Zahra Clare Baker Update: Medical Records Sought for Missing N.C. Girl

HICKORY, N.C. (CBS/AP) Police in Hickory, N.C. are still searching for Zahra Baker, the missing hearing-impaired North Carolina girl, and have reportedly reached out to the 10-year-old's biological mother in Australia to request Zahra's medical records.

PICTURES: Zahra Baker Missing

Police have not said whether a body has been found but have said they believe Zahra, described as sweet and cheerful despite her health problems, is dead.

Investigators haven't specified what type of medical records they're seeking or for what reason, but in some cases dental records are used to identify a body, according to CNN.

Zahra's father, Adam Baker, and his wife Elisa, the girl's stepmother, reported Zahra missing Oct. 9. They told police that they had last seen Zahra - who uses hearing aids and a prosthetic leg because of bone cancer - in her bed at their home in Hickory, N.C., about 50 miles northwest of Charlotte, earlier that same morning.

But police have questioned that timeline from the beginning.

Investigators said Zahra may have been alive when the family moved to a new home in North Carolina in mid-September, but they've had trouble finding anyone outside of the household who has seen her since Sept. 25, when a furniture store employee recalled seeing Zahra with Elisa Baker, shopping in the store.

Elisa Baker, 42, is being held on an obstruction of justice charge after police say she admitted to writing a fake ransom note to throw police off in the investigation of her stepdaughter's disappearance. Her court-appointed attorney says she is "scared to death" and very emotional.

Adam Baker, 33, said Friday that he hasn't talked to his wife and remains unsure if she had anything to do with his daughter's disappearance.

"Maybe," Adam Baker told The Associated Press. "I'm still trying to figure it all out."

Adam Baker has not been charged in the case, though Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins has said previously that he hasn't been ruled out as a suspect.

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