Re: ZAHRA CLAIRE BAKER - Aged 10 years - Hickory, North Carolina (USA)

**Twiglet** Fri Oct 15, 2010 8:54 am

Myrtle Beach Sun News

14 October 2010

Police: NC girl may have been alive in mid-Sept.‎

A missing 10-year-old may have been alive when her family moved to a new home in North Carolina in mid-September, police said Thursday.

Investigators are having trouble finding anyone outside Zahra Clare Baker's household in Hickory who has seen the girl alive in recent months, making it difficult to narrow down places to search.

..... Deputy Chief Clyde Deal would not elaborate about why authorities think the girl was alive when the family moved from the nearby town of Sawmills.

http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/10/14/1753637/police-nc-girl-may-have-been-alive.html

**Twiglet** Fri Oct 15, 2010 9:01 am

WBTV

14 October 2010

Drug use kept relatives from contacting DSS about Zahra
(Includes video with Brittney Bentley who was married to the nephew of Elisa Baker.)

.... Bentley claimed on WBT's Tara Servatius Show that she told her mother, Kim Drum, about issues that Zahra was subjected to, but Drum says she never contacted DSS either.

"No… I never called DSS," Drum said, adding that she regrets "…it very, very much" as authorities now fear Zahra is dead. Police called off an AMBER Alert Tuesday and now are investigating the case as a homicide.

http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13324177

**Twiglet** Fri Oct 15, 2010 9:04 am

FOX News

14 October 2010

Authorities Search 'Every Piece' of Father's Workplace for Remains of North Carolina Girl

Authorities in North Carolina say they are searching "every piece" of a tree service company for traces of Zahra Clare Baker, a 10-year-old girl who police say is presumed dead and whose father is uncooperative in the case.

Burke County Sheriff John McDevitt said investigators are conducting a "grid search" on Thursday of Real Tree Services in Morganton, N.C., where the girl's father, Adam Baker, works as a laborer.

"We're going to move every piece of everything to eliminate that property today," McDevitt said in an interview with FoxNews.com.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/14/search-remains-missing-north-carolina-girl-turns-pond-near-fathers-workplace/?test=latestnews

**Twiglet** Fri Oct 15, 2010 9:05 am

Examiner

14 October 2010

Zahra Baker latest: Police say missing NC girl's father uncooperative‎

http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-national/zahra-baker-latest-police-say-missing-nc-girl-s-father-uncooperative

**Twiglet** Fri Oct 15, 2010 9:07 am

Wsoc tv

14 October 2010

Massive Search Underway For Missing Zahra

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/25389806/detail.html

**Twiglet** Sun Oct 17, 2010 8:20 pm

Today's THV

15 October 2010

Zahra Clare Baker's friends say she had happy life in Austrailia‎

Friends who knew a missing North Carolina girl when she lived in Australia say she was happy and outgoing even though she was battling cancer.

Then her lonely single father moved her halfway around the world so he could live with a woman he met on the Internet.

Now the 10-year-old with the freckles and wide smile is missing and presumed dead, and friends and family thousands of miles away are waiting anxiously for word about her fate.

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=122774&catid=288

**Twiglet** Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:55 am

Hickory Daily Record

15 october 2010

Police take furniture, evidence from Hickory house where Zahra lived‎
Adam Baker says: "I don’t know. Everybody knows more than me."

Three pieces of bedroom furniture were brought out of the house where Zahra Baker and her parents lived. All the items were wrapped in plastic by police authorities Friday morning.

A bed frame, mattress and box springs were brought out after another extensive search of the yard and the house at 21 21st Ave., NW. They also brought two bags containing evidence. About 10 to 12 law enforcement officers and dog handlers searched the house for more than two hours.

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/oct/15/police-take-furniture-evidence-hickory-house-where-ar-459903/

**Twiglet** Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:56 am

News & Observer

15 October 2010

Police do not find missing NC girl in Burke County‎

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/10/15/742256/police-do-not-find-missing-nc.html

**Twiglet** Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:57 am

The Associated Press

15 October 2010

Missing NC girl's dad: 'I just want to find her'‎

The father of a missing 10-year-old said Friday that he is still not sure whether his wife was involved in the girl's disappearance.

