NC - Zahra Clare Baker, 10, Hickory, 9 Oct 2010 - #8

[Wise Old Owl]

Just some thoughts that I have had about this.

Something to add a new twist on things. Zahra was most likely on disability and receiving disability benefits. A "Missing" child would continue to get benefits. A deceased child would not. Possible motive for covering up a child's death?

If she was receiving disability, family services would not and did not lose track of her due to the family moving.

Her prosthetic leg is most likely made of light weight material so that a child could easily use it. Probably a material that would float. I believe it's very possible that Zahra's leg was put through the wood chipper and not her body. There would be tons of evidence if a human body was put through a chipper....it would not be an easy mess to clean up to remove all evidence.

It's doubtful that human remains remained on the residence or in a vehicle for a long period of time. As we have all learned from the Caylee Anythony case, the smell would be intolerable after only a few days.

The drug para. is most likely something along the line of pipes, bongs or rolling papers. Just simply because the "ransom" note said something about a pot smoking son. (criminals tend to slip in some truth between the lines). The green vegetation may be pot. They really can't say it's pot until it has been proven to be that....so they just describe it.

I highly doubt a child would be on hard drugs such as methadone. The drug of choice for neuropathy is Neurontin....which is a non narcotic drug and highly effective.

There has to be some pretty good indications for them to go to the expense of draining a pond. I'm guessing that someone is talking at least a little.

As Zahra was from Australia I don't believe she qualified for disability here - even if she did it would have required bunches of paperwork and I just don't think they (EB and AB) went that way.

NC is notorious for child abusers to simply up and move to a new county and the DSS agencies don't coordinate cases - IOW once county B gets a report unless someone tells them about county A doing an investigation, they won't call. This last move was from one county to another.

 

[gibby207]

From that article:

"We always want to err on the side of doing more than you need to than not doing as much as you should have done," he said.

Yup... lil poke there to those would should have done more...

 

[gibby207]

I just found SM's FB page. Are we allowed to reference it?

Purdy please with sugah?

 

[tlcya]

I just found SM's FB page. Are we allowed to reference it?

I believe it has been in prior threads. Mods, I am unclear on social network sites, we can reference but not directly link? Or can we directly link? I am unsure on that since minors photographs and names are sometimes listed thereon.

Hold on I got to go check TOS

 

[tiredblondy]

Zahra Lead story on WLOS TV 13 Asheville, lot of focus on the vigil, showing the pastor, interviewing people at the vigil. Very moving!

 

[eyes4crime]

My, those poor searchers...I wonder if they start all over again tomorrow? If dad knows, he had better cooperate...

Dad must be sticking to his story that he saw Zahra Thurs. night. Even though nobody has seen her for over a month, LE would have a difficult time disproving his statement unless they find her. Step-mom and dad have a plan and they are sticking to it. moo mho

 

[Lori59]

Per WSOC 11:00 news

Vigil--showing video. Lots of people showing emotion. Have candles. Singing amazing grace. Search --Spent hours draining pond. Same location of last night. 4 foot pond. Nothing found. Done searching area.

 

[Paintr]

If the three passports were found in the intact vehicle (not set on fire) I would speculate they were going to travel out of the country. Once away, they would say Zahra was kidnapped. just my speculation and thoughts.

OK I am confused. I read in earlier reports that the Tahoe was doused in gasoline and the mulch/brush pile was set on fire. Did I miss a burning car? Quite possible at the rate the thread is moving. Did a car actually catch on fire?

 

[tlcya]

You know what I heard tonight... and I can't remember where.... that the property that pond was on was 6 acres? 60? ahh... anyway, there were many ponds on it.

Reported on either NG or JVM Neighbor's statement that the porperty is 6 acres and holds several small ponds

 

[Reannan]

Dad must be sticking to his story that he saw Zahra Thurs. night. Even though nobody has seen her for over a month, LE would have a difficult time disproving his statement unless they find her. Step-mom and dad have a plan and they are sticking to it. moo mho

You know eyes - you bring up something that has bugged me for a while. If Dad is involved in this crime, and he is now pointing the finger at the stepmom - why is she not pointing it back at him? I can't even think up a really stupid idea that they might have been trying to pull off which involves pointing the finger at her, and then hoping to get away scott free... Personally, I believe Zahra was dead weeks ago, and both of them are involved. I am just having trouble reconciling that thought with the facts we currently know. :waitasec:

 

[Soul125]

OK I am confused. I read in earlier reports that the Tahoe was doused in gasoline and the mulch/brush pile was set on fire. Did I miss a burning car? Quite possible at the rate the thread is moving. Did a car actually catch on fire?

I don't believe a car was ever set on fire. It was just doused with gasoline in preparation of a fire. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Paintr]

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/oct/13/law-enforcement-continues-search-missing-child-ar-455936/

Wednesday’s search included investigation in Catawba, Burke and Caldwell counties. However, as of press time Wednesday, Zahra has not been found.

snip...

In Catawba County, the property around the Baker home was searched with a K-9 unit again. The dumpster for a restaurant near the Baker’s home on 21st Avenue, NW, was also hauled away so investigators could look through it to ensure there was no evidence inside.

