NC - Zahra Clare Baker, 10, Hickory, 9 Oct 2010 - #2

[mysticrose]

Zahra Baker Case: Police Probe Claims of Abuse of Missing 10-Year-Old


Police are looking into claims by several former neighbors that disabled 10-year-old Zahra Baker, who has been missing from her Hickory, N.C., home since at least Saturday, was abused by her stepmother before she vanished.

Former neighbors in nearby Sawmills, N.C., described the stepmother, Elisa Baker, to ABC News as a stern and cold parent to Zahra. The little girl lost her leg and most of her hearing in a childhood battle with bone cancer.

"Just the way she yelled and screamed at her, and I did see her hit the child a couple of times," one former neighbor, Renee Bobbitt, told ABC News Monday. Bobbitt also claimed Zahra was once sent to school with black eyes

http://abcnews.go.com/US/zahra-baker-case-police-investigate-alleged-abuse-missing/story?id=11856868

 

[trigger]

Just catching up ....

This is horrible, the worst of the worst.

They all failed this sweet girl.

What did this monster do to this child.

So there is a presser this morning at 1030am. I don't know if I can listen to anymore. I'm crying....

 

[darlin gal]

Former neighbors in nearby Sawmills, N.C., described the stepmother, Elisa Baker, to ABC News as a stern and cold parent to Zahra. The little girl lost her leg and most of her hearing in a childhood battle with bone cancer.
"Just the way she yelled and screamed at her, and I did see her hit the child a couple of times," one former neighbor, Renee Bobbitt, told ABC News Monday. Bobbitt also claimed Zahra was once sent to school with black eyes.
"I should have called and said something then," Bobbitt added. "I wish I had've a million times, because no child deserves anything like this. And it's really got the whole neighborhood upset because we all loved the child. She would play with our kids and she was just the normal, happy 10-year-old. And it's just unreal what was going on."



http://abcnews.go.com/US/zahra-baker-case-police-investigate-alleged-abuse-missing/story?id=11856868

 

[waltzingmatilda]

Zahra Baker Case: Police Probe Claims of Abuse of Missing 10-Year-Old


Police are looking into claims by several former neighbors that disabled 10-year-old Zahra Baker, who has been missing from her Hickory, N.C., home since at least Saturday, was abused by her stepmother before she vanished.

Former neighbors in nearby Sawmills, N.C., described the stepmother, Elisa Baker, to ABC News as a stern and cold parent to Zahra. The little girl lost her leg and most of her hearing in a childhood battle with bone cancer.

"Just the way she yelled and screamed at her, and I did see her hit the child a couple of times," one former neighbor, Renee Bobbitt, told ABC News Monday. Bobbitt also claimed Zahra was once sent to school with black eyeshttp://abcnews.go.com/US/zahra-baker-case-police-investigate-alleged-abuse-missing/story?id=11856868

~above BBM~

IMO, this was probably the reason for Zahra being pulled out of public school. If the teacher saw this, she should have reported any bruising on Z to the school social worker. Teachers are bound by the duty to protect the children when there are visible signs of abuse.

MOO

wm

 

[ella971]

Well, so far I have believed the Dad but not anymore. Killing me.This is killing me. Why????
I still have a feeling she will talk. Thank You guys for all the digging and searching you have done.

 

[strawberry]

Zahra Baker Case: Police Probe Claims of Abuse of Missing 10-Year-Old


Police are looking into claims by several former neighbors that disabled 10-year-old Zahra Baker, who has been missing from her Hickory, N.C., home since at least Saturday, was abused by her stepmother before she vanished.

Former neighbors in nearby Sawmills, N.C., described the stepmother, Elisa Baker, to ABC News as a stern and cold parent to Zahra. The little girl lost her leg and most of her hearing in a childhood battle with bone cancer.

"Just the way she yelled and screamed at her, and I did see her hit the child a couple of times," one former neighbor, Renee Bobbitt, told ABC News Monday. Bobbitt also claimed Zahra was once sent to school with black eyes

http://abcnews.go.com/US/zahra-baker-case-police-investigate-alleged-abuse-missing/story?id=11856868

Oh how I want to take this child and give her a home and love and take care of her medical needs. It is too late now, I'm sure of it.

 

[strawberry]

~above BBM~

IMO, this was probably the reason for Zahra being pulled out of public school. If the teacher saw this, she should have reported any bruising on Z to the school social worker. Teachers are bound by the duty to protect the children when there are visible signs of abuse.

MOO

wm

Plus abusers usually isolate their victims. It's all about control and domination.

