Paul Baker, 4,missing 3/5/1987,Beaufort, SC

[nanabillie]

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Case Handled By:http://www.missingkids.com/orglogos/NCMC_en_US.gif National Center for Missing & Exploited ChildrenPAUL BAKERAge Progression Case Type: Lost, Injured, Missing DOB: Jun 29, 1983Sex: MaleMissing Date: Mar 5, 1987Race: WhiteAge Now: 25Height: 3'0" (91 cm)Missing City: BEAUFORTWeight: 39 lbs (18 kg)Missing State : SCHair Color: BlondeMissing Country: United StatesEye Color: BlueCase Number: NCMC600583Circumstances: Paul's photo is shown age-progressed to 22 years. He was last seen at his home. He was last seen wearing red pants, a camouflage shirt, a blue jacket and gray tennis shoes. http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/images/spacer.gifContact Us (http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=403) http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/images/menudivider_yellow.gif Privacy Policy (http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=1360) http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/images/menudivider_yellow.gif Site Search (http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=1652) http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/images/menudivider_yellow.gif Terms of Use (http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=1923) http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/images/icra_sw.gif Copyright © 2008 National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. All rights reserved

[nanabillie]

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/baker_paul.html
Paul Leonard Baker

http://www.charleyproject.org/images/b/baker_paul.jpg http://www.charleyproject.org/images/b/baker_paul2.jpg http://www.charleyproject.org/images/b/baker_paul_ap.jpg
Left and Center: Paul, circa 1987;
Right: Age-progression to age 22 (circa 2005)
http://www.charleyproject.org/banners/bar.jpg
Vital Statistics at Time of DisappearanceMissing Since: March 5, 1987 from Beaufort, South Carolina
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: June 29, 1983
Age: 3 years old
Height and Weight: 3'0 - 3'4, 40 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Blond hair, blue eyes. One of Paul's teeth was pushed into his gum at the time he disappeared. He has scars on his right index finger and on his chin.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A camouflage shirt, a blue jacket, red pants and gray tennis shoes.

http://www.charleyproject.org/banners/bar.jpg
Details of Disappearance>Paul's parents, James Baker and Lynda Solorzano, separated in the mid-1980s. James's affair with Susan, who was employed as their children's babysitter, caused the breakup of the marriage. Solorzano said that she moved out of their home with Paul and his sister Nina shortly thereafter. She claimed that James never paid child support afterwards. Solorzano had limited financial means after their separation and applied for public assistance. She was pregnant with her new boyfriend's child by the time her divorce from James was finalized. Solorzano said that the judge sided with James and agreed that she did not have the means to support Paul and Nina. James was awarded full custody of both children and married Susan afterwards.
The Bakers purchased a home in Beaufort, South Carolina by 1987. Susan told authorities that she put Paul down for a nap inside their residence on March 5 of that year. Susan claimed Paul had vanished by the time she returned to check on him. He has never been seen again. An extensive search of the Bakers' property produced little evidence as to Paul's whereabouts.
State authorities removed Nina from the family's home after Paul's disappearance. Investigators learned that she suffered broken bones and had sores covering her body. Susan was convicting of abusing the child and sentenced to ten years in prison for assault and battery. Her sentence was suspended due to time served. Solorzano was involved in a legal battle in an attempt to win custody of her daughter. Nina was eventually placed in her maternal grandmother's care while Solorzano was given the opportunity to improve her life. Susan and James were extradited back to South Carolina from their Florida residence in 2000 in connection with Paul's disappearance. James had been discharged from military service in 1999 when South Carolina authorities reopened Paul's case. Foul play is suspected in Paul's disappearance. His whereabouts remain unknown.

http://www.charleyproject.org/banners/bar.jpg
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Washington, D. C.
202-433-9183
http://www.charleyproject.org/banners/bar.jpg Source Information

[nanabillie]

http://www.bcso.net/Cold_Cases/baker.htm
http://www.bcso.net/Pics/Filecabinets.gif


Paul Leonard Baker
Missing since March 5, 1987 from Beaufort, South Carolina
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
http://www.bcso.net/Cold_Cases/PBaker.jpg http://www.bcso.net/Cold_Cases/PBaker1.jpg http://www.bcso.net/Cold_Cases/PBaker2.jpg

Left and Center: Baker, circa 1987; Right: Age-progressed image of Baker at age 16 (circa 1999)
Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: June 29, 1983
Age at Time of Disappearance: 3 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 3'4; 40 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: White male. Blonde hair; blue eyes.
Marks, Scars, Tattoos: He has scars on his right index finger and on his chin.
Dentals: One of Baker's teeth was pushed into his gum at the time of his disappearance.
Circumstances of Disappearance
Baker was living with his father and stepmother, James and Susan Baker at the time of his disappearance. They have been arrested in connection with his disappearance. They were charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature for allegedly beating him before he vanished March 5, 1987.
Susan Baker told police she put him down for a nap that day and returned to find him missing. Deputies and police searched the area around their home for several days but found no trace of the little boy.
After the disappearance, the couple's 6-year-old daughter was removed by state social workers who discovered broken bones and sores on her body.
Susan Baker was convicted for beating the girl and sentenced to 10 years in prison for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. Paul has never been found.
Investigators

If you have any information concerning Baker's whereabouts, please contact:
Beaufort County Sheriff's Office
Lt. Bob Bromage
843-470-3200
All information may be submitted on an anonymous basis.
NCIC Number:
M-238491459
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

[Claycat]

Nanabillie, this is so sad!

[annalyzer]

I wonder how they know the boy was beaten before he vanished? I do not understand why one or both of these people did not get charged with his murder. There doesn't have to be a body to get a murder conviction.

[packy]

It is so sad and sad too that the judge gave the custody to the father because of not enough funds to support the children. If that is true then it just doesn't seem right.

[nanabillie]

Sometimes the system stinks.

