GUILTY NC - Travis Baker, 19, Claremont, 16 April 2007
- Thread starter lostwithoutyou
- Start date
mistivon
Verified Insider - Maricela Garcia
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2006
- Messages
- 2,876
- Reaction score
- 4,764
http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/wcnc-062509-mw-travis_baker_case_arrest.74f4d7b.html
More arrests forthcoming, and Mitchell on his way back.
More arrests forthcoming, and Mitchell on his way back.
Aperture
New Member
RIP Travis. This is John Lee Mitchell Jr.'s booking information:
http://orangecountyfl.net/bailbond/image.asp?BookNumber=09029821
MITCHELL, JOHN LEE JR
Booking Number: 09029821
Race: White
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: 12/10/1962
Last Known Address: 521 Beard Rd, Winter Garden, Fl 34787
Cell: BRC2AW11
Date Booked: 06/24/2009
Time Booked: 09:05pm
Number of Holds: None
Notes: None
Charges
Case Sequence: 982
Case Status: Presentenced
#Bond Amount: 0.00
Police Case Number: n/a
Court Location: FUGITIVE
Arresting Agency: Orange County Sheriff Office
Charge/Court Case Number: Fugitive From Justice (arrest W/o Warrant)
09CR054619
Note: Icjis Affidavit, Original Charge(s): 1st Degree Murder - North Carolina
http://orangecountyfl.net/bailbond/image.asp?BookNumber=09029821
MITCHELL, JOHN LEE JR
Booking Number: 09029821
Race: White
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: 12/10/1962
Last Known Address: 521 Beard Rd, Winter Garden, Fl 34787
Cell: BRC2AW11
Date Booked: 06/24/2009
Time Booked: 09:05pm
Number of Holds: None
Notes: None
Charges
Case Sequence: 982
Case Status: Presentenced
#Bond Amount: 0.00
Police Case Number: n/a
Court Location: FUGITIVE
Arresting Agency: Orange County Sheriff Office
Charge/Court Case Number: Fugitive From Justice (arrest W/o Warrant)
09CR054619
Note: Icjis Affidavit, Original Charge(s): 1st Degree Murder - North Carolina
dreamweaver
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2008
- Messages
- 6,093
- Reaction score
- 198
So sad. But good to know he has been found and can be laid to rest.
Seifsister
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2008
- Messages
- 325
- Reaction score
- 59
NEWTON - An emotional Coy Reid confirmed what all had suspected since skeletal remains were found in Catawba on Wednesday. The remains were those of missing teenager Travis Baker.
"It's been a long two years and I'm glad this case is coming to an end as far as a missing person. I don't like the result," said Reid, chief deputy with the Catawba County Sheriff's Office during a press conference Thursday.
Baker was identified by the State Medical Examiner's Office using dental records, Reid said
Reid raised the photograph of Baker, well known to residents of the county as it was used during the family's two-year search for their son.
"I think this is the way everybody wants to remember him," Reid said, drawing sobs from Baker's family and friends, gathered in the Muster Room of the sheriff's office for the press conference.
Baker's family learned of the verification of their son's remains Thursday morning. Jerry Sigmon, Travis Baker's godfather and the Baker family spokesman, asked the media to allow the family to grieve.
"We need a moment to absorb this," Sigmon said. "At this moment, we are just numb. We have to find out what step two is."
The Bakers, vocal and active during the two-year search for their son, were too emotional to speak Thursday.
Reid detailed the investigation since the sheriff's office received a tip about Baker's disappearance June 15. That tip focused investigators on John Lee Mitchell Jr., whom Reid confirmed had been a suspect since early in the investigation.
Mitchell, 46, is being held in the Orange County, Fla., jail with no bond. He is charged with first-degree murder. Authorities expect Mitchell to be brought back to Catawba County this week if he waives extradition.
Reid said more arrests may come out of the ongoing investigation. Reid said two investigators from the sheriff's office were in Florida on Thursday, hoping to interview Mitchell.
Reid described what investigators believed happened before Baker disappeared April 16, 2007.
He said investigators think Baker went to Mitchell's house on Oxford School Road the day he disappeared, to deliver narcotics. Reid did not specify what kind of drugs were involved. He said the two men were "acquaintances," but declined to elaborate further because of the ongoing investigation.
"We believe the two men got into an argument, but we're not sure what the argument was over. We think Mitchell, during the argument, shot Travis," Reid said.
The Bakers have fought hard to find their son, offering a reward that topped out at $5,000. They assisted with 15 other disappearance cases, one in which the person was found. They called off the search temporarily when remains found in Charlotte last December were thought to be Travis, but restarted their efforts when their son was ruled out as the person found.
Investigators think Mitchell buried Baker's body near the field off Eulalia Lane in Catawba, 10 miles from his house, the same day he allegedly killed him.
Reid said Mitchell knew the owner of the property and had hunted there in the past. The property owner is not thought to be involved in the murder.
Questions still remain concerning a vehicle bumper, one piece of evidence found on the property where Baker's body was found.
Sheriff's Office Lt. Joel Fish said the bumper has been determined to belong to a Camero made between 1993 and 2000, so it could be from Baker's vehicle, a red 1998 Camero. But Reid said Baker's car was cut up and scattered over a junkyard in Florida.
Reid said detectives think Mitchell left North Carolina shortly after the murder, but had been interviewed by the sheriff's office. When initially questioned about Baker's disappearance, Mitchell claimed to know nothing about Baker's whereabouts, Reid said.
