NC - Zahra Clare Baker, 10, Hickory, 9 Oct 2010 - #17

[bellyup]

So, if all of us agree that EB and AB had NO intention of homeschooling Zahra.....and that Zahra was not enrolled in public school....clearly there was some reason for this change from her routine.
I guess I have always thought of this as a case of abuse taken too far one day.....that EB hit her too hard that last time and killed her...disposed of her body...and tried to cover it up.
But not enrolling her in school 2 months earlier....not actually providing any valid homeschool documentation....to me screams premeditation....that there was something planned long before Zarah went missing.

I don't think so... I think they were just running and hiding from the bad check charges, EB was starting to get more violent and they didn't want people noticing, etc.

 

[essies]

'Heh, how you doing? My daughter's missing'
snip-
Zahra's dad told police he rarely saw her
Suggested Zahra had been kidnapped
Search for 10-year-old Zahra continues
THE father of missing Australian girl Zahra Baker initially explained her disappearance as the behaviour of a moody adolescent.

Queensland dad Adam Baker explained in a 911 call that he rarely saw his 10-year-old daughter because she was growing up and wanted privacy.

"My daughter is going through puberty so she's going through that brooding stage so we only see her when she wants something," he told the police call taker on October 9


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world/heh-ho...ng/story-e6frfkyi-1225941097382#ixzz12rzg2llu

 

[krista]

Or she could have been sick and they couldn't be bothered or couldn't afford to give her proper care. I am not sure how the health system works over there but we know they had money problems

Good point....but Zahra--as a legal resident--would EASILY qualify for Medicaid and her cancer and basic healthcare would be fully covered. She wouldn't even have had copays for most doctor's visits. Her step mother wasn't working and AB doesn't sound like he made enough to put him above the medicaid cap. Moreover....as in my own situation....we make enough money for basic health care, but NOT for special needs care. Thus, when your health care provider doesn't offer a service or your child needs special, life threatening care, Medicaid or the hospital would pick up the tab.
Even without ANY health care plan, Zarah could still have been seen in ANY emergency room in the country. No loving father would forgo visiting a doctor and allow his daughter to die. At the very least, a hospital/doctor could provide medication to ease her suffering (IF cancer had returned and was inoperable).

 

[Breathe]

So, if all of us agree that EB and AB had NO intention of homeschooling Zahra.....and that Zahra was not enrolled in public school....clearly there was some reason for this change from her routine.
I guess I have always thought of this as a case of abuse taken too far one day.....that EB hit her too hard that last time and killed her...disposed of her body...and tried to cover it up.
But not enrolling her in school 2 months earlier....not actually providing any valid homeschool documentation....to me screams premeditation....that there was something planned long before Zarah went missing.

And doesn't part of you wonder if it were pure laziness? Who wants to get up early, get Zahra ready in the morning, possibly taking her or meeting the bus (although, I bet one would come to the house specially for her if they offer that in her district), packing a lunch or finding lunch money, having clean clothes for her, doing homework, making sure Zahra's clean and groomed, etc.

Plus EB wouldn't want the school asking questions about why she wasn't getting Zahra medical treatment (if that's a fact) or question the bruising. Plus there's a risk of Zahra being around the public and outing EB's abuse.

(What burns my buns is that I can name over a dozen posters at WS that would have taken Zahra and her medical history without a blink of an eye. Some people have no idea how lucky they truly are. EB was blind not to see the blessing right in front of her eyes. What a shame.)

 

[sunsetbeach]

this is the 3rd article to report that ab learned of his daughter's 'kidnapping' upon returning home from work.
"the girl's father said he just returned from a work trip when elisa told him zahra was gone. Baker was reported missing saturday but police now believe she's been missing much longer."
the last one i read said that ab returned home from work to see eb running out of the house to tell him that zahra was missing. It said that ab had been working out of town from thursday until he arrived home that saturday. (i'll have to go look for that article, but it was posted here in the last thread).

That said, the transcript says that ab claims he and his wife were home when the fire started...that the dog woke him up....and that he went back to bed until that saturday afternoon.

Which is true??

b-i-n-g-o!!!

 

[bellyup]

Silly question ... is "brooding" a common word used in Oz ? ? ?