[nanabillie]

Claycat, I am looking for the article. I will post as soon as I find it. Did you notice, the step mother was sentenced to ten years for beating Nina, and was released with time served. :(

[Claycat]

Claycat, I am looking for the article. I will post as soon as I find it. Did you notice, the step mother was sentenced to ten years for beating Nina, and was released with time served. :(

I saw that! That wasn't punishment at all for hurting that little girl! Talk about a wicked step-mother!

[nanabillie]

There is an article that says when he disappeared, his front tooth was pushed up inside his gum. I guess I will leave it at that until I find a link. I've been looking on line and can't find it right now, but I have a file on him I will get out tomorrow when I won't wake everyone.

[nanabillie]

I emailed Captain Bob Bromage, Beaufort County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Files, and told him we had put April Vik, Kristina Porco, Paul Baker and Kaye Hamilton to our site. I also ask if he had any updates and told him we would be glad to help any way we could.

[emmeblu]

I don't know why but it just made me fighting mad when I read the story of this little boy and his sister. grrrrrrrrr.
The mother does not get custody because of a lack of funds?

Why, why, why do people hurt children. What a cute little boy. It sounds like the sister would have gotten same if not removed from the home.

Just makes me sick. Wonder what they/she did with the child's little body. :1187603408.CR.Mothe

:1222423:For little Paul

[grammybears]

This is so sad. With the issue of the exwife not having enough to support the children why did the judge not order the husband to pay the child support. Sometimes I just have to shake my head at what some of the people in the judicial system do.
I would also like to know why the LE think this poor little boy was beaten before he disappeared. It might have something to do with the condition of the little girl when she was removed but I am sure there is a lot of missing information here. I pray that there are answers soon.

[nanabillie]

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PAUL BAKER
Case Type: Non Family Abduction
DOB: Jun 29, 1983
Sex: Male
Missing Date: Mar 5, 1987
Race: White
Age Now: 20
Height: 3'0" (91 cm)
Weight: 39 lbs (18 kg)
Missing City: BEAUFORT
Missing State: SC
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue

Circumstances: Paul's photo is shown age-progressed to 16 years. He was last seen at his home. He was last seen wearing red pants, a camouflage shirt, a blue jacket and gray tennis shoes.http://www.crimestopper-sc.org/images/missing/ads/1070888363.jpg (http://www.crimestopper-sc.org/cgi-bin/mods/missing/poster.cgi?action=viewads&id=1070888363&exp=)Click Here For Printable Poster (http://www.crimestopper-sc.org/cgi-bin/mods/missing/poster.cgi?action=viewads&id=1070888363&exp=)
Do you, or someone you know, have information regarding the whereabouts of PAUL BAKER?...
How Do I Give Information To Crime Stoppers? (http://www.crimestopper-sc.org/giving/)

[nanabillie]

http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/mpccn/pbaker.htmlPaul Leonard Baker
MPCCN Case File: 102M80

http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/mpccn/images/PBaker1.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/mpccn/images/PBaker2.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/mpccn/images/PBakerAP.jpg
Left and Center: Baker, circa 1987;
Right: Age-progression at age 16 (circa 1999)


Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: March 5, 1987 from Beaufort, South Carolina
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date Of Birth: June 29, 1983
Age: 3 years old
Height and Weight: 3'4; 40 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Blonde hair; blue eyes. One of Paul's teeth was pushed into his gum at the time he disappeared. He has scars on his right index finger and on his chin.
NCIC Number: M-238491459

Details of Disappearance
Paul's parents, James Baker and Lynda Solorzano, separated in the mid-1980s. James' affair with Susan, who was employed as their children's babysitter, caused the breakup of the marriage. Solorzano said that she moved out of their home with Paul and his sister Nina shortly thereafter. She claimed that James never paid child support afterwards. Solorzano had limited financial means after their separation and applied for public assistance. She was pregnant with her new boyfriend's child by the time her divorce from James was finalized. Solorzano said that the judge sided with James and agreed that she did not have the means to support Paul and Nina. James was awarded full custody of both children and married Susan afterwards.
The Bakers purchased a home in Beaufort, South Carolina by 1987. Susan told authorities that she put Paul down for a nap inside their residence on March 5 of that year. Susan claimed Paul had vanished by the time she returned to check on him. He has never been seen again. An extensive search of the Bakers' property produced little evidence as to Paul's whereabouts.
State authorities removed Nina from the family's home after Paul's disappearance. Investigators learned that she suffered broken bones and had sores covering her body. Susan was convicting of abusing the child and sentenced to ten years in prison for assault and battery. Her sentence was suspended due to time served. Solorzano was involved in a legal battle in an attempt to win custody of her daughter. Nina was eventually placed in her maternal grandmother's care while Solorzano was given the opportunity to improve her life.
Susan and James were extradited back to South Carolina from their Florida residence in 2000 in connection with Paul's disappearance. James had been discharged from military service in 1999 when South Carolina authorities reopened Paul's case. Foul play is suspected in Paul's disappearance. His whereabouts remain unknown.

[nanabillie]

Under "Distinguishing Caracterisics" is where I had seen about Paul's tooth being pushed up insid his gum. I didn't realize it was on the other post.
Since Susan and James were extridicted back to SC in 2000, I wonder what their status is now. I don't know if that is something I could ask Capt. Bromage or not. Would that be public information?

[nanabillie]

http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/247605.html
Unsolved local disappearances

A handful of disappearances in Beaufort County are still unsolved, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office:
• Kristina Joanne Porco, 16, vanished from Hilton Head on Nov. 29, 1986, following an argument with her family. Foul play is suspected.
• Paul Leonard Baker, 3, has been missing from Beaufort since March 5, 1987. His mother was later convicted of beating his sister, and was charged with beating Paul, according to the sheriff's office. She was not charged in Paul's disappearance.
• April Irene Vik, 37, was last seen barefoot, bleeding and terrified on Sept. 12, 1991, at an island church. She wanted cardboard to make a sign to hitchhike off the island, according to the sheriff's office.
• Kaye Francis Reid Hamilton, 37, was last seen at her home in the Jenkins Road area of U.S. 17 in Yemassee on Nov. 9, 1995. Her bank accounts have been inactive since she vanished and a required prescription medicinenot renewed, according to the sheriff's office.

