TIMELINE: Missing 10-Year-Old Zahra Baker
HICKORY, N.C. -- The following is a timeline of events in the case of the missing 10-year-old Hickory girl, Zahra Baker.
• THURSDAY EVENING: Zahra's dad, Adam Baker, said he last saw his daughter in bed on Thursday evening after he returned home from work.
• SATURDAY MORNING: Zahra was reportedly last seen sleeping in her bed in her Hickory home by her stepmother, Elisa Baker.
• SATURDAY AFTERNOON Zahra Baker was reported missing by her father and stepmother.
• SUNDAY MORNING: Zahra's stepmother was arrested on several charges unrelated to the case. The charges include writing bad checks and failing to return property.
• SUNDAY AFTERNOON: Police gathered surveillance video from businesses near the home to put together a better timeline of events leading to her disappearance.
• SUNDAY AFTERNOON: Investigators also followed up on a call for service by the Hickory Fire Department at the home where Zahra lives with her parents for a small fire that started on the front lawn.
• SUNDAY AFTERNOON: A dozen Hickory police officers went door to door throughout Zahra's neighborhood Sunday afternoon, talking to dozens of residents and handing out Zahra's photograph. Officers looked into basement windows, and walked deep into the woods.
• MONDAY MORNING: Zahra's dad, Adam Baker, appeared on "Good Morning America" to plead with anyone with information to come forward.
• MONDAY AFTERNOON: Hickory police chief, Tom Adkins, held a brief press conference to update the public on the 10-year-old's disappearance.
• MONDAY AFTERNOON: A search warrant released Monday reveals more details about the case of a missing 10-year-old girl from Hickory girl. According to the search warrant, investigators showed up at Zahra Baker's residence responding to a brush fire outside the home on Saturday morning when they found a ransom note inside of a Chevrolet Tahoe that was parked outside.
• TUESDAY AFTERNOON: Hickory police have obtained a warrant for Zahra's stepmother, Elisa Baker, after she admitted to writing and leaving the ransom note that was at the fire scene on Saturday, the day Zahra was reported missing. Elisa is being charged with felony obstruction of justice after being interviewed Monday night at the Catawba County Detention facility about the disappearance of Zahra.
• TUESDAY EVENING: Police are searched a wooded area late into the night on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning dozens of miles from where the missing 10-year-old Zahra Baker was last seen. The scene is down a dead end dirt road off of Hartland Road, north of Morganton, where police spent more than seven hours looking for clues around a wood chipper and in mulch piles.
• WEDNESDAY MORNING: The girl's stepmother, Elisa Baker, was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, accused of trying to throw off investigators with a fake ransom note. A public candlelight vigil for 10-year-old Zahra is expected to take place Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at East Hickory Baptist Church on 16th Street, Southeast in Hickory.
