GUILTY FL - Shannon Dedrick, 7 mo., Chipley, 31 Oct 2009 #5

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My wife just came in and read me this letter that she sent to a local Christian Radio Station...I wanted to shere it with you.

I have wanted to tell you for days now about a miracle that happened. I was listening to you to get the information that I needed and another miracle happened. This is my story. I wanted to call this story "Shannon's Story," because she is the first miracle that I am referring to. I got a call from my sister Kandis Boyer at aprox. 6:00am Saturday evening that her granddaughter Shannon Lea Dedrick was missing. We spend several days watching the internet and news for any word on her an I had to fight many time from breaking down and crying for Shannon but if I did I felt like I would be giving up the hope of finding her alive. So My whole family refused to give into those thoughts and kept everyone focused on finding Shannon. I can tell you this was hard because we were surfing the net for information and some of the things that were being said kept distracting us to thoughts of grievances and why's and how comes, but we kept reminding ourselves that none of this was helping find Shannon. So we called everyone we knew and everyone we knew did the same and the prayerpower kept growing and growing once the story was publicized the whole country was praying for her. We were watching the internet when the first clues as to a baby sitter that was responsible for another child disappearance appeared from a group of awesome sleuths on the net. The next night after getting off work I went to visit my own grandson, when I left there which is only 5 minutes from my home I found myself finally succumbing to the pressure of what was going on and I began to cry. By the time I got to my driveway I could not control the tears. It was dark and my husband came to the porch and waited for me to get out of the car but I just sat there with it running and then a song came on. It was Curtis's song "Miracles Can Happen." It was telling me to not give up now I had come to far and miracles can happen in an instant, and the world will tell me one thing and faith will tell me something else. I listened to this song and filled my heart with hope and faith and shut my car off and went inside. My husband was on the phone with my sister in Florida and they had found the baby alive and well. I hit my knees and knew the song was God telling me he had answered our prayers. It is Friday I have been high on miracles for 2 days and on my way to work tonight I heard Curtis's song again. I started crying again filled with the message that was being given to me again and I pulled over in a parking lot and let the tears flow. The next song that played was "Amazing Grace." This song I have sung my whole life when ever I needed hope. I sang it to my grandchildren when I rocked them to sleep and this was also my Grandmother's favorite song (who has gone to be with Christ). I had asked my Grandmother to look out for Shannon were ever she was and protect her while we were searching for her. I believe hearing this song at that moment was my Grandmother letting me now she had done so. The next song that played was the song There Is No Such Thing as Perfect People, There Is No Such Thing as A Perfect Life." I believe this message was for all the people making judgment in this case with out all the facts. And then Shine played this song had me singing as load as I could in the Wal-Mart parking lot and I then went to work shining. I think that normally people would have thought that I was a crazy 46 year old woman but when I was able to share the miracle with them they to had experienced the same joy to the news of finding Shannon and they to were shining to. The part of God's plan others may not be seeing yet is that this case has reopened a 22 year old cold case involving this babysitter and another missing child in her care. I believe that little Paul will be found because of this new case. God works in mysterious ways. This case is far from over but from the beginning I have been sure that these events were for a bigger reason. It could be laws that will be passed to keep child offenders from being around children. Legal precedent needs to be established in which the family of the parent in question is interviewed by the state authority governing child care for a newborn if there is any question of that parent’s emotional or mental competency. In this case, this was where the state authority was found lacking, and may have possibly failed if a pattern of conduct can be demonstrated in other similar cases. The news is full of incidences were there could have been less violence if officials had listened more carefully. The world is in the middle of a big change. I am empowered by the messages that the young song writers are singing, I have heard how people from all age groups are being moved by this music. God is talking to us through these messages and we are changing our lives. You to are acting as a sounding board for God. I know that you think that you are only sharing the love of God but you are also the way for God to talk to people everywhere that needs his help. I am done sounding off now I to just wanted to let you know how Christ was moving through you.




I was just informed that Shannon has been with Doctors all day being checked out. She is a ward of the State for now and is in a Medical Foster Home where she is being loved and cared for. We are all very supportive of this. Again...we do not matter at all..our feelings or pride do not matter...Shannon matters, period.

My heartfelt best to you all
 
Did someone say Shannon or TM is autistic? (I'm asking cuz I have an autistic son and have lots of experience)



No one said autistic, thats why I said if.... But I know autism has a broad range of functionality, and am pretty sure some have emotional recognition problems. So it was more of a "what if" to say I can belive this baby is ok, and there maybe a reason she doesn't act like a "normal" child, by not smiling or crying when some think she should.