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[TigressPen]

This is one of those cases that turns your stomach. And look at the other unsolved they have! None of those read like still living to me either. :(

[texanne]

One has to wonder how thorough a search was done when this child went missing. I hate to make accusations based on a few minutes of readng posts, but I suspect the stepmom knows what happed to the little boy. I base this on the condition of the other child when removed from the home.

[Grande]

Under "Distinguishing Caracterisics" is where I had seen about Paul's tooth being pushed up insid his gum. I didn't realize it was on the other post.
Since Susan and James were extridicted back to SC in 2000, I wonder what their status is now. I don't know if that is something I could ask Capt. Bromage or not. Would that be public information?

Charges were dismissed against James A. and Susan E. Baker in 03'. It appears as though they returned to their home in Chipley, FL and continue to reside there.

I gotta tell ya, I cannot find a single instance on the web or in the archives that suggests that the Baker's have ever made a public plea for their child. I can't imagine carrying on with my life as if nothing happened had that been my child. I wouldn't rest a day until justice was served. Apparently, the Baker's don't share that quality IMO.

WHAT A SHAME. Such a beautiful little boy. I would have taken him in as my own in a heart beat.

[nanabillie]

I wonder about the bio Mother. I know she did not have money, that is why she lost custody. :(
I wonder if she tried to get LE to continue to look? I know I read that she did get custody of Nina after this was over. I don't remember right off how old Nina was, just thinking about her memory of what happened. I'm sure she remembers the beatings she got. I wish I knew also how much time was the "time served".

[Grande]

I wonder about the bio Mother. I know she did not have money, that is why she lost custody. :(
I wonder if she tried to get LE to continue to look? I know I read that she did get custody of Nina after this was over. I don't remember right off how old Nina was, just thinking about her memory of what happened. I'm sure she remembers the beatings she got. I wish I knew also how much time was the "time served".

Good question Billie. I haven't seen anything re: Paul's bio mother other than what has been reported in the Charley Project profile.

I feel for Nina. I hope life is treating her well.

[nanabillie]

http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewChildDetail&caseNum=600583&orgPrefix=NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US
Nothing new that I can find.

[nanabillie]

http://www.islandpacket.com/266/story/247605.html
• Paul Leonard Baker, 3, has been missing from Beaufort since March 5, 1987. His mother was later convicted of beating his sister, and was charged with beating Paul, according to the sheriff's office. She was not charged in Paul's disappearance

[nanabillie]

http://www.freewebs.com/scmissingunidentified/scmissingchildren.htm

Date Of Birth: June 29, 1983
Age at Time of Disappearance: 3 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 3'4; 40 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: White male. Blond hair; blue eyes.
Marks, Scars, Tattoos: He has scars on his right index finger and on his chin.
Dentals: One of Baker's teeth was pushed into his gum at the time of his disappearance.


Circumstances of Disappearance
Baker was living with his father and stepmother, James and Susan Baker at the time of his disappearance. They have been arrested in connection with his disappearance. They were charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature for allegedly beating him before he vanished March 5, 1987.

Susan Baker told police she put him down for a nap that day and returned to find him missing. Deputies and police searched the area around their home for several days but found no trace of the little boy.
After the disappearance, the couple's 6-year-old daughter was removed by state social workers who discovered broken bones and sores on her body.
Susan Baker was convicted for beating the girl and sentenced to 10 years in prison for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. Paul has never been found.

[P.I.Jane]

It's interesting to me that Susan Baker was initially Paul Baker's babysitter and she is also Shannon's babysitter.

I also find it odd that the Baker's never made a plea for the return of Paul, but she did plea to Gov. Crist for Shannon. I wonder what the deal is with that?

[nanabillie]

It has been about to kill me that I could not get on here for the last few hours. Last night when I posted about Shannon, I thought, surely this is not the same Susan Baker. I have looked for anything on her for two years. Grande helped me. When I saw that was this case with Shannon was in Florida too I still thought it must be a coinsidence. Then....when I saw PI Jane's post I knew before reading it must be the same one.
It sure sounds bad if it really is. Poor little Paul, if you look at his oldest pictures, his tooth is pushed up into his gum where he had been hit. :( Then disappeared.
And his Mother fought for custody of him but the judge gave him to his Dad becIause he had more money.
I'm afraid to leave to look for info afraid I can't get back.

[Lizziebeth]

Maybe now that Shannon was found under HER bed, Susan will start talking about what happened to Paul, if she was responsible for his disappearance.

[LiveLaughLuv]

Susan Baker told police she put him down for a nap that day and returned to find him missing. Deputies and police searched the area around their home for several days but found no trace of the little boy.
After the disappearance, the couple's 6-year-old daughter was removed by state social workers who discovered broken bones and sores on her body.
Susan Baker was convicted for beating the girl and sentenced to 10 years in prison for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. Paul has never been found.

Susan Baker put Paul down for a nap, when she returned she found him missing? Did she leave the home? Did police see anthing leading them to a crime scene? Paul did not just walk away.

She spent 10 years in prison for assaulting the 6 y/o daughter who had broken bones and sores on her body. Terrible...seems her treatment of the children were nothing less than bad. I do hope she didn't do something to Paul. Now with her involvement in Shannons abduction, gives me pause for thought.

[LiveLaughLuv]

http://www.charleyproject.org/images/b/baker_paul_ap.jpg

Aged enhanced photo of what Paul might look like today...thanks to the charley project...

