- Joined
- Jan 27, 2010
- Posts
- 71,573
- Reaction score
- 1,221
- Points
- 2,125
More than two dozen law enforcement officers spent hours searching a North Carolina property Tuesday night for evidence in the case of missing 10-year-old Zahra Clare Baker, and witnesses said a cadaver dog detected the scent of human remains on a wood chipper and in a mulch pile.
A retired policeman who lives next door to the property told AOL News today that he was asked by the local sheriff to observe the search. I went up there and stayed till 12 o'clock [this morning], said Alvin Webb, a 30-year veteran of the Morganton Police Department. I just sat there and watched [and] ... the [cadaver] dog hit on a pile of mulch and the wood chipper.
Police have been looking for Zahra since Saturday afternoon, when her father and stepmother reported her missing from their home in Hickory, N.C.
The property reportedly belongs to Fred Causby, a foreman for Real Tree Services. The tree trimming company stores heavy equipment and mulch on the property. According to the Hickory Daily Record, the company has employed Zahra's father, Adam Baker, for about the last six months.
Causby told the Daily Record that he also noted that the cadaver dog went to a wood chipper and mulch pile.
According to Webb, Baker was present during the search, which was conducted by law enforcement personnel from the Hickory Police Department, the Burke County Sheriff's Office and the FBI.
He was there, Webb said. I had them point him out to me. He stayed back away from everybody, and that is all I know about him.
WCNC-TV also reported Baker was at the scene, but according to The Charlotte Observer, Burke County Sheriff John McDevitt said he was not exactly cooperative.
Baker told police he last saw his daughter sleeping in her bed about 2:30 a.m. Saturday. He said he and his wife, Elisa Baker, slept in on Saturday and did not notice she was missing until about 2 p.m.
But Hickory Chief of Police Tom Adkins said Monday that police don't know when Zahra was last seen. Neighbors have reportedly told police it has been more than a month since they last saw the hearing-impaired little girl, who had bone cancer and used a prosthetic leg.
On Monday, police executed a search warrant on cars belonging to the father and Elisa Baker, Zahra's stepmother, during which the dogs detected the scent of human remains, The Associated Press reported. It was during that search that authorities also found a ransom note.
We have your daughter and your son is next, the note read. Unless you do what is asked. $1,000,000 in unmarked bills. Will be in touch soon.
On Tuesday, Adkins announced that authorities believe Zahra was slain. Adkins also told reporters that Elisa Baker had admitted to writing the ransom note and is being charged with felony obstruction of justice.
Story link: http://www.aolnews.com/crime/articl...hipper-for-clues-in-zahra-baker-case/19672352
A retired policeman who lives next door to the property told AOL News today that he was asked by the local sheriff to observe the search. I went up there and stayed till 12 o'clock [this morning], said Alvin Webb, a 30-year veteran of the Morganton Police Department. I just sat there and watched [and] ... the [cadaver] dog hit on a pile of mulch and the wood chipper.
Police have been looking for Zahra since Saturday afternoon, when her father and stepmother reported her missing from their home in Hickory, N.C.
The property reportedly belongs to Fred Causby, a foreman for Real Tree Services. The tree trimming company stores heavy equipment and mulch on the property. According to the Hickory Daily Record, the company has employed Zahra's father, Adam Baker, for about the last six months.
Causby told the Daily Record that he also noted that the cadaver dog went to a wood chipper and mulch pile.
According to Webb, Baker was present during the search, which was conducted by law enforcement personnel from the Hickory Police Department, the Burke County Sheriff's Office and the FBI.
He was there, Webb said. I had them point him out to me. He stayed back away from everybody, and that is all I know about him.
WCNC-TV also reported Baker was at the scene, but according to The Charlotte Observer, Burke County Sheriff John McDevitt said he was not exactly cooperative.
Baker told police he last saw his daughter sleeping in her bed about 2:30 a.m. Saturday. He said he and his wife, Elisa Baker, slept in on Saturday and did not notice she was missing until about 2 p.m.
But Hickory Chief of Police Tom Adkins said Monday that police don't know when Zahra was last seen. Neighbors have reportedly told police it has been more than a month since they last saw the hearing-impaired little girl, who had bone cancer and used a prosthetic leg.
On Monday, police executed a search warrant on cars belonging to the father and Elisa Baker, Zahra's stepmother, during which the dogs detected the scent of human remains, The Associated Press reported. It was during that search that authorities also found a ransom note.
We have your daughter and your son is next, the note read. Unless you do what is asked. $1,000,000 in unmarked bills. Will be in touch soon.
On Tuesday, Adkins announced that authorities believe Zahra was slain. Adkins also told reporters that Elisa Baker had admitted to writing the ransom note and is being charged with felony obstruction of justice.
Story link: http://www.aolnews.com/crime/articl...hipper-for-clues-in-zahra-baker-case/19672352