.OT My oldest son is 20 and is a Guardsman, He has always had a habit of... I call it banging his head... on his pillow when he is going to sleep... he still does it, but only when he is alone.(so don't tell him I said soo...lol) His pediatrician said it was an autistic trait.
 
Hi everyone...just joined and first of all I want to Thank everyone for there invaluable help in finding Shannon.

Unlike the recent poster I feel that everyone here wants to do good things and the motivation is for the right reasons. So no...I do not get the impression that ya'll have gotten bored with watching HSN or NG and figure this is the next best thing.

I assure you that as a Family we are more than aware of what has happened and how very very wrong it all is. We will Love and stand by Tina but do not think for a second that ANYONE is more important to us than Shannon.

I have heard over and over folks commenting that they would never do this or that and trying to relate there own thinking to the thought process that resides in Tina's mind. That is a key mistake IMO. I dare say that no one here can imagine what went on in Tina's mind. When others describe her as retarded, bi-polar, mentally chalenged etc...they are on the right path but still ....it is more than all that combined. Please just keep that in mind. Not to excuse what has happened but to better understand it.

I have a lot more to say but I think it best if I leave it at this for now.

One last thing...I said this to my Family and want to say it loud and clear here.
"I am so proud of our family...we used our heads, tempered our emotions and proceeded with honesty. And for once virtue and faith prevailed."

Ya see...I grew up in a time of morals, caring Jon Wayne. That is the real America and it still exists...but I will admit makes lousy headlines.

Thank you all!

Because you are a part of the family, you must email WS's owner, Tricia, so she can confirm your identity before you make any more posts.

Her email is Tgrif@xmission.com

Thank you!

Hoppy
mini-mod
 
My wife just came in and read me this letter that she sent to a local Christian Radio Station...I wanted to shere it with you.



I was just informed that Shannon has been with Doctors all day being checked out. She is a ward of the State for now and is in a Medical Foster Home where she is being loved and cared for. We are all very supportive of this. Again...we do not matter at all..our feelings or pride do not matter...Shannon matters, period.

My heartfelt best to you all
<snipped for space>

Your letter has me in tears!!! I stand with you on the hope that what has happened to Shannon will bring to light a little boy named Paul...gone missing 22 years ago. I like this family in Texas...I like them very much!

Please know that we have a prayer chain in the private forums. I hope you will visit there as soon as you can. You are a blessing! :blowkiss:
 
deleted...everyone is a step ahead of me tonight...
 
<snipped for space>

Your letter has me in tears!!! I stand with you on the hope that what has happened to Shannon will bring to light a little boy named Paul...gone missing 22 years ago. I like this family in Texas...I like them very much!

Please know that we have a prayer chain in the private forums. I hope you will visit there as soon as you can. You are a blessing! :blowkiss:

I sooooo agree.. I am crying here too!...IMHO all of your family does matter we pray for all of you including Shannon in this tough time. and Praise God prayers are answered and he has his reasons for all things...
 
Oh, carp! Kimster is reading my mind again!

Hoppy

You know that aliens can get into your head, right? I don't do it very often cuz half the time I'm scared of what I'll find. :wink:
 
My wife just came in and read me this letter that she sent to a local Christian Radio Station...I wanted to shere it with you.

Shannon's story is a miracle from God. Your letter brought tears to my eyes. Your family have handled this with Faith,Grace and Dignity.I also feel that now the light is shinning brightly on Paul, may he also be found. A Change is needed in the system.Your sister tried to get help for her daughter and GrandDaughter
The system failed Shannon, there are many more babies out there with mom's that need help.Shannon's story may lead to helping so many other children before harm can come to them.Just because a person is over 18 not in all situations are they adults.Shannon is a beautiful baby God Bless her and her family from Texas.
 
I was just informed that Shannon has been with Doctors all day being checked out. She is a ward of the State for now and is in a Medical Foster Home where she is being loved and cared for. We are all very supportive of this. Again...we do not matter at all..our feelings or pride do not matter...Shannon matters, period.

My heartfelt best to you all

I cant imagine how difficult it must be for the close family members to have had to endure this tragedy for the past week +,but it also seems like this has gone on for so much longer,what I mean is that Crystina has had severe problems for a long time and this has effected everyone that cares about her.

This was a train wreck waiting to happen and all by the grace of GOD this tiny precious baby has been left here by GOD now to be taken care of by someone who can give her unconditional love that she so deserves,not to be EVER cast out again by anyone, I plead with you to consider ALL of precious baby Shannons needs , she needs to bond with a special person wether it be family(blood) or not ,Shannon is entitled to this ,she is OWED that.