[dbldsmom]

Believe me when I say that Paul is most definately NOT forgotten! His grandparents still love and miss him everyday. I have been neighbors with them for over 10 years and every year his grandmother says the same thing - I know that woman had something to do with it! She will also tell you that his sister Nina was scared of Susan.

[nanabillie]

My understanding was she spent 80 days after being sentenced to 10 years. Time served, according to the judge. Wonder if he is still around.

[nanabillie]

Please let Paul's grandparents know that others who never met Paul care. I have spent hours on the computer finding everything I could to post here at Help Find The Missing. I always hoped and prayed someone would find that precious child.

And I pray that whoever hurt him, or took him, will pay.

[dbldsmom]

Believe me I will. This development is going to hit them hard, again. I hope this time she she will some time and maybe bring some closure for the rest of Paul's family - at least I hope this time the police can get some info out of Susan in regards to Paul.

[mrsmcgoo]

dbldsmom, thank you for reminding me that there are innocent people out there who are suffering because of people like Susan. It is so easy to forget other family members who are grieving and who's life has been effected by the loss of a loved one.


It would be such a wonderful thing for little Paul's grandparents if LE could work out a plea in exchange for some information about his disappearance. :1222423:

[dreamweaver]

Believe me I will. This development is going to hit them hard, again. I hope this time she she will some time and maybe bring some closure for the rest of Paul's family - at least I hope this time the police can get some info out of Susan in regards to Paul.
=========================================

I hope that not only is it the wonderful news of Shannon being found alive, but
that
this may reopen Paul's case and
hopefully,
find him
and
convict his killer.
(Killer being Susan, in my opinion_

To Paul and Nina's grandparents:
Hang in there. There are many people with many eyes on Paul's case now.

Do you know how Nina is doing?

[P.I.Jane]

Believe me when I say that Paul is most definately NOT forgotten! His grandparents still love and miss him everyday. I have been neighbors with them for over 10 years and every year his grandmother says the same thing - I know that woman had something to do with it! She will also tell you that his sister Nina was scared of Susan.
With all of this being brought to light again due to Shannon's case, I have thought a lot about Paul, but I have also thought about Nina and how she has been able to cope with losing her brother and the abuse she endured at the hands (in my opinion) of Susan Baker. I hope she is doing well after all of this time.

[nanabillie]

As happy as I am that little Shannon was found alive, every detail just makes me wonder what did she do to poor little Paul. It breaks my heart to pieces. I can't do anything but cry, just thinking about that baby boy. I've known about his case for a long time, but some how this is just making it....I don't know. That poor baby, wondering what he did to deserve the treatment he received. :(:1187603408.CR.Mothe

[Jute]

Believe me when I say that Paul is most definately NOT forgotten! His grandparents still love and miss him everyday. I have been neighbors with them for over 10 years and every year his grandmother says the same thing - I know that woman had something to do with it! She will also tell you that his sister Nina was scared of Susan.

Thank you so much for stopping in to talk about Paul's grandparents.

My thoughts and prayers are with all of you. I truly hope that the truth is found about this lovely little boy.

[LiveLaughLuv]

Believe me when I say that Paul is most definately NOT forgotten! His grandparents still love and miss him everyday. I have been neighbors with them for over 10 years and every year his grandmother says the same thing - I know that woman had something to do with it! She will also tell you that his sister Nina was scared of Susan.

Believe me I will. This development is going to hit them hard, again. I hope this time she she will some time and maybe bring some closure for the rest of Paul's family - at least I hope this time the police can get some info out of Susan in regards to Paul.

Welcome to HFTM, Dbldsmom...and thank you for your input.

I share the same sentiments with the other members and do hope this can bring to light what really happened to Paul. I don't know much about this case I only know this woman claims Paul went missing while she napped. She was convicted of child abuse/assault for Nina. Adding insult to injury this woman didn't get enough "jail time", IMO which is why the same crime was repeated this many years later. No lesson learned from this woman.

Send my condolences to the grandparents as well. The hole in their heart must be emmense but there may be that silver lining coming out of Shannon's abduction. A little more patience....just a little more...:give_rose:

[nanabillie]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=paul+baker+missing&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

Babysitter Susan Baker: Shannon Dedrick Found Under Her Bed; 22 Years Ago Stepson Never Found at All



Age Progression Photo: Paul Leonard Baker


http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2009/11/05/image5536639x.jpg (AP Photo)


Age Progression Photo: Paul Leonard Baker

Chipley, Fla.(CBS/AP) Investigators in Florida are looking into possible connections between the 1987 disappearance of a 3-year-old South Carolina child, Paul Leonard Baker, and the dramatic lost-and-found case of Florida infant Shannon Dedrick, who authorities say was found alive under her babysitter's bed after being missing for five days.

Authorities in both states think the link between the two missing-child cases could be Susan Elizabeth Baker, the babysitter for Shannon Dedrick.



http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2009/11/02/image5499013x.jpg (Family Photo)


Photo: Shannon Dedrick

According to a case synopsis provided to the Panama City News Herald (http://www.newsherald.com/news/span-78790-baker-class.html) by the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Paul Leonard Baker was living with his father, James, and stepmother, Susan Elizabeth Baker, when the toddler vanished 22 years ago in Beaufort, S.C., never to be seen again.

The couple was arrested in the case and charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature for allegedly beating 3-year-old Paul Baker before he vanished March 5, 1987, according to the documents.

The documents say Susan Baker told police she put the child down for a nap on March 5, 1987 and returned to find him missing. Deputies and police searched the area around their home for several days but found no trace of the little boy.

After the disappearance, the couple's 6-year-old daughter was removed by state social workers who discovered broken bones and sores on her body. In that case, Susan Baker was convicted for beating the girl and sentenced to 10 years in prison for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. That sentence was later suspended after 80 days, according to the documents.

The Bakers were never indicted in the disappearance of 3-year-old Paul Baker.