Baker said he just wants to find Zahra Clare Baker and take her back to the family's native Australia if she wants to go. Police believe the girl is dead.

Baker and his wife Elisa, the girl's stepmother, reported her missing Oct. 9. They said they had last seen Zahra — who used hearing aids and a prosthetic leg because of bone cancer — in her bed at their home in Hickory, about 50 miles northwest of Charlotte. But police don't believe them.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hU9iOe4EMjRy22S-1MlaSaqJa4jw?docId=2d8a1f66e30c4181be8d3c28dfd11cc7

**Twiglet** Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:58 am

Forbes

15 October 2010

Father of missing NC girl says he's cooperating‎

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/10/15/general-us-missing-girl-north-carolina_8017344.html

**Twiglet** Mon Oct 18, 2010 3:00 am

Associated Content

15 October 2010

Has 10-Year-Old Zahra Clare Baker Been Missing a Month Without Being Reported?

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5897740/has_10yearold_zahra_clare_baker_been.html?cat=17

**Twiglet** Mon Oct 18, 2010 3:02 am

Hickory Daily Record

16 October 2010

Waiting for news hard on grandmother, family in Australia‎

The investigation into the disappearance of Zahra Clare Baker is taking its toll on her family in Australia.

Zahra’s grandmother, Karen Baker, who lives in Newcastle, New South Wales, said the media circus outside her home was pushing the family to the breaking point, according to the Townsville Bulletin, published near Giru, Queensland, the town where Zahra spent much of her life.

The dreaded details of the search for Zahra have spread across Australia where the 10-year-old is seen as a celebrity because of her gallant fight against cancer.

Zahra was raised by her grandmother.

Karen Baker told the media that the family has little or no sleep as they await news of Zahra.

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/oct/16/waiting-news-hard-grandmother-family-australia-ar-460842/

**Twiglet** Mon Oct 18, 2010 3:04 am

My Fox Detroit

16 October 2010

Police: New Leads Suggest NC Girl May‎Have Been Alive in Mid-Sept

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/national/Police-New-Leads-Suggest-NC-Girl-May-Have-Been-Alive-in-MidSept_64428968

**Twiglet** Mon Oct 18, 2010 3:06 am

WFMY News

16 October 2010

Hickory Store Employees Remember Seeing Missing Girl‎

Hickory police say they have found someone other than a family member who saw a missing girl as late as September 25.

Investigators said in a news release Saturday that they have received more than 200 tips about Zahra Clare Baker whose family reported her missing Oct. 9. The little girl uses hearing aids and a prosthetic leg because of bone cancer.

Hickory police would not comment further on the timeline or the case Saturday, but WCNC-TV in Charlotte reported that Zahra had been seen by employees at a Hickory furniture store.

In Your Home Furnishings floor manager Pat Adams told the television station that employees noted the little girl's prosthetic leg when she was in the store with her stepmother.

http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=149333&catid=57

**Twiglet** Mon Oct 18, 2010 3:07 am

Examiner

16 October 2010

Zahra Baker, missing NC girl seen alive in September, say police‎

http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-national/zahra-baker-missing-nc-girl-seen-alive-september-say-police

**Twiglet** Mon Oct 18, 2010 3:08 am

Charlotte Observer

17 October 2010

Missing girl's case highlights DSS issues‎
Search for Hickory girl renews questions about child protection system.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/10/17/1767517/missing-girls-case-highlights.html

**Twiglet** Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:18 am

Associated Content

17 October 2010

Cadaver Dogs Search Missing Zahra Baker's Home‎

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5903492/cadaver_dogs_search_missing_zahra_bakers.html?cat=8

**Twiglet** Tue Oct 19, 2010 7:51 pm

Blue Ridge Now

18 October 2010

Cops still search for missing 10-year-old NC girl‎

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20101018/NEWS/101019841/1016/OPINION02?Title=Cops-still-search-for-missing-10-year-old-NC-girl

**Twiglet** Tue Oct 19, 2010 7:52 pm

Hickory Daily Record

18 October 2010

Search for Zahra continues after 11 days‎
Monday's search took investigators back to Caldwell County.