She is beyond a miracle, she needs to have a FOREVER family that can provide her with the special care she will need,she will NOT come out of this unscathed,it will be a long process.

This child has been traumatized and needs special care, just because shes so young doesnt mean she will be fine,thats not true.
Shannon needs to have a stable,loving,caring home,not be bounced from place to place,please consider ALL of her needs. She deserves only the best!!

Continue to pray for GOD'S guidance, only he knows best and you will too!!

God Bless and keep this little(BIG) miracle SHANNON safe now and FOREVER!

:rose::rose::rose::rose::rose::rose::baby:
 
This is awfully judgemental, when we don't really know all the circumstances or the extent/nature of Tina's mental disability. Suppose you were mildly retarded, and a woman who's a relative of your husband and has been babysitting your infant convinces you that the state is going to take your baby away from you and never let you see her again, but if you give her the baby and tell police she just "disappeared", the woman says she'll hide the baby until things calm down and then let you see the baby whenever you want. So you're scared of losing your baby forever and decide you'd better go along with this plan. Then once the woman has your baby, she warns you that if you tell police what really happened, she'll kill the baby and hide the body so there won't be any evidence (against the woman).

Tina may very well have been faced with some heavy manipulation, deliberately designed to frighten and confuse her, that she simply didn't have the ability to figure out and react appropriately to. The accusations that Tina is fully responsible for this strike me as every bit as inappropriate as when many people (not here, as far as I know) were claiming Elizabeth Smart obviously went and stayed willingly with her kidnapper -- it was just so "obvious" that she had many opportunities to escape and "chose" not to. I never bought into that view, but many peopel did, and just recently we finally heard a lot of the details, including that she was forcibly drugged and drunk much of the time. Objectively speaking, sure, there were many times when she was out in public with Brian and Wanda, and could have pulled down the veil and yelled "Help! I'm Elizabeth Smart! I need to get away from these people!" Seems easy, but it just wasn't for her. And remember, Elizabeth was a mentally normal (in fact, very smart, it seems) 14-15 year old during her ordeal. Tina has been reported by a family member to have a mental age of about 13.

If we're going to call for punishment of anyone other than SB (and JB if he knew what was going on), it should be the social workers who had plenty of opportunities to interview Tina, and to request evaluations from psychologists/psychiatrists, and who had been advised by Tina's mother that Tina wasn't capable of parenting -- and yet still insisted on leaving Tina and Rusty (who has also been reported to have some mental deficiency), raising Shannon independently.

This post is the closest yet to what I believe went on...I
will leave it at that. The only inside thing I will say is that when Shannon was born and we expressed concerns we were told that if Tina could brush her teeth and tie her shoes then she was capable of being a mother. And I do not stretch the truth one iota with that statement. This will all come out eventually. There are so many wrongs that have surfaced...and we are not blameless either. I hope we can all learn from this and do better in the future.


And about Kandis' nails...she and her sister (my wife) always have fresh nails. And they always try to be neat clean and presentable. It was the LAST thing on anyones mind.
 
I am just glad that Shannon gets a second chance.

And I can see she has those who really love her......
 
This post is the closest yet to what I believe went on...I
will leave it at that. The only inside thing I will say is that when Shannon was born and we expressed concerns we were told that if Tina could brush her teeth and tie her shoes then she was capable of being a mother. And I do not stretch the truth one iota with that statement. This will all come out eventually. There are so many wrongs that have surfaced...and we are not blameless either. I hope we can all learn from this and do better in the future.


And about Kandis' nails...she and her sister (my wife) always have fresh nails. And they always try to be neat clean and presentable. It was the LAST thing on anyones mind.



I too share your concern that Tina was manipulated into this fiasco by a strong willed snake oil salsemen so to speak. The good thing is that now, Tina will have chances to get any help that she needs. Please make sure that she has people on her side that are looking out for her best interests (ie lawyers, doctors, counselors, etc.) because on the road she is on now, she will definitely need it.

Also, please know that the vast majority of those here do understand that Shannon is the TOP priority for the family. It is very hard when you have to be pulled in 2 very different but important directions... What is best for Shannon, and what is best for Tina. Time and patience will help bring the answers to fruition. It is blatently obvious that God stepped in and brought Shannon home. In the end, I have a feeling that we will all learn that not only is little Shannon a miracle for coming through this ordeal healthy and safe, But she could quite possibly be the miracle that brings another family's tragedy to closure.