Now, twenty-two years later, in the Florida panhandle near rural Chipley, Washington County sheriff's authorities say 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick, who was missing for five days, somehow turned up alive and well -- in a box, under a bed in a home where her babysitter lived.

The babysitter, they say, is Susan Elizabeth Baker.

Baker, her husband James, and Shannon Dedrick's mother, Chrystina Lynn Mercer, are under investigation in the case.

[nanabillie]

http://www.wtoc.com/global/story.asp?s=11450580
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WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Beaufort cold case has ties to Florida babysitter

Beaufort cold case has ties to Florida babysitter

Posted: Nov 05, 2009 11:47 AM CST Updated: Nov 05, 2009 6:02 PM CST
http://wtoc.images.worldnow.com/images/11450580_BG1.jpg Paul Baker: Age 3 (Source: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
http://wtoc.images.worldnow.com/images/11450580_BG2.jpg Paul Baker: Age progressed image (Source: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
http://wtoc.images.worldnow.com/images/11450580_BG3.jpg Susan Baker (Source: Washington County Sheriff's Office)

By Jaime Dailey - bio (http://www.wtoc.com/Global/story.asp?S=1354890&nav=menu89_11) | email (jdailey@wtoc.com)
BEAUFORT, SC (WTOC) - A Florida babysitter facing charges in the disappearance of a 7-month-old was questioned by Beaufort authorities more than 20 years ago in the disappearance of her 3-year-old stepson.
The 7-month-old Florida girl was found alive after she was reported missing five days ago. The baby girl was found in a box under a bed at her babysitter's home in the town of Chipley, Florida.

Authorities say the mother of the 7-month-old, Chrystina Lynn Mercer, secretly turned her daughter over to her babysitter in the middle of the night.

Washington County sheriff Bobby Haddock says Baker asked Mercer on Friday if she could have custody of the baby.
He says Mercer brought the infant to Baker's house early Saturday, about ten hours before she was reported missing.
Susan Baker, her husband James Arthur Baker and Chrystina Lynn Mercer, all face charges in the case.
Haddock said Thursday that the baby has been placed in protective custody.

More than 20 years ago, Susan Baker was questioned in the disappearance of her 3-year-old stepson, Paul Baker (http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewPoster&caseNum=600583&orgPrefix=NCMC&searchLang=en_US).
He went missing in 1987 from his Beaufort home and was never found.
No one has seen 3-year-old Paul Baker since he disappeared in March of 1987, but many in this area will never forget him.

"The Paul Baker case has definitely impacted my heart and everyone else who had worked with CAPA," said CAPA founder Susan Cato. "We will never forget this case and we hope some day there will be closure."
Cato still has the original missing person's posters put up throughout town and was one of many who helped search for him more than 20 years ago.
"We volunteered to bring groups of volunteers to go out into the community and look for Paul Baker," said Cato. "We searched at least three different locations."
Beaufort County sheriff PJ Tanner also helped search back in 1987 and hopes that one day, they'll solve this case.
Sheriff Tanner said being familiar with the 1987 case and with Baker, he was surprised the Florida baby was found alive and is very thankful that she was found.
"The fact the child was alive, we breathe a definite sign of relief from our exposure from this woman in 1987 with Paul. It was a surprise the child was found alive," said Tanner. "This is a wicked woman let me say that. I always felt that from day one looking at the Paul Baker case here."
The same year Paul Baker went missing, Susan Baker was convicted of abusing her stepdaughter.
Baker's stepdaughter was taken away from the family not long after her brother went missing.
Baker was charged with abusing the girl and plead guilty to a lesser charge. She served 80 days of a ten year sentence with five years probation.
At the time of Paul's disappearance, James Baker was a Marine living in Beaufort. NCIS military investigators, including Brian Baird who is now an investigator with the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, were also involved in the case.
Then in 2000, officials say Susan Baker was extradited back to Beaufort on assault and battery charges of a high and aggravated nature related to Paul, but a grand jury said there wasn't enough evidence to move forward on those charges.
A few months later, she was charged again, this time with child neglect in connection with Paul's disappearance.
That time, a grand jury said there was enough evidence to move forward, but the Solicitors Office decided to drop the case.
Officials say those charges were dropped because child neglect is misdemeanor in South Carolina and only carried a maximum ten year sentence.
If convicted and sentenced to the full ten years, officials say Baker would have been eligible for parole in 18 months.
Tanner said they didn't want to try her unless they had more evidence for additional charges and said it was too much of a gamble.
Baird is now in Florida working with Washington County authorities in the case. Sheriff Tanner says he's hoping his involvement with the case will help shed light on Paul Baker's cold case.
Solicitor Duffy Stone says there is no statute of limitation, so if the Florida investigation reveals new leads in Paul's disappearance, he says authorities will move forward in the 1987 case.
Paul Baker is currently listed on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website (http://www.missingkids.com/). The center has created an aged-progressed photo of Paul to show what he may look like today. He would be 26-years-old.

[nanabillie]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,571670,00.html
<snipped>

Investigators at the Washington County Sheriff's Office are now trying to find out whether she is the same Susan Baker suspected of involvement in the March 1987 disappearance of 3-year-old Paul Baker in Beaufort, S.C. The boy has never been found.

A summary of the case provided to the News Herald by The Center for Missing and Exploited Children shows that Paul's stepmother was named Susan Baker, the wife of his father James.
The couple were arrested in connection with the boy's disappearance and were later charged with aggravated assault and battery for allegedly severely beating him before he vanished March 5, 1987, according to the documents.
"Susan Baker told police she put him down for a nap that day and returned to find him missing," the synopsis says. "The Deputies and police searched the area around their home for several days but found no trace of the little boy.
"After the disappearance, the couple's 6-year-old daughter was removed by state social workers who discovered broken bones and sores on her body."
Susan Baker was convicted of beating the little girl and sentenced to 10 years in prison, the case documents say.
The Florida Department of Children and Families says it investigated Shannon's mother and father after the August complaint stemming from Baker's letter, and workers have had "a lot of involvement" with the family.
But DCF Secretary George Sheldon says investigators did not find legal grounds to take the infant away.
Shannon was last seen by her parents at their home early Saturday morning.
Searchers have concentrated on the woods surrounding the mobile home, in a remote part of north Florida near the town of Chipley.

