November 5, 2009 3:12 PM
- Text
Babysitter Susan Baker: Shannon Dedrick Found Under Her Bed; 22 Years Ago Stepson Never Found at All
(AP Photo)
Chipley, Fla.(CBS/AP) Investigators in Florida are looking into possible connections between the 1987 disappearance of a 3-year-old South Carolina child, Paul Leonard Baker, and the dramatic lost-and-found case of Florida infant Shannon Dedrick, who authorities say was found alive under her babysitter's bed after being missing for five days.
Authorities in both states think the link between the two missing-child cases could be Susan Elizabeth Baker, the babysitter for Shannon Dedrick.
(Family Photo)
According to a case synopsis provided to the Panama City News Herald by the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Paul Leonard Baker was living with his father, James, and stepmother, Susan Elizabeth Baker, when the toddler vanished 22 years ago in Beaufort, S.C., never to be seen again.
The couple was arrested in the case and charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature for allegedly beating 3-year-old Paul Baker before he vanished March 5, 1987, according to the documents.
The documents say Susan Baker told police she put the child down for a nap on March 5, 1987 and returned to find him missing. Deputies and police searched the area around their home for several days but found no trace of the little boy.
After the disappearance, the couple's 6-year-old daughter was removed by state social workers who discovered broken bones and sores on her body. In that case, Susan Baker was convicted for beating the girl and sentenced to 10 years in prison for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. That sentence was later suspended after 80 days, according to the documents.
The Bakers were never indicted in the disappearance of 3-year-old Paul Baker.
Now, twenty-two years later, in the Florida panhandle near rural Chipley, Washington County sheriff's authorities say 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick, who was missing for five days, somehow turned up alive and well -- in a box, under a bed in a home where her babysitter lived.
The babysitter, they say, is Susan Elizabeth Baker.
Baker, her husband James, and Shannon Dedrick's mother, Chrystina Lynn Mercer, are under investigation in the case.
Popular Now in Crime
- 3 dead, 2 critically injured after Fla. standoff
- "Thrill killing" Mo. teen gets life in prison
- Fla. teen kills grandmother, stabbed over 90 times
- Mo. teen called killing 9-yr.-old 'enjoyable'
- Cops: Man killed couple for "unfriending" daughter
- Yeardley Love's roommates testify at murder trial
- Ex-"Survivor" producer extradited to Mexico
- 12-Year-Old Girl Locked in Closet For a Year Because She Wanted to Eat, Say Texas Police
- Jail time possible in Romney "glitter bomb" case
- Missing Florida teen Naketa Leiba found safe
- Father of Alleged Elizabeth Olten Killer Alyssa Bustamante Has Violent Past
- Ex-Rose parade director accused in Calif. murder
- Exclusive: Alyssa Bustamante Friend Says Elizabeth Olten's Alleged Murderer Thought About Killing
- 911 tape released from Josh Powell house fire
- Officer describes beaten, bruised Yeardley Love
- Dog the Bounty Hunter's daughter arrested
- Jason Young's second trial begins in wife's death
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook
on CBS News
- Calpine's 4th-quarter loss narrows, shares jump
- Greek PM: Austerity measures will allow 4.5 percent primary surplus in 2012
- Greek PM: New debt deal will allow end of recession in 2013
- AllianceBernstein posts 4Q loss, revenue slides
on Facebook
- Josh Powell had "incestuous" images on his home computer, authorities say
- Adele sings a cappella for Anderson Cooper
- Notorious teacher sex scandals
on CBS News
