October 12, 2010 1:01 PM

Zahra Baker Update: Missing Case Turns into Homicide Investigation

By
Carlin DeGuerin Miller
Topics
Daily Blotter

Zahra Baker Update: Missing Case Turns into Homicide Investigation

Zahra Clare Baker (Charlotte Motor Speedway/WBTV)

HICKORY, N.C. (CBS/AP) The investigation into Zahra Baker, the hearing-impaired10-year-old North Carolina girl who was reported missing Saturday, is now a homicide investigation, Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins announced Tuesday.

PICTURES: Zahra Baker Missing

Adkins said that Zahra's stepmother, Elisa Baker, confessed to investigators that she wrote the ransom note found at the scene that asked for $1 million and then asked for an attorney.

Elisa Baker originally told police that she last saw Zahra, who also suffered from bone cancer and had a prosthetic leg, sleeping in her bed around 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning, three hours before a brush fire in the backyard of the family home was reported. Hours after the fire Adam Baker called police to report Zahra missing.

Adkins did not take any questions and did not explain why the case was now being considered a homicide. He said investigators have determined that no one outside the family has seen the girl for a month.

Police questioned the stepmother's story from the beginning and she was arrested for nearly a dozen unrelated charges Saturday afternoon.

On Tuesday morning, relatives of Elisa Baker told CBS' The Early Show that Zahra's home life was "terrible" and that she was locked in her room for hours at a time and punished for minor things.

"[Zahra] was locked in her room, allowed five minutes out a day to eat, that was it," Brittany Bentley, who is married to Elisa Baker's nephew, told the morning show. "She was beat almost every time I was over there for just the smallest things. Elisa would get mad, she would take it out on Zahra, things the kid didn't deserve. She just had a horrible home life."

Zahra was described by family friends as shy but constantly smiling, in spite of her health problems. The stepmother could be short-tempered toward her, two former neighbors said, but the woman also fought back tears when a charity fitted Zahra for hearing aids a few months ago.

"There were warning signs along the way, but you never want to think the worst," said former neighbor Kayla Rotenberry. She also said that about six months ago she noticed that Elisa Baker's hand was swollen.

"She told me that she was trying to spank Zahra, but hit her on her prosthetic leg," she said. "When Adam asked her about the injury, she said she fell and hurt her hand. She didn't want him to know. She knew he would be mad."

Adkins had previously said investigators were suspect of the parents' stories and that he wouldn't rule out any suspects, including Adam Baker.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Hickory Police Department at 828-328-5551.

MORE ON CRIMESIDER
October 12, 2010 - Zahra Baker Missing: Search Dogs Smell Human Remains as Police Question Timeline
October 11, 2010 - Zahra Baker Missing: 10-Year-Old Hearing Impaired N.C. Child Gone, Stepmother Arrested on Unrelated Charges

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Zahra Baker Missing

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Add a Comment See all 32 Comments
by maccount October 18, 2010 12:04 PM EDT
Just to think that the father and this stepmother might have done away with this poor child horrifies me! And to think people all around including family members know that this child was being abused and no one helped!!!! That's a damm shame! This poor child was sick to beginn with and on top of that it wasn't enough that they had to beat up on her, abused her and probably killed her! I keep saying it over and over: Why bring children into this world and decide you no longer want them so you wind up getting rid of them! Having children is a big responsible - it's not a toy you buy and when you get tired of it, you toss!!! This is for keeps! So unless you are willing to love and protect your children - I'll respect you more if you didn't have any! Father and stepmother were selfish - they only thought about themselves - their own happiness, the child was in their way of their fun with and for each other! I say put them both in jail together in the same cell and throw away the key - let's see how their love for on another would survive!!!
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by jknaxos2 October 18, 2010 8:29 AM EDT
Have They checked sawsmill where they moved from??? as well as the previous persons or person who dealth with her medical needs such as pt/rt's when she was recieveing treatment for her cancer and or posthenic needs like suppliers..I hope we find her soon!!!!!
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by kids6fam October 13, 2010 10:51 PM EDT
They drained a pond...have had hits on two wood chippers...blood in vehicles...they have searched many wooded areas near my house...and now we hear that they haven't gotten enough evidence, that unless the SBI gets something or they recieve a tangible tip...there wont be enough to charge the parents....Justice...will Zahra fade from memory like so many other children??
How can her father walk around free and stand with police and watch as they search???? There are really no words to describe the horror, the disappointment, and the frustration that is felt...
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by dolmance-2009 October 14, 2010 12:29 AM EDT
You aren't going to forget her and neither am I. And when this sociopath's trial goes down nobody else will forget this outrage either.