[nanabillie]

http://www.newsherald.com/news/span-78790-baker-class.html

History twists missing baby case


By ANDREW GANT / News Herald Writer (agant@pcnh.com)
2009-11-04 10:13:11
A full update on the case of missing baby Shannon Dedrick will be posted soon. Below is a partial account of Wednesday's developments:
CHIPLEY — Authorities confirmed Wednesday they were investigating connections between a 22-year-old missing child case in South Carolina and the recent disappearance of 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick from her family's trailer near the woods.
UPDATE: Baby Shannon found alive » (http://www.newsherald.com/news/shannon-78823-alive-video.html)
On the fourth day of the search for Shannon, sheriff's deputies were at the home of baby sitter Susan Baker, who said Tuesday in a News Herald interview she "loved that child" and tried to have the state intervene with the family. Baker also supplied an e-mail she sent to Gov. Charlie Crist pleading that someone help Shannon, whom she said was being abused by her parents.
Read that story here » (http://www.newsherald.com/news/please-78782-child-chipley.html)
It appeared she is the same Susan Baker implicated in a 1987 missing-child case in Beaufort, S.C. That child, then-3-year-old Paul Baker, never has been found.
Washington County sheriff's investigators were working on that connection Wednesday. Around 12:50 p.m. Wednesday, two deputies from Holmes and Jackson counties were at the gate to the Bakers' property. The home was not visible, sitting down a long path and blocked by a hill.
Sheriff's spokeswoman Andrea Gainey could not confirm if deputies were descending on the home.
Baker, who was in contact with The News Herald multiple times Tuesday night, could not be reached multiple times Wednesday.
A woman who said she was Baker's niece confirmed she was the same woman accused in the 1987 disappearance. But that arrest, according to niece Tabatha Phillips, was "on a technicality" and Baker was innocent.
The Center for Missing and Exploited Children provided this synopsis of the cold case:
"(Paul) Baker was living with his father and stepmother, James and Susan Baker at the time of his disappearance. They have been arrested in connection with his disappearance. They were charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature for allegedly beating him before he vanished March 5, 1987.

"Susan Baker told police she put him down for a nap that day and returned to find him missing. Deputies and police searched the area around their home for several days but found no trace of the little boy.

"After the disappearance, the couple's 6-year-old daughter was removed by state social workers who discovered broken bones and sores on her body.

"Susan Baker was convicted for beating the girl and sentenced to 10 years in prison for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. Paul has never been found."
Investigators were in briefings Wednesday morning. Gainey said Baker was one of hundreds interviewed, that the Sheriff's Office was aware of the similarities in Dedrick's disappearance and the 1987 case, and that the person of interest still was not public information.
Later Wednesday, Gainey said there were no updates and a News Herald public records request for incident reports, identifying information and a 911 recording still was pending. The News Herald requested those items Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Phillips wrote Wednesday morning on her Twitter page that she "knows the POI is the one who cared the most." Later, in a phone interview, she said she wrote that under the assumption that Baker is the person of interest.

But "Susan would not hurt a child," she said.

"That's the only reason they're putting her as a person of interest now is because of all of that crap that happened way back when," Phillips said.
"They need to start asking (the mother) where the child is," she said. "She's the one that put it somewhere."

Washington County court records show a 2004 case labeled "67-04-DR-177/FIN JUD OF MARRIAGE" between a Susan and James Baker. Court records also show a mortgage for Susan and James Baker for a piece of property at 3395 Orange Hill Road, the same address cited in the e-mail to Crist.
A sheriff's investigator in Beaufort, S.C., briefly returned a phone call on the cold case but hung up soon after, saying he was in a meeting.
Reached again later, Beaufort County Sheriff's Lt. Bob Bromage referred all questions to the state Department of Law Enforcement, which was overseeing the 1987 disappearance investigation. The FDLE was looking into the case to provide more information.
Also Wednesday, the state Department of Children and Families released an eight-page review of the agency's response to abuse reports at Shannon's home.
DCF was involved several times between March and September after receiving allegations that Shannon's parents, Crystina Lynn Mercer and James Dedrick, were using drugs and abusing her. The review found caseworkers conducted "thorough and timely work" and staff were reasonably sure the family was cooperating.
"Based on this review several actions are taking place to dig further into the Department's prior involvement with the family," the report said. It did not address an investigation into the person who reported the alleged abuse.

Last updated Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 5:20 p.m. CST

[Amusedtdth]

Billie, I commend you on your dedication not only here but for Samantha as well. This case though is especially sad because it's about a helpless little boy, an innocent. I'm wondering as I'm sure others are what happened to Nina and what exactly does she remember. Has anyone even tried to find out? I really hope questions are finally answered and that the SM will plea out in return for telling what happend to Paul providing that she is actually guilty. Something like this should haunt a person, in life and sleep.
Praying for answers Dear Lord, bring Paul home.

[nanabillie]

Thank you Musey, I guess everyone who has read the case wonders about Nina. I'm hoping that the friend of the grandparents who posted here can tell us something about Nina. I've always wondered if she stayed with her Mother after going back to her, did she ever see her Dad again? So many questions. I will never forget that precious face of Paul, just like Tristen "Buddy" Meyers, there are some who's face is engrained in my memory.

[Amusedtdth]

It hurts Bille, the faces of these children, they haunt us. I would love for someone to give up the information to bring Paul home. Nina, IMO, must remember someting but why hasen't she told anyone anything?

Billie, Don't obsess...please..