Reid said detectives worked the crime scene in Catawba for about a week, looking for anything resembling the description of the grave they had been given by the unidentified informant. On Monday, investigators took a cadaver dog to the site as they had found a few possibilities for the grave.
"The cadaver dog hit strong on one pile of wood, which we had been told a pile of wood would be on top of the grave," he said.
A backhoe was brought in to move dirt from the top of the area and one investigator, moving a few pieces of wood, discovered a skull.
At that point, Reid said, the sheriff's office called the North Carolina Program for Forensic Sciences at N.C. State University where many deputies have trained for forensic recoveries.
Warrants were drawn on Mitchell on Wednesday. He was arrested by Orange County, Fla., authorities at 8:20 p.m. at a business he was known to frequent, Reid said.
"When they found him, he was asleep," Reid said. "When they told him what they were there for, he said, 'North Carolina. I haven't been in North Carolina for a couple of years,' then dropped his head when he realized what he said."http://www2.mooresvilletribune.com/content/2009/jun/26/baker-remains-identified-suspect-arrested/
"It's been a long two years and I'm glad this case is coming to an end as far as a missing person. I don't like the result," said Reid, chief deputy with the Catawba County Sheriff's Office during a press conference Thursday.
Baker was identified by the State Medical Examiner's Office using dental records, Reid said
Reid raised the photograph of Baker, well known to residents of the county as it was used during the family's two-year search for their son.
"I think this is the way everybody wants to remember him," Reid said, drawing sobs from Baker's family and friends, gathered in the Muster Room of the sheriff's office for the press conference.
Baker's family learned of the verification of their son's remains Thursday morning. Jerry Sigmon, Travis Baker's godfather and the Baker family spokesman, asked the media to allow the family to grieve.
"We need a moment to absorb this," Sigmon said. "At this moment, we are just numb. We have to find out what step two is."
The Bakers, vocal and active during the two-year search for their son, were too emotional to speak Thursday.
Reid detailed the investigation since the sheriff's office received a tip about Baker's disappearance June 15. That tip focused investigators on John Lee Mitchell Jr., whom Reid confirmed had been a suspect since early in the investigation.
Mitchell, 46, is being held in the Orange County, Fla., jail with no bond. He is charged with first-degree murder. Authorities expect Mitchell to be brought back to Catawba County this week if he waives extradition.
Reid said more arrests may come out of the ongoing investigation. Reid said two investigators from the sheriff's office were in Florida on Thursday, hoping to interview Mitchell.
Reid described what investigators believed happened before Baker disappeared April 16, 2007.
He said investigators think Baker went to Mitchell's house on Oxford School Road the day he disappeared, to deliver narcotics. Reid did not specify what kind of drugs were involved. He said the two men were "acquaintances," but declined to elaborate further because of the ongoing investigation.
"We believe the two men got into an argument, but we're not sure what the argument was over. We think Mitchell, during the argument, shot Travis," Reid said.
The Bakers have fought hard to find their son, offering a reward that topped out at $5,000. They assisted with 15 other disappearance cases, one in which the person was found. They called off the search temporarily when remains found in Charlotte last December were thought to be Travis, but restarted their efforts when their son was ruled out as the person found.
Investigators think Mitchell buried Baker's body near the field off Eulalia Lane in Catawba, 10 miles from his house, the same day he allegedly killed him.
Reid said Mitchell knew the owner of the property and had hunted there in the past. The property owner is not thought to be involved in the murder.
Questions still remain concerning a vehicle bumper, one piece of evidence found on the property where Baker's body was found.
Sheriff's Office Lt. Joel Fish said the bumper has been determined to belong to a Camero made between 1993 and 2000, so it could be from Baker's vehicle, a red 1998 Camero. But Reid said Baker's car was cut up and scattered over a junkyard in Florida.
Reid said detectives think Mitchell left North Carolina shortly after the murder, but had been interviewed by the sheriff's office. When initially questioned about Baker's disappearance, Mitchell claimed to know nothing about Baker's whereabouts, Reid said.
Reid said detectives worked the crime scene in Catawba for about a week, looking for anything resembling the description of the grave they had been given by the unidentified informant. On Monday, investigators took a cadaver dog to the site as they had found a few possibilities for the grave.
"The cadaver dog hit strong on one pile of wood, which we had been told a pile of wood would be on top of the grave," he said.
A backhoe was brought in to move dirt from the top of the area and one investigator, moving a few pieces of wood, discovered a skull.
At that point, Reid said, the sheriff's office called the North Carolina Program for Forensic Sciences at N.C. State University where many deputies have trained for forensic recoveries.
Warrants were drawn on Mitchell on Wednesday. He was arrested by Orange County, Fla., authorities at 8:20 p.m. at a business he was known to frequent, Reid said.
"When they found him, he was asleep," Reid said. "When they told him what they were there for, he said, 'North Carolina. I haven't been in North Carolina for a couple of years,' then dropped his head when he realized what he said."http://www2.mooresvilletribune.com/content/2009/jun/26/baker-remains-identified-suspect-arrested/
OkieGranny
Retired WS Staff
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2013
- Messages
- 21,516
- Reaction score
- 1,548
DNASolves
Staff online
-
TriciaManager Websleuths.com
Online statistics
- Members online
- 72
- Guests online
- 4,201
- Total visitors
- 4,273