That is one very special baby girl :angel: your family has there. Please, one day let her know that she has touched the hearts of many many people that may not have met her, but now feel like she is part of our hearts.

Take care, and may God continue to bless your family.

PS... I have a bad habit of painting and repainting my nails over and over when I am stressed, nervous, or when I am begining to have a hypomanic episode... I can actually understand about the nails thing. It has calmed me down on MANY occasions. :curtsey:
 
That is one very special baby girl :angel: your family has there. Please, one day let her know that she has touched the hearts of many many people that may not have met her, but now feel like she is part of our hearts.

Oh Yes that precious child will never leave my thoughts or heart, I hope one day if she learns of this ordeal, she will be told of a great MANY praying for her rescue and sending her love!:blowkiss:
 
Just to add to the family of Shannon....

I think we all know who the truly evil person is in all of this...Susan.
It's not to justify the actions of anyone else but this woman needs to go down.
 
I am just glad that Shannon gets a second chance.

And I can see she has those who really love her......

MG,

Please don't take this as a criticism directed at you, I keep reading this same comment and just want to be sure we don't give the impression that Tina doesn't love Shannon.

From everything we read from DCF, pediatrician and neighbors; I have seen nothing that makes me think Shannon was not well loved in her home. Moreover I saw signs that she was very loved, by the notes saying the parents continued to follow thru on what was asked of them.

The pediatrician who had nothing bad to say about the care and follow up from Tina. His front desk staff, who I have found in the past at other offices have a tendency to be extremely critical of parents who don't meet the criteria they personally establish, only said Shannon wasn't always the cleanest baby in the office but that Tina was very good about following thru on Shannon's office visits.

I think Tina was in way over her head, Sue Baker found this as an opportunity to move in and take advantage. We have no idea what thoughts and idea's she was feeding Tina. But it is very obvious that while Tina was in an impossible situation, Sue Baker was doing nothing to help and she eventually wore her down.

Many, many parents who love their baby more than themselves, give their child up for adoption, so the child can have a better life. Since we weren't on this ride from day one, we have no idea what went on in Tina's mind for the last seven months, possibly making her think this was the right thing to do.

Possibly even realizing her mistake in the light of day, yet fearing she would be in trouble for giving Shannon away, she may have even asked Sue to give the baby back and being denied, she did the only thing that made sense to her at the time, by reporting her missing. Then spending 4 days not telling LE the truth, out of fear she was going to get in trouble. All the while wanting LE to figure it out and reclaim Shannon for her.


Hopefully this all comes out and Sue, now a 3 time loser if they tie her to lil Paul, will never see the light of day.
 
I cant imagine how difficult it must be for the close family members to have had to endure this tragedy for the past week +,but it also seems like this has gone on for so much longer,what I mean is that Crystina has had severe problems for a long time and this has effected everyone that cares about her.

This was a train wreck waiting to happen and all by the grace of GOD this tiny precious baby has been left here by GOD now to be taken care of by someone who can give her unconditional love that she so deserves,not to be EVER cast out again by anyone, I plead with you to consider ALL of precious baby Shannons needs , she needs to bond with a special person wether it be family(blood) or not ,Shannon is entitled to this ,she is OWED that.

She is beyond a miracle, she needs to have a FOREVER family that can provide her with the special care she will need,she will NOT come out of this unscathed,it will be a long process.

This child has been traumatized and needs special care, just because shes so young doesnt mean she will be fine,thats not true.
Shannon needs to have a stable,loving,caring home,not be bounced from place to place,please consider ALL of her needs. She deserves only the best!!

Continue to pray for GOD'S guidance, only he knows best and you will too!!

God Bless and keep this little(BIG) miracle SHANNON safe now and FOREVER!

:rose::rose::rose::rose::rose::rose::baby:

Yup! You nailed it, but the sheriff has said Shannon has lots and lots of family members who have come forward, expressing a desire to be Shannon's forever family.

Because of all we now know about the emotional issues lots of deeply loved adopted children develop (in no way am I anti adoption) I still believe it is a wonderful way to make a family. But we have no way of predicting at this time which kids will thrive forever and which kids grow up always feeling abandoned, with deep issues.

I hope Shannon's family members are not passed over because of this horrible incident. IMO they have displayed a quiet, dignity throughout, and they should be the first to be evaluated for placement of Shannon, as her "new" forever family.

Obviously Shannon's best interest should be the bottom line, it is wonderful to know her family knows this too.

It's also wonderful to know how many truly loving people there are who are so interested in seeing Shannon get everything she deserves.
 

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