 

[kalekona]

So, if all of us agree that EB and AB had NO intention of homeschooling Zahra.....and that Zahra was not enrolled in public school....clearly there was some reason for this change from her routine.
I guess I have always thought of this as a case of abuse taken too far one day.....that EB hit her too hard that last time and killed her...disposed of her body...and tried to cover it up.
But not enrolling her in school 2 months earlier....not actually providing any valid homeschool documentation....to me screams premeditation....that there was something planned long before Zarah went missing.

I don't believe it was premeditated at all, I do believe they came up with homeschooling because the school interfered and came to the house as well as sending CPS- they simply didn't want authorities to find out about the drugs.

 

[mytime]

IMO, EB claimed to home school Zahra because she didnt want the abuse to be known. It has be reported that the teachers had concerns and reported EB.

Of course, I agree with teachers being mandated reporters. However this can be a double edged sword for abused children, As I have witnesses first hand, that many social workers and child protection agencies are weak in TOO many areas (resources, training, skills, time, etc.) and it is the child who suffers even more.

 

[Laddsy]

Good point....but Zahra--as a legal resident--would EASILY qualify for Medicaid and her cancer and basic healthcare would be fully covered. She wouldn't even have had copays for most doctor's visits. Her step mother wasn't working and AB doesn't sound like he made enough to put him above the medicaid cap. Moreover....as in my own situation....we make enough money for basic health care, but NOT for special needs care. Thus, when your health care provider doesn't offer a service or your child needs special, life threatening care, Medicaid or the hospital would pick up the tab.
Even without ANY health care plan, Zarah could still have been seen in ANY emergency room in the country. No loving father would forgo visiting a doctor and allow his daughter to die. At the very least, a hospital/doctor could provide medication to ease her suffering (IF cancer had returned and was inoperable).

Well as I said it could have also been pure laziness/neglect. We know they were both drug addicts so its similar to being an alcoholic. All they care about is there next fix and family tend to become less important as the addiction gets worse.

 

[agathawannabe]

Thanks rbrnmw for pulling that together. The boss didn't have to do anything in particular to this couple to warrant this behavior from them directed at him. He might be just a kind guy (or he might be a jerk to work for who knows?) I think it's starting to form a bit in my head and I will have to sleep on it.

Sometime after 25 SEP 2010 and before 09 OCT 2010 Zahra died.

At this point in time we could speculate that it was perhaps accidental, or from neglect because of complications from not getting appropriate medical care, but IMHO we really don't see caregivers/parents behave this way when the death was accidental in any shape or form. It's still a remote possibility I agree.

One of them, or they together, cooked up this scheme to make it look like Zahra had been mistakenly kidnapped in place of Bosses daughter. The fire was set to burn some sort of evidence, I have no clue what it was at this time. The intention was never to burn the company car or the note. But to either 1. mask the smell of decomp 2. have the fire department discover or they lead the fire department to discover the ransom note on the gas soaked car. 3. both of those.

They probably thought it would play out as a random kidnapping that was by a previous disgruntled who set fire to the yard and failed at setting fire to the bosses car. The previous disgruntled employee would never be found----and neither would Zahra.

Why would they do this? That is a very elaborate ruse, cover story. IMHO one of them probably thinks they are smarter than LE. One of them loves drama and attention. JMHO. IMHO Zahra's murder was probably just like the rest of the murders we see---she was beat one day or hit in the wrong place. Who knows? But where did they put her? I don't think she was put through the equipment at Dad's work. I think they did something else with her. JMHO...

All jmho until we get more info.

BBM

Yes. Actually, I can see why EB might think she's "smarter" than LE. She had gotten off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist (sometimes not even that) for her petty crimes - for years.

I'm re-posting her criminal history records posted earlier - for those who haven't seen it.

Part 1 (1992 - 2001)
http://www.wikiupload.com/G5LMklkF

Part 2 (2001 continued - 2010)
http://www.wikiupload.com/EHEzcJ6V

She's had loads of misdemeanor charges that never materialized as convictions.

She had at least 3 felony charges that were never convicted - likely because the officer involved did not turn in prosecution summaries (per notes in the record). Some of her misdemeanors were thrown out and the records noted that state witness was not in court and defendant had pending felonies in superior court (the same felonies that also slipped through the cracks).

She was never substantially penalized for presenting doctored identifications and fictitious info to officers (although it appears she did so repeatedly).

