Posted on 11/05/2009 5:29:44 AM PST by ETL
CHIPLEY, Fla. – A baby missing for five days was found alive and well under her baby sitter's bed, and Florida authorities said Thursday they plan to charge the sitter, her husband and the child's mother.
Investigators found 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick in a box tucked under a bed surrounded by items intended to hide the child at Susan Elizabeth Baker's home near Chipley, a rural Panhandle town, Washington County Sheriff Bobby Haddock said in an interview early Thursday. The baby was placed in protective custody.
"Statistically speaking this should not have ever happened, that we found this child alive, especially after so many days. Time was against us," Haddock said.
Shannon was taken to a hospital but appeared healthy, Haddock said. ..."
Haddock said deputies were working to charge Baker, her husband James Arthur Baker and the child's mother, Chrystina Lynn Mercer. He wouldn't provide details about the possible charges or say how they believe the mother was involved, but said more information would be released later Thursday.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
this is one crazy story.
They may explain later today what the motive was.
Fishing for a Reality TV show, like the Balloon Boy family?
sounds like they were planning to sell the child
Could be, or perhaps some sort of insurance scam?
"Help, help, my baby is missing!"
"Have you checked under the bed?"
In 2000, Susan and James Baker were extradited to South Carolina and charged in the disappearance of their 3-year-old son more than a decade earlier.
Susan Baker had told authorities Paul Leonard Baker disappeared from the family's Beaufort, S.C., home on March 5, 1987, while she was napping. But a massive manhunt in the swampy area around the Bakers' home turned up nothing, and Susan Baker was never indicted. Authorities could not immediately say Thursday what became of the charge against James Baker.
The child was never found, according to the Beaufort County, S.C., sheriff's office.
When the couple reported their son's disappearance, the Bakers' 6-year-old daughter was taken into state custody, where officials discovered she had been severely beaten.
Susan Baker was charged with causing the girl's injuries, including sores on her back and broken hands, and charged with assault and battery with intent to kill. After being convicted, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The sentence was suspended to 80 days.
You didn’t read the article did you?
That’s what I was going to say, too.
I wonder what the nut did with her other child, Paul Leonard Baker.
In 2000, Susan and James Baker were extradited to South Carolina and charged in the disappearance of their 3-year-old son more than a decade earlier.
When the couple reported their son's disappearance, the Bakers' 6-year-old daughter was taken into state custody, where officials discovered she had been severely beaten.
This is neither justice nor legal.
Who got paid off?
Where’s the FATHER!!!
Mea Culpa, you are correct.
What I was addressing was the absurdity and this 5 day long danger of the situation. We just had the "Balloon Boy" hoax with the kid hiding in the attic while the authorities searched elsewhere. When you have these situations, the very FIRST THING the authorities need to do is to SEARCH the local area / house themselves and do it thoroughly!
The baby’s father was living with the mother, in a trailer park. The news reporting on this locally has been really weird... rumors that the parents were mentally retarded, then that the sitter had written to authorities a month ago saying the parents were dangerous to the child... the baby is pretty small for her age... and then yesterday the weird stuff about this previous case.
Since they’d been searching trash cans and the woods since day one, I think the police were very surprised to find this child alive.
It wasn’t the baby’s house, but the sitter’s home, reportedly 13 miles away. This case is really really weird and the police did a good job apparently.
I would suspicion that no one did. Women aren’t dealt with as harshly as men are, and that’s coming from a woman. Also some courts really suck when it comes to sentencing.
He’s there. But both parents are druggies.
“Susan Baker was charged with causing the girl’s injuries, including sores on her back and broken hands, and charged with assault and battery with intent to kill. After being convicted, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The sentence was suspended to 80 days.”
Nothing like justice being served—murder sentence dropped from TEN YEARS to LESS THAN THREE MONTHS!!?
Attempted murder, but still insane.
“When the couple reported their son’s disappearance, the Bakers’ 6-year-old daughter was taken into state custody, where officials discovered she had been severely beaten.
Susan Baker was charged with causing the girl’s injuries, including sores on her back and broken hands, and charged with assault and battery with intent to kill. After being convicted, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The sentence was suspended to 80 days.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091105/ap_on_re_us/us_missing_florida_baby
Given that the baby is apparently healthy IN SPITE of parental and caretaker neglect I strongly agree with you. A lot better outcome than the Central Florida "Starved Baby Death". Just goes to show that some people should never have children but, on the other hand, who is competent to make that decision except in hindsight?
I have a six month old baby. The idea of someone stuffing her in a box under the bed, even for a minute, is horrifying.
Unfortunately, if we give government the power to say anyone shouldn’t be a parent, it WILL come back to bite us...
Looks like hydrocephalus to me.
That baby looks like David MCcallum in “The Man from Tomorrow” on the OUTER LIMITS.
This shows the irresponsibility of our law enforcement and judicial system!!!!!!
Praise God.
They have a terrible reputation for protecting the rights of the weak, or seeking justice for them.
That's my first impression tooo.
That baby doesn’t seem normal to me. It’s not just the pictures, it’s the videos too. She doesn’t interact with anyone. She has a blank “far away” look. Was that the mother and babysitter in one of the videos talking to her? If so she doesn’t even smile at them. She just blankly stares at them. It gave me the willies.
I have grandchildren not that much older than she and this baby just doesn’t act normal. Not a sound nor a cry out of her either. How did they keep her quiet all of that time under the bed? Did they feed her? Babies usually fuss and cry when hungry. I can’t imagine a 7 month old happy and quiet in a cedar box under the bed for all of that time.
Given the history of the parents I doubt the child is normal or healthy.
Here is a link to the video I saw.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/05/florida.baby.found/index.html
That baby was supposedly in that box for 12 hours? I can’t imagine any 7 month old being quiet under those circumstances.
The women I noticed are at the end of the video on the left. There seems to be an older woman kissing the baby’s hands and head and another two women on each side of her. They seem to be together. I was wondering who they were. They seem to know the baby but the child gives no reaction.
Thank you for sending the link. The sheriff’s tears said it all. My guess is that the women are relatives or friends. The child doesn’t seem to react to much of anything, so I guess it’s not surprising that she didn’t react to them. Taking advantage of children, whether unborn or otherwise, is disturbing. I can’t imagine, either, a baby being in a box for 12 hours and remaining quiet ... but maybe her handicap is severe.
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