Everyone needs to consider if they know any kids being treated this way. Where your kids go to school, on the street, wherever. Bruises, vicious verbal abuse... If I suspect it, even in a store, at the very least I'm going to write down license numbers and call it in somewhere for at least some kind of investigation. Child services has to investigate if they get a tip. What the hell? I'll probably be wrong, but what if I'm right.

There's crazy people out there. And there is nothing to stop them from having children. We can't ignore the scary stuff.
by dolmance-2009 October 13, 2010 8:28 PM EDT
I just read that the stepmother who wrote that phony ransom note was seen and heard by family members and neighbors to rub her hands while bitterly complaining about how much they ached from spanking this child who made her way through the world with a prosthetic leg and two hearing aids!!!
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by maggiecosta October 13, 2010 4:39 PM EDT
Why didnt these people report the abuse?? I can?t imagine what this poor child has gone through. An artificial leg, hearing impaired, cancer!!! And someone witnessed the step-mother hitting her??? I am horrified. The poor angel.
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by bakergc October 13, 2010 12:33 PM EDT
Same thing was happening to my husbands neice. I called the cops and child protective services. My inlaws hated me and didn't speak to me for like two years. Oh well, at least her ****** dad is far away from her and I don't have to live with a guilty concience. If you see something going on speak up. it might not me easy but it's the right thing to do. You might be the only one who prevents tragedies like this one.
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by k9x2 October 13, 2010 5:19 PM EDT
Good for you!. More people need to disregard how uncomfortable confronting a situation like this may make them feel and do the right thing. Adults should protect all children, not just there own.
by jhelyn_jo October 13, 2010 11:11 AM EDT
I am just wondering where is her mother? Why she let these things happened to her little girl.

The father and the step mom were both monster. A child with bone cancer and with a prosthetic legs is being abuse by those people who are supposed to be taking care of her. Really our world is not a safe place to live in.

If children are not safe inside their own house with their own family, how much more outside the house!!
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by cavegrrl October 13, 2010 7:04 PM EDT
The mother is in Australia. Her father and Zarah moved to the US 2 years ago.
by pondering3 October 13, 2010 10:50 AM EDT
I would be so DAM* ashamed to get on national television and tell America that I suspected someone in the disappearance of a child I was related to because I'd seen abuse and that she had a "horrible" home life. WTH?????????????????? DO SOME OF YOU PEOPLE REALIZE THAT YOU DON'T ALWAYS GET ANOTHER CHANCE TO DO SOMETHING AND SOMETIMES INNOCENT CHILDREN PAY FOR YOUR COWARDICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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by tcb1956 October 12, 2010 10:59 PM EDT
Anyone who witnessed this child being abused and did nothing about it should be held accountable for neglecting her. You are just as sick as the step-mom. The no-good father should be charged too. What kind of sicko lets his wife beat his child. All of them are white trash. I hope all all the people that ignored the abuse of this adorable little girl rot in hell too.
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by mommyof533 October 13, 2010 2:54 AM EDT
agreed
by sargednb October 12, 2010 8:48 PM EDT
This story just goes to show all of us that some parents are not responsible enough to raise a child in a loving atmosphere---especially in the case of a handicapped one. Just the thought of what might of happened to this adorable little girl makes me sick.

In my opinion, the behavior of both parents (the stepmother especially) is highly suspect. I speculate that the remains of poor Zahra will not be found, and that the "brush fire" should be the subject of further investigation. Hopefully, justice will prevail however long it may take.
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