[Faith]

Details released about investigation 22 years ago for missing boy

By JEFF KIDD
jkidd@beaufortgazette.com
843-706-8175
Published Monday, November 9, 2009

The father of a boy who hasn't been seen since he was reported missing from his Shell Point home more than 22 years ago told authorities at the time that he suspected his wife -- the boy's stepmother -- killed the child, according to documents released by the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.

But James Baker changed his mind two days later, saying Susan Baker didn't have anything to do with Paul Baker's disappearance, according to a 1987 summary of the missing-child investigation. Paul Baker was 3 when he disappeared March 5, 1987.

Susan Baker is under arrest and James Baker, a former sergeant at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, is under investigation after authorities in Chipley, Fla., on Thursday discovered 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick hidden in a cedar box under Susan Baker's bed.

Authorities said the girl's mother, Chrystina Lynn Mercer, gave the infant to baby sitter Susan Baker early Oct. 31, then reported her missing about 10 hours later. Mercer was charged with interference of child custody, desertion of a child and several other charges. Charges against Susan Baker included neglect of a child with aggravated circumstances and interference of child custody.

James and Susan Baker were both suspects in Paul's disappearance. Susan Baker claimed he was taken from their home while she napped.

A massive manhunt turned up nothing. The Bakers were extradited to South Carolina in 2000 and charged with assault and battery in Paul's disappearance, but a grand jury never indicted them.

Susan Baker was convicted of abusing her stepdaughter, Nina Baker, soon after Paul's disappearance. She received a 10-year sentence, which was reduced to time served after 80 days in jail.

After the Bakers' arrest last week, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office released 72 pages of reports and other documents associated with their investigation of Paul's disappearance.

Among the details included:

* Susan Baker took a polygraph test eight days after Paul's disappearance. Results were inconclusive because she was obese, under stress and taking muscle relaxers. However, the technician who administered the test said he believed Baker was lying.

* Four days later, James Baker took a polygraph and failed.

* Carol Garvin, a former cellmate of Susan Baker, told investigators that the woman claimed James Baker severely beat Paul on the day he was reported missing and that the two of them buried the child in the yard of a friend living nearby. Baker allegedly told the cellmate she was taking the "rap" for her husband.

* Investigators asked Nina, then 6, about her brother's disappearance. "Mama told me not to talk to you about (that)." The report said Nina appeared nervous and unwilling to talk.

* James Baker told authorities his wife usually disciplined the children and that he thought she was too hard on them. She once beat Nina so hard, he had to pull her off the child, he said, and she also beat Paul after he defecated on his bedroom floor. However, during the same interview, Baker told interviewers he thought the child's biological mother -- Baker's ex-wife, Linda Mott, later known as Linda Solorzano -- was responsible for Paul's disappearance.

* Later the same day, however, James Baker said he believed Susan Baker killed Paul and threw him in Battery Creek. She had asked him to take a walk down to the river -- they had never taken a walk there before -- and he thought she was going there to make sure the body couldn't be seen.

James Baker said he thought his wife snapped because of frustration with Paul, who had been "sick, whining, messing his bed and wetting his pants" in recent days. Nina was placed in the custody of the Department of Social Services after her father said she might be in danger if she remained in the same household as Susan Baker.

* The next day, James Baker said he no longer believed his wife killed Paul.

* Susan Baker told investigators she was stressed from taking care of the children and that she wanted James Baker to send them to North Carolina, where Mott lived. She also said she wanted to move to Florida, but her husband wouldn't let her.

* Nina later told investigators Susan Baker beat her with a stick and sometimes made her stand in the corner because she is bad. She said she didn't know where Paul was.

* A letter sent to James Baker in 1987 was examined by SLED in May 2000. The letter was signed "Your friend," and indicated Paul was safe in North Carolina. The letter was believed to have come from the Beaufort County Detention Center, where Susan Baker was incarcerated. A handwriting analyst said it was "probable that the letter was authored/handwritten" by Susan Baker.

http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/1029221.html

[LiveLaughLuv]

* Susan Baker took a polygraph test eight days after Paul's disappearance. Results were inconclusive because she was obese, under stress and taking muscle relaxers. However, the technician who administered the test said he believed Baker was lying.

* Four days later, James Baker took a polygraph and failed.

* Carol Garvin, a former cellmate of Susan Baker, told investigators that the woman claimed James Baker severely beat Paul on the day he was reported missing and that the two of them buried the child in the yard of a friend living nearby. Baker allegedly told the cellmate she was taking the "rap" for her husband.

* Investigators asked Nina, then 6, about her brother's disappearance. "Mama told me not to talk to you about (that)." The report said Nina appeared nervous and unwilling to talk.

* James Baker told authorities his wife usually disciplined the children and that he thought she was too hard on them. She once beat Nina so hard, he had to pull her off the child, he said, and she also beat Paul after he defecated on his bedroom floor. However, during the same interview, Baker told interviewers he thought the child's biological mother -- Baker's ex-wife, Linda Mott, later known as Linda Solorzano -- was responsible for Paul's disappearance.

* Later the same day, however, James Baker said he believed Susan Baker killed Paul and threw him in Battery Creek. She had asked him to take a walk down to the river -- they had never taken a walk there before -- and he thought she was going there to make sure the body couldn't be seen.

James Baker said he thought his wife snapped because of frustration with Paul, who had been "sick, whining, messing his bed and wetting his pants" in recent days. Nina was placed in the custody of the Department of Social Services after her father said she might be in danger if she remained in the same household as Susan Baker.

* The next day, James Baker said he no longer believed his wife killed Paul.

* Susan Baker told investigators she was stressed from taking care of the children and that she wanted James Baker to send them to North Carolina, where Mott lived. She also said she wanted to move to Florida, but her husband wouldn't let her.

* Nina later told investigators Susan Baker beat her with a stick and sometimes made her stand in the corner because she is bad. She said she didn't know where Paul was.