 

[passionflower]

LEVI SHOW:
They think dad will go back to the scene......keeping him out and watching him.
See were he rings his hands, acts nervous etc.......body language etc.
Stories don't add up.
Tears everyone can have them.
Has he helped? at all?
Not checking on daughter.
Fire ..burning clothes, evidence and LE looking into that also.
folks didn't leave their comfort zone.
Pat Brown thinks that there was no plan.
Not very bright people.
LE has evidence a piece of fire, a piece from car, photo, abuse, ransom note.........puzzle will come together.
Abuse will come back to haunt parents.
Abuse escalates.............verbal, physical,death
Educated people know children die of violent deaths usually from parents.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

The problem with the photos as regards the leg is that I have seen photos of Zahra with two different sytles of prosthetic leg. One is more resemblant of a human leg, shape, etc.

The other is of the slender titanium-ish looking variety where it is just a slender pole running from the shoe and then fitted at the stump.

We can't know what we are dealing with til LE or someone tells us if one of those legs was a replacement for the other or whether she wore both at teh time of her disappearance. I tend to think it is one or the other as it was reported her prosthetic (singular) was missing along with her but without knowing which one it was, how can we know whether it can be partially chipped or not?

sigh. I hate it when I hit the informational dead end!

I believe that nearly all prosthetic legs made these days have a titanium rod in the center. Cosmetic material can be included or omitted, but the basic structure still needs the lightweight ultra-strong metal rod, regardless of what the outside is going to look like.

 

[Soul125]

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/oct/13/law-enforcement-continues-search-missing-child-ar-455936/

Wednesday’s search included investigation in Catawba, Burke and Caldwell counties. However, as of press time Wednesday, Zahra has not been found.

snip...

In Catawba County, the property around the Baker home was searched with a K-9 unit again. The dumpster for a restaurant near the Baker’s home on 21st Avenue, NW, was also hauled away so investigators could look through it to ensure there was no evidence inside.

Sigh, that is a lot of area to cover for LE. There are so many places to consider not knowing how long she has really been missing/deceased.

 

[Paintr]

Sigh, that is a lot of area to cover for LE. There are so many places to consider not knowing how long she has really been missing/deceased.

I wonder why they took the dumpster? In an earlier report we heard that LE was asking for video from cameras of local businesses. Could something have turned up on this tape to lead LE to this dumpster? Or was it just the nearest to the Baker home? :waitasec:

 

[Wise Old Owl]

This has been nagging at me all day. LE has found some blood evidence; cadavar dogs have hit on 2 woodchippers and 2 cars - that tells me that a "clean" disposal didn't happen.

I think LE is looking for a site with alot of blood and they haven't found it yet. I'm trying to not be too graphic or morbid so I hope you get where I'm going with this.

There has to be a "main" site which would contain copious amounts of blood and they haven't found it yet. KWIM?

 

[eyes4crime]

LEVI SHOW:
They think dad will go back to the scene......keeping him out and watching him.
See were he rings his hands, acts nervous etc.......body language etc.
Stories don't add up.
Tears everyone can have them.
Has he helped? at all?
Not checking on daughter.
Fire ..burning clothes, evidence and LE looking into that also.
folks didn't leave their comfort zone.
Pat Brown thinks that there was no plan.
Not very bright people.
LE has evidence a piece of fire, a piece from car, photo, abuse, ransom note.........puzzle will come together.
Abuse will come back to haunt parents.
Abuse escalates.............verbal, physical,death
Educated people know children die of violent deaths usually from parents.

Maybe their plan is NOT to talk or reveal anything about the crime to LE. So far they haven't. I know LE will do what is needed to get someone to confess but nothing has worked so far. IMO that might be the only plan they have, but it's something. moo

ETA: I forgot to thank you for keeping us informed. Appreciate it very much.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

AP news report released. Not sure what to make of it yet.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...LWNY3lLWF2wqDQ34pAEwD9IR6LIO0?docId=D9IR6LIO0

From link: "Caldwell County Court records show that Yount and the woman's relative Brittany Bentley each filed a complaint in May accusing Elisa Baker of making violent threats against them on separate occasions."

I'm glad to see confirmation that at least two people made non-anonymous reports to authorities. But it's extremely disturbing that DSS didn't pursue the matter a lot more aggressively, given that they had two people reporting, one an unrelated neighbor and the other a relative of the alleged abuser. I wonder how often such a combination of reports is made, and a thorough investigation finds no abuse. I'm guessing very, very rarely. Maybe never.

 

[dr dona]

Most prosthetic legs are now made of titanium. They look like thin rods of steel. These new appliances are very strong. The children in my practice who wear them are playing basketball, running track. One of my patients wants to play football. We'll see if Mayo Clinic lets him. What has me confused is where are her doctors.... Kids with cancer ( even though it was 5 years ago ) always get mandatory follow up at least yearly. The cancer can recur years after. Most Pediatric cancer specialists would look for signs of abuse, emotional problems etc. They would notice alot of bruises. If bone cancer or other forms of childhood cancer recur the child's platelet count becomes abnormal..This shows up as excessive bruising and epistaxis. Also oncologists routinely want to follow survivors growth patterns and make certain puberty occurs at the appropriate age. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy can effect fertility. I just can't figure out how this beautiful child could be so ignored....Why didn't someone who was a mandatory reporter notice????? Didn't this child have an MD????????