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/oct/18/search-zahra-continues-after-11-days-ar-465396/

**Twiglet** Tue Oct 19, 2010 7:55 pm

Hickory Daily Record

19 October 2010

Police examining fund for Zahra‎
Donors contribute as questions raised about organization

Hickory police are looking into of an organization soliciting funds for Zahra Baker.

The Zahra Baker Fund, Creating a Legacy Out of Tragedy, was formed by the Spiritual Counseling Network.

The Hickory-based network says the fund was “created to assist in the investigation and/or prosecution of the disappearance of Zahra Claire Baker. The Fund exists to support law enforcement’s efforts to investigate and prosecute the case, to provide access to counseling services to those impacted by the case, to give Zahra a rightful funeral (in the event of her death) and to support organizations that fight child abuse and exploitation.”

Hickory police, in a news release, said the department has not been contacted by this group or has been given any information of their intent for this fund. HPD intends to explore this matter in greater detail without diverting resources from the investigation of Zahra.

Brandon Greeson, spokesman for Spiritual Counseling Network and the fund for Zahra, said Monday that the organization e-mailed and faxed the police department about the fund for Zahra on Monday.

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/oct/19/police-examining-fund-zahra-ar-465382/

**Twiglet** Wed Oct 20, 2010 8:55 am

Hickory Daily Record

19 October 2010

Elisa Baker's 911 call reports fire, no mention of Zahra‎

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/oct/19/elisa-bakers-911-call-reports-fire-no-mention-zahr-ar-466786/

**Twiglet** Wed Oct 20, 2010 8:57 am

WBTV

19 October 2010

NC police seek medical records for missing girl‎

Investigators searching for a missing 10-year-old Hickory girl want medical records from her native Australia, including details on the prosthesis she's had since losing a leg to bone cancer.

Hickory Deputy Chief Maj. Clyde Deal said Tuesday detectives need to know the model, serial number, and composition of the artificial leg from the Australian medical facility that fitted it for Zahra Clare Baker.

Deal wouldn't say if investigators have also sought dental records, which are often used to identify a body.

http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13350509

**Twiglet** Wed Oct 20, 2010 8:59 am

Atlanta Journal Constitution

19 October 2010

Dad of missing NC girl says kidnappers set fire‎

The father of a disabled missing 10-year-old North Carolina girl told police he thought a fire set in his backyard was meant to distract him while kidnappers abducted his daughter.

Adam Baker's 911 call to police was released Tuesday. He reported Zahra Clare Baker missing in the call Oct. 9, more than eight hours after his yard was set on fire. Zahra has a prosthetic leg and uses hearing aids.

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/dad-of-missing-nc-685562.html

**Twiglet** Thu Oct 21, 2010 9:12 am

Daily Telegraph

20 October 2010

Missing Zahra was 'moody' and distant, Dad says‎

THE father of missing Australian girl Zahra Baker initially explained her disappearance as the behaviour of a moody adolescent.
Queensland dad Adam Baker explained in a 911 call that he rarely saw his 10-year-old daughter because she was growing up and wanted privacy.

"My daughter is going through puberty so she's going through that brooding stage so we only see her when she wants something," he told the police call taker on October 9.

Excerpts from a related transcript reveal he casually greeted a 911 dispatcher by saying: "Hey, how you doing?"

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/missing-zahra-was-moody-and-distant-dad-says/story-e6freuy9-1225941065073

**Twiglet** Thu Oct 21, 2010 9:13 am

WMBF

20 October 2010

911 call released of Zahra's father reporting her missing‎

Click here to read a transcript and listen to the full 911 call

http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/13352965/amber-alert-issued-for-missing-hickory-girl

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