NC - Zahra Clare Baker, 10, Hickory, 9 Oct 2010 - #8

[Hopeful One]

A police source close to the investigation also tells FoxNews.com that Adam Baker is not being cooperative in the search for his daughter.

"His cooperation wasn't good," the source said. "And his credibility is certainly a question now."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/1...-pond-near-fathers-workplace/?test=latestnews

The fact that he isn't cooperating anymore says a LOT, IMO. An innocent person would cooperate completely to find his missing child. If I had nothing to hide, I would give them the clothes off my back if it meant helping to find my daughter.

 

[Kat]

I have to sign off.

Just a thought though. The Ransom note: That was a very very stupid move. Fortunately for us and Zahra though it was written.

Without the ransom note, we might still be unaware of Zahra being missing.

Have to go have a great day!

 

[pinkpuddytat]

Well, the legal expert in the video I posted, said that North Carolina does not have the mandatory reporting requirement, unless I miscontrued? She specifically mentioned NC doesn't have it.

All states have mandatory reporting requirements, though the details differ from state to state. http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/manda.cfm A summary of the specifics for North Carolina is here http://nccasa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65&Itemid=117 North Carolina actually has a "mandatory reporting" requirement that applies to anyone (i.e. not just doctors, school officials, etc) with knowledge of abuse, though there are no specific criminal penalties for an ordinary citizen failing to do so.

The term "mandatory reporting" is not normally applied to legal requirements for a parent/guardian to report abuse of a child, but there are definitely legal sanctions in all states against a parent/guardian who knows a child is being abused and fails to report it and/or take the child to a health care professional (i.e. a mandatory reporter) for treatment. Failure to report and/or get treatment for an abused child is often part of the formal legal grounds for removing a child from a parent's custody, e.g. mom knew her boyfriend was beating and/or sexually abusing her daughter and didn't report it. That sort of parent/guardian non-reporting is probably treated under most states' laws as a category of criminal "child neglect" (rather than a violation of a "mandatory reporting" requirement).

 

[tehcloser]

Your children should always come first but everyone deserves to have their own life and fall in love.
(just check out the people you socialize with)

I did check out the people I socialized with when I had my children....a lot of them had to go buh bye. And your children are your life, and you can fall in love just as easy being a good parent as you can being a bad one.

 

[darnudes]

Now that is good to know that there are a lot of cross checkings regarding Aussie's leaving the country to live in another country. Thank you.

I've done some checking and depending on how much Adam was earning in Australia he may have received, for a child under 13 years - $160.30 per AUD per fortnight.

After having a quick look around the Centrelink website I'll happily admit that he may have found a way to claim quite a bit of money including rent allowance and child care benefit, all additional to what he would have received above. The legislation has changed since he lived here and these figures would not be what he was paid two years ago. If the bio mum was paying support that would be factored into the payments the government would give him. Some families here work out a way to give their ex partners money under the table as a way in which to defraud the gov and get extra money they are not entitled to. This may have changed in the last couple of years and may be harder to do now.

 

[KaylynnCouture]

If he isn't cooperating...arrest him. IMO.

 

[kalekona]

Adam's free time may be getting shorter as we type.

The back and forth from report to report is mind boggling.

But I'm still surprised he hasn't lawyer-ed up yet.

I wonder if that might be because he isn't a citizen- could he not know he has the right to lawyer? Could that be the reason he is outside while EB is in jail? Is it possible LE is taking advantage of what AB doesn't know about the system in order to find out what he does know about his daughter?

 

[nobodyspecial]

Adam's free time may be getting shorter as we type.

A grid search is certainly encouraging to that end. Fingers, toes, eyes and legs crossed (and not just cuz I need a potty break....)

 

[Kamille]

Not picking your post apart but how is that done?

They moved from one county to another IIRC.

Was Zahra even withdrawn from the school she last attended?

School would have just shortly started, so in my experience given that I have to move so often the process is to first withdraw the child from school then register at another school.

But IIRC, many parents either forget or don't worry with formally withdrawing their child from school. They just wait until they get to the next school, fill out the paperwork and have that school request the records from the previous school. JMHO. Would her previous school track down every child that was enrolled last year and not withdrawn but didn't start school this year? That would be a lot of work.

IIRC, it was first reported that Zahra was homeschooled this school year, but the state says they have no record of her being registered to be home schooled? How can the state follow up on a child that they have no record of as being home schooled.

Not picking, just trying to figure out how that works.

According to articles posted much earlier in these threads, Zahra was registered to attend her previous school for the upcoming school year beginning in August. At some point prior to that, SM contacted the school and told them she would be homeschooling her. I would have to assume that a big red flag would go up when DSS did a follow up check on the case and learned that the child was not attending school, was not registered to be home schooled and had subsequently moved. Or do they just forget about the child when that happens? Not their problem anymore. Was anyone actively trying to find out where Zahra had moved to or whether she was getting an education at all? If not, no wonder these parents keep moving.

MOO

 

[kalekona]

I did check out the people I socialized with when I had my children....a lot of them had to go buh bye. And your children are your life, and you can fall in love just as easy being a good parent as you can being a bad one.

