Cops: Mom Gave Missing Fla. Baby to Sitter

(AP)  A mother who reported her infant daughter missing had secretly turned her over to her baby sitter, who hid her in a box under a bed, authorities said Thursday.

Chrystina Lynn Mercer gave 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick to Susan Elizabeth Baker early Saturday, about 10 hours before she was reported missing, Washington County Sheriff Bobby Haddock said Thursday.

The report led to a five-day search in and around this rural Panhandle town that ended late Wednesday when Shannon was found alive. Baker had allowed deputies and their search dogs into her home, which is about 12 miles from Mercer's. Haddock said Baker had asked Mercer on Friday if she could permanently take custody of Shannon, though he did not say why.

Over the summer, Baker wrote Gov. Charlie Crist's office pleading for help for the baby. She claimed Shannon's father shook her and that he, Mercer and others smoked cigarettes and drugs in front of her.

Haddock said the child apparently had been fed while she was with Baker and was in good condition, although no bottle was found in the box.

"She was way back under the bed," he said. "But she was not crying."

Mercer and Baker remain jailed. Arraignments were scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Mercer is charged with interference of child custody, desertion of a child and several other charges. Charges against Baker include neglect of a child with aggravated circumstances and interference of child custody.

Baker's husband, James Arthur Baker, was arrested but has been released. He is still under investigation, Haddock said. The child's father, Russell Dedrick Jr., is not believed to have been involved.

Shannon's parents told investigators they last saw her when they went to bed around 3 a.m. Saturday and investigators thought she had vanished sometime between then and 8 a.m.

About 100 law enforcement agents and others spent days scouring dense vines and marshes around the baby's home in a remote, makeshift community of dirt roads, tin-roof shacks and old mobile homes.

"Statistically speaking this should not have ever happened, that we found this child alive, especially after so many days," said Haddock, who cradled Shannon in his arms as he spoke to reporters earlier Thursday. "Time was against us."

According to court documents, child welfare officials began looking into allegations Shannon was being abused less than two weeks after she was born.

Investigators frequently went to the infant's home from August to late September and reported that both parents used marijuana and kept a messy home. But they said Shannon seemed to be cared for and in September, a physician determined that she was healthy and expressed "no concerns regarding the baby."

Susan Baker was involved in another missing child case in South Carolina more than two decades ago. She told authorities her stepson, 3-year-old Paul Leonard Baker, disappeared from the family's Beaufort, S.C., home on March 5, 1987, while she was napping.

A massive manhunt in the swampy area around the home turned up nothing. She and her husband, James Baker, were extradited to South Carolina in 2000 and charged with assault and battery in Paul's disappearance, according to police reports provided by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. But a grand jury never indicted them and the child was never found.

Susan Baker did serve prison time after authorities investigating her stepson's disappearance discovered a 6-year-old girl in the Baker home had been badly beaten. Susan Baker was sentenced to 10 years in prison but the sentence was suspended after 80 days. Authorities could not say how she was related to the girl.

[MalloryDavis]

GAWD! these posts reveal many morons. I can't read any of your cr@p anymore. I'm going somewhere else. Poor pathetic fools you are.

[sharoncalla]

I cried for joy that the baby was found "alive", rare these days. It could of been so much more tragic. The father was cleared of any wrong doing, maybe he will clean up his act, and start anew as a single parent. All little girls like is ice-cream and to giggle, it really is not that hard, if he has a Mom and a couple of good family members to help him. Once she gains weight and grows hair she will be beautiful, as since I am a mom, all kids are beautiful, to me.

[sharoncalla]

I cried for joy that the baby was found "alive", rare these days. It could of been so much more tragic. The father was cleared of any wrong doing, maybe he will clean up his act, and start anew as a single parent. All little girls like is ice-cream and to giggle, it really is not that hard, if he has a Mom and a couple of good family members to help him. Once she gains weight and grows hair she will be beautiful, as since I am a mom, all kids are beautiful, to me.

[bann65]

I wish that girl that this horrible, horrible Baker woman, beat, would come out and tell authorities what went on in that home and what she thought happened to that little 3 year old boy. What a SICK woman.

[MalloryDavis]

SNAP JUDGEMENTS and accusations. You think you know the whole story and base your studidity on what you THINK. That's scary.

[cdegolier]

Yeah, the baby was well taken care if you forget about the pot smoking.

[fuzzyback55]

Her fine should be that she would have to reimburse the police for all the wasted manhours. That is a lot of wasted taxpayer money.

[mommaDar]

I am not saying to label a child and not in a rude or critical manner as its not the childs fault the environment they are born into. But the childs appearance displays the characterists of a baby of drug/alchol use during pregnancy . The head enlargement(appears in meth use) and the closeness of the eyes (appears in alchol syndrome) are both characteristics. Very much attention was given by family services but the decision to remove the child was delayed .... bad move especially if the parents drug use was confirmed . I would suggest a hair drug screen on the child or blood work during a check for childs health and well being. Once again the ball was dropped by child welfare agency when they confirmed drug use in the home they had grounds but gave that extra mile and the parent took a turn somwhere on that mile .... I wish the child a secure and developmental home plan where it can flourish in life , that is the only positive point of this - baby will get another chance !

[displeased]

WOW!

[askagain]

It is hard to believe that so many people are so screwed up.

[ToolMangler1]

Sometimes the term "Trailer Trash" has merit!!!!!!
(But not all that live in trailers are 'trash', some are very good people)

[goirish1974]

Are you referring to the poor baby and her screwed up parents and the babysitter, or the posts on here?

[tmittelstaed]

Very few babies under a year old look like the Gerber Baby. It is normal for most of them to look weird, not just the face but most of them look fat and have a beer belly. For most kids this takes care of itself by the time they are 7 years old, assuming, of course, they aren't raised on a diet of pork rinds and french fries.

[goirish1974]

What?? It's apparent you know very little about babies and their development.