Zahra Clare Baker Update: 911 Call Made by Father of Missing N.C. Girl Released
HICKORY, N.C. (CBS/WBTV) The Hickory Police Dept. released a recording of the 911 call placed by the father of 10-year-old Zahra Claire Baker the day he said she went missing.
On Oct. 9, Adam Baker told an emergency dispatcher that his backyard may have been set on fire at 2:30 that morning in an effort to district him while kidnappers abducted his daughter, reports CBS affiliate WBTV.
"I don't know if they set a fire in the yard to distract us to go out and then they snuck in the door," he said.
Baker, 33, also told the emergency dispatcher that he had found a ransom note left by the supposed kidnappers claiming that they had taken the daughter of Baker's employer.
"It appears they may have taken my daughter instead of his daughter," Baker said according to a transcript of the call.
Police say Zahra's stepmother, Elise Baker, has since admitted to writing that note. She has been charged with obstruction of justice.
In the call, Baker claimed he last saw the girl in the early hours of Oct. 9, nearly 12 hours before they reported her missing, and that he and his wife didn't check on her after the fire.
"We had all that drama last night and me and my wife went back to bed," he told the dispatcher. "My daughter is, I think, coming into puberty and she's hitting that brooding stage. We only see her, she only comes up, when she wants something."
Investigators continue to search for the missing girl and have reached out to Zahra's biological mother in Australia to request the little girl's medical records.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Hickory Police Department at 828-328-5551.
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF ZAHRA CLARE BAKER ON CRIMESIDER
