have private health insurance but they, or Zahra anyway, may have qualified for some state programs. I don't know exactly what's available in North Carolina; every state is different.

I hadn't realized that the hearing aids would require a lot of adjustments. I don't see Zahra's parents doing any followup care even when the hearing aids were donated.

And thanks for the info about your coworker. It hadn't occured to me that it would be painful. So, I can see why Zahra might not use them even if her parents got her followup care and replacement batteries.

Zahra's hearing impairment is just one more reason I don't understand why AB would move her to the US. She could get great care and followup for all her medical needs in Australia.

I wonder if perhaps AB intended to come for a visit originally, as EB said it her post on classmates.com, and then it turned into a move.
 
Oh my god, really? I'm 100% certain if Zahra had them supplied and fitted in Australia, Medicare would have covered it ... can any of the other Aussies help with my understanding of that (i.e. confirm whether I'm right or wrong)? I'm sure it would be considered a basic medical requirement, not an 'extra' that would require private health insurance.

I wonder why she didn't have her aid's supplied while she was in Australia? It seems she received good medical care here and lots of community support for her illness.

I'd wondered about that too. Maybe she did, and they'd just gotten lost in all the moves. EB and AB don't strike me as the types who'd keep close tabs on something like that. And given that her hearing loss was fairly mild, she likely didn't wear them all the time, making it more likely they'd get lost.
 
Oh my god, really? I'm 100% certain if Zahra had them supplied and fitted in Australia, Medicare would have covered it ... can any of the other Aussies help with my understanding of that (i.e. confirm whether I'm right or wrong)? I'm sure it would be considered a basic medical requirement, not an 'extra' that would require private health insurance.

I wonder why she didn't have her aid's supplied while she was in Australia? It seems she received good medical care here and lots of community support for her illness.

Well Medicaid paid for my daughters, that was 20+ years ago but I think they still cover them at least for children.
 
My niece didn't have Medicare/Medicaid and couldn't afford hearing aids growing up... I think another reason she didn't get them.
 
As to the landlord/neighbors that "never saw her" it is very possible that she was told not to be seen or heard by authority figure (SM) so the landlord would not know. I think they weren't honest on their application.

As to the school back and forth, we don't know what schedule of the landlords was, perhaps their work schedules had them out before time to get Zahra up for school.

We don't know what Zahra's attendance record was at that time period at school (if we do please someone correct me)

Lastly, Lastly, if SM was as abusive towards Zahra as reported and drugs were an issue, at 10 Zahra may hav ebeen expect, nay required, to get HERSELF off to school.

I totally agree. And like I said they could have got her ready for school at like 6AM and she could have returned home at a time they were both working.
 
:wave: Hi Emeral

Work is keeping me away sometimes, I saw your post the other morning and question about the father. Really I'm unsure about the father at the moment, he sounds criminally negligent at the least. I am glad to hear he's cooperating or seems to be with LE. I have no doubt LE will charge him with something, I'm unsure what at the moment.
 
Would a child with a hearing problem like Zahra's tend to be louder than normal do you think?
 
IIRC from the time line, she got her second bout of cancer, the lung cancer, when she was 61/2 - 7. That treatment is why she lost her hearing. She was not long in remission from that cancer when they took her to the US. She was about 8 when they left Australia and I guess she had only just lost her hearing.

Father of the year couldn't be buggered waiting in OZ for little Zahra to get her hearing aids? EB pressuring husband to return to US and couldn't give a stuff about what Zahra needed?

The type of hearing loss Zahra had- caused by the drugs, doesn't happen all at once, it normally comes on gradually. It is possible her loss didn't require aides before she left Australia.
 
You know on pondering this today - AB and EB had only known each other for approx 5 mths and that was on the net, she then comes to Aus and they spend approx 5 mths together. Allegedly AB's family had some grave concerns about this, ahem, "woman" but everyone happily sees Zahra off into the sunset with EB and AB.

Why not leave Zahra in Aus with a wait and see attitude about how the life of AB and EB would go in America? If all is well then she could have joined them later. Why not let this little girl get over her last bout of cancer in beautiful, sunny Oz? She must have only been in a remission such a short, short time. Christ, we must be talking about some selfish people here because none of this makes sense. None of it.
 
Well Medicaid paid for my daughters, that was 20+ years ago but I think they still cover them at least for children.

In Oklahoma, you can get assistance from the state to pay for hearing aids. In the Dept of Rehab, where I work, we pay for hearing aids for those trying to get jobs. I'm sure kids can get help through Medicaid or some other way from the state to get hearing aids too. I'm pretty sure students of our school for the deaf probably get assistance getting their hearing aids too.

Basically, I'm sure there were State programs AB could have accessed for Zahra to get good hearing aids, yet all he was able to manage was ones being given away. Maybe he didn't know about it since he was Aussie, but it feels like to me that he never looked into it. But maybe he was afraid of getting deported if he did that. These programs do usually ask for SSN#'s and the like.

He should have just left Zahra in Australia. Seriously, he should have gone off with SM on his own and left Zahra out of it!
 
Would a child with a hearing problem like Zahra's tend to be louder than normal do you think?
I don't know about in the home but I've had several hearing impaired children in the classroom and they are usually quieter not louder.

One boy - I was required to wear the microphone and they fitted both me and him and he sat right up front near me - he asked me NOT to wear the mic - he could hear me just fine and he did very well in my class. Even came back years later to just say Hi.

But like I said they were usually quieter.
 
Oh my god, really? I'm 100% certain if Zahra had them supplied and fitted in Australia, Medicare would have covered it ... can any of the other Aussies help with my understanding of that (i.e. confirm whether I'm right or wrong)? I'm sure it would be considered a basic medical requirement, not an 'extra' that would require private health insurance.

I wonder why she didn't have her aid's supplied while she was in Australia? It seems she received good medical care here and lots of community support for her illness.

Nosee, it doesn't look like Medicare covers hearing aids:

http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/public/claims/what-cover.jsp

Or the cost of prostheses! Yikes. Not such a great deal, then.

(For the non-Aussies, Medicare here is our government-supported medical system, like the NHS is the UK.)
 
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