I have not been able to see the latest news about this case today but so far I think the following
based on what news I have seen so far:
1. LE seems to believe that Zahra was missing since some time in September
'. . .Employees at the "In Your Home" furnishing show room in Hickory said
on September 25 Zahra Baker and her stepmother Elisa Baker were seen shopping for
living room furniture . . .'
http://charlotte.news14.com/content/top_stories/631566/police-determine-last-day-zahra-baker-seen
' . . .That was two weeks before Zarha's stepmother reported her missing. . .'
http://charlotte.news14.com/content/top_stories/631566/police-determine-last-day-zahra-baker-seen
2. Evidently the family may not have been truthful about when she went missing.
'. . .investigators have said they don't believe the story given by her father and stepmother. . .'
http://abcnews.go.com/US/authoritie...aker-missing-north-carolina/story?id=11901744
3. Because there is such an amount of time between when Zahra was last seen to
be alive and when she was reported missing I believe both parents had to know what
really happened to her. With that much time it is not possible that one of the parents
did not know she was missing until the 9th of October when news reports allege Zahra
was reported missing. Therefore both parents knew for quite some time that Zahra was
no longer and yet waited to tell LE.
This leads me to the conclusion that they wished to hide certain evidence and possibly,
via the fake ransom note, to manipulate the investigation or at least to establish some
form of reasonable doubt in case of a later trial. We at websleuths have seen other
case/s where family waited to report a child missing.
4. LE searched for certain evidence. One piece was possibly Zahra's mattress. I wonder
why the mattress was important. LE went to a lot of trouble and expense to recover it.
Unless Zahra was murdered on her bed they might have been looking for more DNA than just
her DNA on the bed.
'. . .Police also noted that DNA was found on the mattress. . .'
http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-na...ss-found-case-of-missing-nc-girl-contains-dna
http://charlotte.news14.com/content/top_stories/631962/crews-recover-mattress-in-zahra-baker-search/
I wonder how long it will take for all of the DNA results to come back.
5. LE also went to considerable time and expense digging up and then sifting through
the dirt in & around her home.
'. . . Investigators returned for a second day of digging and sifting in the
backyard of the home Hickory where 10-year old Zahra Baker lived. . .'
http://www.wcnc.com/news/Investigators-Cotinue-to-Dig-at-Zahra-Baker-House-106146038.html
A chipper was mentioned:
' . . . The wood chipper and nearby debris became the focus of the search after cadaver
dogs made positive "hits" on the equipment Monday . . .'
http://abcnews.go.com/US/zahra-baker-case-cops-search-wood-chipper-mulch/story?id=11868397
My experience in reading cases here has taught me that sometimes people do use a chipper
to dispose of a body. But also I have read cases where some dismemberment
took place indoors first. Perhaps evidence of that might be some of what LE was looking
for most recently in the home.
6. One news videos I watched showed an attic space that looked as if it might have been
used to hold a child captive in a previous apartment. I wonder if investigators
looked for similar alterations in the current family home.
http://www.wcnc.com/news/Investigators-return-to-Zahra-Bakers-Hickory-home-105036589.html
Watching the news reports about the family and reading other reports is almost like
seeing a very slow motion video of a train heading on the tracks towards a stalled car.
You just know it is only a matter of time until something very bad happens.
7. If one had body parts to dispose of (whether or not they were small like those from a chipper)
previous cases indicate in or near water is a preferred site. I remember one case
where the parts were put through a chipper & then mixed into concrete and the concrete
was then dumped in the edge of a lake or stream where fishermen eventually found
it & turned it in.
From the way Zahra's 'leg' and her mattress were discarded as trash I would expect
her body parts were similarly treated. . . . probably dumped in a wooded area & likely in
low lying brushy land or in/or near water but that is just a guess based on some past cases.