 

[NancyA]

Do we have any info on how Adam, his wife and daughter came to the USA? Did they have a job here, or file for residency here full time or part time? Do any of them have family in the USA?

There are several ways for them to have come here. Given that he was in a relationship with the step-mother, she could have filed a petition with USCIS for him (and any minor children) to come on a fiance's visa. He would simultaneously file with his local US Embassy. The drawback to that is that he would be ineligible to travel to the US while the petition was pending and that process can take up to a year and more. The other way (and the way I did it) would be for him to come here on an ordinary visitor's visa and, as long as they were married within 90 days of his arrival, they would be able to jointly file the various residency petitions. It involves a MOUNTAIN of paperwork, various interviews, biometrics, background checks by the FBI, medical exams etc and it isn't cheap! Average processing time around 9 months. The drawback to that is he would be unable to work for at least several months whilst awaiting a work permit and be ineligible to travel OUT of the US in the interim so he would have to have all his affairs in his home country sorted out and have the financial wherewithal to survive until he was eligible to work.

Effectively, her part of the petition either way would involve her agreeing to accept responsibility for supporting him (them) and paying for (providing insurance for) their medical care for at least 7 years, I'm not absolutely sure but I'm pretty sure they would NOT be eligible for medicare or social security benefits during that time either. The Green Card which is initially issued is for two years and conditional. To have the conditions lifted they have to file again after 2 years and prove that they are still married and living together, that they have joint financial commitments etc, basically another MOUNTAIN of paperwork and jumping through of the same hoops as the initial petition.

 

[Velouria]

As the evidence mounts, it seems to be pointing to the stepmother as a guilty party in this young girl's disappearance. As a step-mother myself, I want to say that women like SM continue to perpetuate the ideal of the "evil stepmother" and thus continue to smear the reputations of the many, many stepmothers who treat their stepchildren as their own -- with the utmost kindness, caring and love. It's woman like SM who make our "jobs" a lot harder. SHAME ON HER. If she is guilty, she deserves the maximum punishment.

Amen, Penelope.

And SHAME ON DAD for dragging his little girl across the globe on the basis of some internet "romance", only to leave her in the hands of this monster.

From the accounts of her biological children, she's a sorry excuse for a mother, step or otherwise. :furious:

 

[darnudes]

There are several ways for them to have come here. Given that he was in a relationship with the step-mother, she could have filed a petition with USCIS for him (and any minor children) to come on a fiance's visa. He would simultaneously file with his local US Embassy. The drawback to that is that he would be ineligible to travel to the US while the petition was pending and that process can take up to a year and more. The other way (and the way I did it) would be for him to come here on an ordinary visitor's visa and, as long as they were married within 90 days of his arrival, they would be able to jointly file the various residency petitions. It involves a MOUNTAIN of paperwork, various interviews, biometrics, background checks by the FBI, medical exams etc and it isn't cheap! Average processing time around 9 months. The drawback to that is he would be unable to work for at least several months whilst awaiting a work permit and be ineligible to travel OUT of the US in the interim so he would have to have all his affairs in his home country sorted out and have the financial wherewithal to survive until he was eligible to work.

Effectively, her part of the petition either way would involve her agreeing to accept responsibility for supporting him (them) and paying for (providing insurance for) their medical care for at least 7 years, I'm not absolutely sure but I'm pretty sure they would NOT be eligible for medicare or social security benefits during that time either. The Green Card which is initially issued is for two years and conditional. To have the conditions lifted they have to file again after 2 years and prove that they are still married and living together, that they have joint financial commitments etc, basically another MOUNTAIN of paperwork and jumping through of the same hoops as the initial petition.

Wow, thanks - I didn't think it was an easy process to go through.

 

[Money Girl]

Shame on the Hickory Police Chief for not organizing searches for this little girl. The very least he could do is search around a 2 mile radius of her home and if no luck, a 2 mile radius of her former home.

 

[tk71texas]

Shame on the Hickory Police Chief for not organizing searches for this little girl. The very least he could do is search around a 2 mile radius of her home and if no luck, a 2 mile radius of her former home.

While I totally agree with you, I honestly think LE knows it's grim

 

[Velouria]

As I stated last night, the most telling thing I have seen was while watching the father and police chief on television yesterday morning. When dad broke down at the end of the interview and started to weep, the chief did not even reach over to comfort him in any way. He watched him closely but didn't reach out at all. That body language shows me that cops think he is guilty of something, even if its knowledge of what really happened.

shefner, when I watched his interview on GMA I had to rewind and watch it several times. While I tried to remember that grieving parents react in different ways, I had this nagging feeling that something that seemed "off" about his demeanor. To be honest, before the interview, I didn't know much about the case, and have spent the last day and a half catching up on the facts. And unfortunately, it doesn't look good for that lovely little girl. God bless her wherever she is.