Correct. I was just saying everyone has the right to fall in love.

Oh nevermind what do I know I've been married for 30 years and only have one kid left at home (for another year and half at least)

 

[darnudes]

Maybe someone else from Oz with more experience and knowledge of Centrelink and child support will chime in?

 

[shefner]

Not picking your post apart but how is that done?

They moved from one county to another IIRC.

Was Zahra even withdrawn from the school she last attended?

School would have just shortly started, so in my experience given that I have to move so often the process is to first withdraw the child from school then register at another school.

But IIRC, many parents either forget or don't worry with formally withdrawing their child from school. They just wait until they get to the next school, fill out the paperwork and have that school request the records from the previous school. JMHO. Would her previous school track down every child that was enrolled last year and not withdrawn but didn't start school this year? That would be a lot of work.

IIRC, it was first reported that Zahra was homeschooled this school year, but the state says they have no record of her being registered to be home schooled? How can the state follow up on a child that they have no record of as being home schooled.

Not picking, just trying to figure out how that works.

One thing I know about school files is that parents cannot carry them from one school to another. The schools themselves contact each other concerning school records being transferred. If you, as a school administrator, have a child's file and that file is never requested by another school, then that should tell you something is wrong.

I moved several times through the years with my children. Public schools will not let you carry files...they request them. When we got ready to homeschool our children, we registered with the State of NC Education Dept.

Also, when the state receives your homeschool registration request, you must list previous schools attended so that they can locate your child's files. This lets the previous school know what happened to the child.

I think the system is probably overloaded with these types of situations, where children just get "lost." Their parents move, decide to "homeschool" without taking concern to register or learn about the state's rules, and the previous schools just put the files to back and let it go. Its not right, but its a lot to keep up with. With all the computer systems we have today, you would think there would be an easier way to track children's education in the US.

 

[Curious Me]

I have to sign off.

Just a thought though. The Ransom note: That was a very very stupid move. Fortunately for us and Zahra though it was written.

Without the ransom note, we might still be unaware of Zahra being missing.

Have to go have a great day!

You bring up something that I'm still questioning. The part I don't understand yet was why the parents even reported Zahra missing. The police had been out to their property in the early morning because of that mulch fire, but then the parents decided to report her missing in afternoon. Why? Nobody seemed to be aware of Zahra living there. The father wanting to report his daughter missing might mean he was truly concerned. Don't know enough yet. Can anybody fill me in on why they even reported her missing?

 

[Kamille]

The back and forth from report to report is mind boggling.

But I'm still surprised he hasn't lawyer-ed up yet.

I wonder if that might be because he isn't a citizen- could he not know he has the right to lawyer? Could that be the reason he is outside while EB is in jail? Is it possible LE is taking advantage of what AB doesn't know about the system in order to find out what he does know about his daughter?

I'm not sure but if he's not arrested, he'd have to retain and pay for his own lawyer wouldn't he? That's a good reason not to arrest him because he likely can't afford to do that.

MOO

 

[tehcloser]

Correct. I was just saying everyone has the right to fall in love.

Oh nevermind what do I know I've been married for 30 years and only have one kid left at home (for another year and half at least)

I did not mean for that to sound as snarky as it did...:blushing: Blame it on me being from Texas and rather errrr, ummmm "plain spoken"????????? :crazy:

 

[kalekona]

I'm not sure but if he's not arrested, he'd have to retain and pay for his own lawyer wouldn't he? That's a good reason not to arrest him because he likely can't afford to do that.

MOO

That's true, not smart but true.

 

[darnudes]

You bring up something that I'm still questioning. The part I don't understand yet was why the parents even reported Zahra missing. The police had been out to their property in the early morning because of that mulch fire, but then the parents decided to report her missing in afternoon. Why? Nobody seemed to be aware of Zahra living there. The father wanting to report his daughter missing might mean he was truly concerned. Don't know enough yet. Can anybody fill me in on why they even reported her missing?

Something must have triggered it - Calls from friends and family asking about Zahra, maybe calls and emails from Zahra's family in Oz, maybe the grandparents were getting insistent, threatening to come over? Pressure mounting to explain her disappearance.

 

[kalekona]

I did not mean for that to sound as snarky as it did...:blushing: Blame it on me being from Texas and rather errrr, ummmm "plain spoken"????????? :crazy:

Not to worry my Dad's from Texas. lol

I just can't focus my train of thought today- that I am unable NOT to play devils advocate.

 

[darlin gal]

Burke County Sheriff John McDevitt said investigators are conducting a "grid search" on Thursday of Real Tree Services in Morganton, N.C., where the girl's father, Adam Baker, works as a laborer.

McDevitt said the search has so far yielded no clues in the case, saying, "At this point we're just trying to eliminate spots."


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/1...-pond-near-fathers-workplace/?test=latestnews

 

[tehcloser]

Something must have triggered it - Calls from friends and family asking about Zahra, maybe calls and emails from Zahra's family in Oz, maybe the grandparents were getting insistent, threatening to come over? Pressure mounting to explain her disappearance.

I've been wondering...with drugs, especially meth, comes paranoia. Ya think maybe they got high and started freaking out about it and decided to come up with a plan?