I'm actually astounded that offenses like "Fictitious Info to Officer" and "Fictitious Drivers License" are categorized as traffic misdemeanors -- to me, those represent a whole different level of offense than careless driving habits.

:banghead:

 

[Virgogalsue]

So, if all of us agree that EB and AB had NO intention of homeschooling Zahra.....and that Zahra was not enrolled in public school....clearly there was some reason for this change from her routine.
I guess I have always thought of this as a case of abuse taken too far one day.....that EB hit her too hard that last time and killed her...disposed of her body...and tried to cover it up.
But not enrolling her in school 2 months earlier....not actually providing any valid homeschool documentation....to me screams premeditation....that there was something planned long before Zarah went missing.

I wonder (but doubt) were any of her other 3 children homeschooled????

 

[mytime]

I don't believe it was premeditated at all, I do believe they came up with homeschooling because the school interfered and came to the house as well as sending CPS- they simply didn't want authorities to find out about the drugs.

or the abuse, IMO!

 

[imamaze]

I didn't know until tonight that the father would be away for periods of time and the SM left with Zahra?

 

[mytime]

b-i-n-g-o!!!

But AB was home for the fire and the ransom note and still did not check on lil Zahra??? Just doesn't add up to me! :banghead::banghead:

 

[tehcloser]

I didn't know until tonight that the father would be away for periods of time and the SM left with Zahra?

Me either, where did that come from...lol....trying to catch up here! :angel:

 

[Peliman]

EB has an arraignment hearing this morning sometime.

Arraigned Offenses for Case Number: 2010056768 CR
Arraigned Defendant Name: BAKER,ELISA,ANNETTE
County: CATAWBA
Court Date: 10/20/2010
Session: AM
Court Room: 0004

Offense Code Description Statute
2699 OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE FELONY COMMON LAW

 

[Laddsy]

I can just imagine life inside the house. The parents doing drugs, playing on their computers without wanting to be bothered and poor little Zahra being sent to her room all the time. If she was sick then they wouldn't have cared. They were embroiled in drugs and that's all that has mattered to them in the last few months (or longer). You can see by EB's physical transformation that this is the case. Now if they found her in her room dead after being neglectful for so long they would have no choice in their mind but to cover it up. They had been in trouble with the law, possible drugs in the house, family members claiming child abuse etc etc. The GUILT and FEAR would have been huge and their minds would be warped from the drugs also. People tend to do desperate things in desperate times. I am 80-90% sure in my mind that this is what happened.

 

[Kat]

I might be way off base but I think she wasn't kept hidden away for the last two years and abused on a daily basis. (I agree with a poster who stated this backthread)

I think this has to do with drugs, and Elise very dramatic weight loss (which I think is probably from drugs). When was that picture taken of Elise while Zahra got her hearing aids? In that picture wasn't Elise still fluffy, fairly solid build? (chunky) And at arrest she was bare boned thin almost?

The drugs triggering aggressive behavior in Elise. Drugs and alcohol abuse have way of dissolving our moral conscious when we are using. (key word abuse).

I tend to think at this time that the situation escalated rapidly after the move into the home in Hickory for some reason. It culminated in Zahra's homicide. With Elise being directly responsible and Adam either having prior knowledge or knowledge after the fact.

I would have believed that he could be innocent until I heard that 911 call. JMHO.

 

[Tikki]

EB has an arraignment hearing this morning sometime.

Arraigned Offenses for Case Number: 2010056768 CR
Arraigned Defendant Name: BAKER,ELISA,ANNETTE
County: CATAWBA
Court Date: 10/20/2010
Session: AM
Court Room: 0004

Offense Code Description Statute
2699 OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE FELONY COMMON LAW

Her lawyer is asking for a bondl reduction also

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/10/20/1773866/911-tapes-dad-had-theory-on-abduction.html

 

[MeinNC]

Just chiming in here. As I was growing up with very abusive parents, I was always made to feel like the abuse was my own fault. I wasn't offered affection very often, but when my mom or dad put their arm around me for a picture or had me sit on one of their laps, I was thrilled. Those were the only times I felt like I was "being good" and not upsetting them in some way. I don't think you can assume just because Z was leaning on EB that EB wasn't abusing her.

On another note, I found a few more of EB's MS pages that she didn't really use but do give some other variations of usernames that somebody here might want to help them do more sleuthing. I'll grab the links and post them in just a minute.