 

[trigger]

Shame on the Hickory Police Chief for not organizing searches for this little girl. The very least he could do is search around a 2 mile radius of her home and if no luck, a 2 mile radius of her former home.

IMO I think LE knew they did not have to search for her at all. Decomposition lingers for some time.

 

[angelmom]

Devil's advocate here (and do NOT misunderstand - I think there is hink and stink aplenty in this girl's disappearance) but:

As far as the neighbor statement regarding cruel walking in the prosthetic (sp?) goes I would wonder whether it was one neighbor. Reason being, I am not an amputee but would think that when breaking in a new prosthetic the process might actually require some pain while getting the stump accustomed to that sort of pressure of placing your weight upon it?

If I am mistaken, I hope someone with expertise may chime in here.My point is, perhaps, if only one person has said this SM could have been dealing with an uncomfortable, frustrated child learning how to use a new prosthetic. I know an earlier poster mentioned that children need to constantly replace them as they are growing.

Maybe I should scroll back a bit into the thread and see if I can find that poster.

I appreciate you trying to see all sides of this. I don't have up close and personal experience with a prosthesis, but a boy on my son's LAX team has one that seems very similar to Zahra's. It is just below the knee. He lost his leg 4-5 years ago from bone cancer.

This spring, in the middle of the LAX season, he was having pain from the prosthesis. The parents had to drive him several hundred miles to the place where he gets fitted to get his new one.

I share this for 2 reasons:

1) There was no breaking in period. He played a LAX game that afternoon when he got back, and played great. The pain was gone once he had the correct fitting one - all of the pain was from the too-small one before.

2) His mother mentioned the cost. That he had had a growth spurt and outgrew it much faster than normal, and it was a financial shock. She did say thank God they have good insurance, but it is still a percentage and very expensive. She specifically said something along the lines of wondering how people without good insurance or a good job would manage.

So, forcing her to walk on it gets no benefit of the doubt from me.

And I really wonder if the costs were becoming an issue, especially if it seemed that Zahra was outgrowing her prosthesis and would need a new one, or if there were any other symptoms that indicated she might be getting sick again. Either or both would be stressful if there were money problems.

If,as I fear,Zahra has been missing for a long time,WHY announce that she is missing NOW?? What made it important for LE to know now?

Does anyone think that a family member might have deliberately set the fire hoping that LE would check on Zahra? It sounds like DFCS was called several times but nothing was done. That must have been agonizing and frustrating to have no authority to do more.

 

[Velouria]

Is this the same chick that Adam married -- the very large lady on his MS page? MOOOO only - but she looks like a mether now. YIKES.

Elisa Baker is considered a person of interest in the missing child case but police would not come right out and call her a suspect. Elisa Baker was arrested on larceny by employee, driving with a revoked license, passing worthless check and communicating threats.

http://yourdailynewspaper.blogspot.com/2010/10/elisa-baker-mugshot-photos.html

View attachment 11720

I was positively shocked to read she is only 42. 52 I might believe, but then again I know several 52 year-olds who look much younger and nothing like this hardened specimen.

I agree with the posters who are calling meth-head.

 

[Velouria]

Does anyone think that a family member might have deliberately set the fire hoping that LE would check on Zahra? It sounds like DFCS was called several times but nothing was done. That must have been agonizing and frustrating to have no authority to do more.

Not sure about that, angelmom. My first thought was that Stepmommy Dearest set the fire to destroy evidence.

 

[Blue Ridge]

~above BBM~

IMO, this was probably the reason for Zahra being pulled out of public school. If the teacher saw this, she should have reported any bruising on Z to the school social worker. Teachers are bound by the duty to protect the children when there are visible signs of abuse.

MOO

wm

I am actually wondering whether, if it turns out she's been missing two or more months already, the REAL reason the school was notified that she was going to be "homeschooled" this year was because she was already GONE when school started.

 

[tlcya]

TY angelmom, for answering my prothesis question. I really don't know anything about them or how taht all works. I appreciate your taking the time to answer. So there would be no logical reason for forced walking. That is what I needed to know.

 

[kharmakhameleon]

Shame on the Hickory Police Chief for not organizing searches for this little girl. The very least he could do is search around a 2 mile radius of her home and if no luck, a 2 mile radius of her former home.

just because you do not have knowledge of it does not mean that her home, her former home, and many, many former homes of hers have been searched and searched again.