* A letter sent to James Baker in 1987 was examined by SLED in May 2000. The letter was signed "Your friend," and indicated Paul was safe in North Carolina. The letter was believed to have come from the Beaufort County Detention Center, where Susan Baker was incarcerated. A handwriting analyst said it was "probable that the letter was authored/handwritten" by Susan Baker.

Disturbing facts...playing the blame game from the start..I feel it's more likely than not, SB did do something to Paul but why was there no crime scene, nothing to say "foul play" occurred..I wonder if they checked that creek, or that friends backyard looking for Paul. In my heart I want that boy to be alive and well but I fear for SB seems to be evil..she holds the key to the truth of what happened to Paul. I'm no saying much on Paul's father, SB's husband except why did he just accept what was told to him by his wife, unless he knows more than what he's told. I can't imagine sticking up for a person who is not biologically connected to my children when I had to pull him off my daughter to stop her from beating on her...that alone deserves to be dealt with much more than that 80 day sentence..

Thankfully there is no statute of limitation on murder and I do hope someone in Florida can get this woman to crack. Tell what you know about Paul and we'll go easy on you here. Then when she is extraidited back to SC, they can do what they please with her...of course, JMHO...

Paul Baker deserves to be found....:give_rose:

[mrsmcgoo]

Disturbing facts...playing the blame game from the start..I feel it's more likely than not, SB did do something to Paul but why was there no crime scene, nothing to say "foul play" occurred..I wonder if they checked that creek, or that friends backyard looking for Paul. In my heart I want that boy to be alive and well but I fear for SB seems to be evil..she holds the key to the truth of what happened to Paul. I'm no saying much on Paul's father, SB's husband except why did he just accept what was told to him by his wife, unless he knows more than what he's told. I can't imagine sticking up for a person who is not biologically connected to my children when I had to pull him off my daughter to stop her from beating on her...that alone deserves to be dealt with much more than that 80 day sentence..

Thankfully there is no statute of limitation on murder and I do hope someone in Florida can get this woman to crack. Tell what you know about Paul and we'll go easy on you here. Then when she is extraidited back to SC, they can do what they please with her...of course, JMHO...

Paul Baker deserves to be found....:give_rose:

I agree LLL. That innocent child needs to be found.

I wonder now if they interviewed Nina would they find out anymore information? She would be an adult now. It would be worth it for her to be hypnotized incase the secrets are buried down so far. Poor child, thank GOD she was removed.

I am thinking also that the husband needs to be reinterviewed. He is getting off easy as far as I can see. How could he have not known that Shannon was in the house? He is an accomplice and perhaps the threat of some jail time can shake loose some info from him that will lead to Paul.

Somebody knows something! :1187603408.CR.Mothe

[Antsmomma]

http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/1035333.html

an interview with Nina

[nanabillie]

http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/1035333.html
<LI sizset="15" sizcache="27">http://media.islandpacket.com/smedia/2009/11/14/16/NWS_BAKER_1115jt.standalone.prod_affiliate.9.jpgMo use over the photo to enlarge<LI sizset="15" sizcache="27"><LI sizset="15" sizcache="27"><LI sizset="15" sizcache="27">(In case article is removed we still have a picture of Nina)
WHY THE BAKERS ARE NOT QUOTED IN THIS STORY

Information attributed to James and Susan Baker comes from investigative documents released last week by the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.
James Baker could not be located for comment and Susan Baker signed a no-consent form,making her unavailable for interviews, authorities said.
She does not have a public defender yet nor has her arraignment been scheduled, officials said.


This is how Nina Hernandez learned to count:
She said that one morning when she was 6, her stepmother, Susan Baker, woke her early, led her into the bathroom of their home near the gate to Parris Island and filled the tub with water.
Nina was having trouble counting past 10. That morning, each time she made a mistake, Susan plunged her head beneath the water, banging her head against the side of the tub. Nina doesn't remember how many times she was dunked, but when Susan finally relented, the water was red with blood.
Then, Susan ordered Nina to wash in that water.
"What she did wasn't abuse. It was torture," said Nina, now a nurse and a married mother of three living in Chapel Hill, N.C. She turns 29 later this month.
Twenty-two years ago, Susan pleaded guilty to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature for abusing Nina. She was given 10 years in prison but released after 80 days when the sentence was suspended for time served.
Beaufort County authorities also suspect Susan was responsible for the disappearance of Nina's younger brother, who was 3 when he vanished March 5, 1987.
Paul Baker hasn't been seen since. His case has not been solved.
But he has not been forgotten.
Not by county law enforcement officials, who hope new developments 400 miles away will help them resolve Paul's case.
And not by Nina, the big sister whose back -- and life -- bear the scars of seven months she and Paul spent in the home of Susan and James Baker.
NIGHTMARES AND POSSIBILITIES
It's been just more than a week since a friend's late-night telephone call awakened Nina to old nightmares and new possibilities.
Susan had been arrested again, the friend told her. So had Nina's dad, James.
A five-day search for 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick of Chipley, Fla., ended Nov. 5 when the infant was found shut in a small, cedar box beneath Susan's bed. Clothing had been packed around the container to muffle any sound. Baking powder had been sprinkled inside to mask the stench of dirty diapers.
Susan faces charges of neglect of a child with aggravated circumstances and interference of child custody. James Baker was arrested but released the same day. He remains under investigation, according to the Washington County, Fla., sheriff.
Also charged was Shannon's mother, Chrystina Lynn Mercer, who authorities believe gave her child to Susan early Halloween morning. Mercer reported Shannon missing about 10 hours later. Mercer faces several charges, among them interference of child custody and desertion of a child.
Nina's best friend came across reports of the Florida case while surfing the Internet. She recognized Susan's name and called immediately.
"It was just bizarre," Nina said. "What was she going to do with that child? ... It's been 22 years since Paul disappeared. (Susan) has been out there all that time, and there's no telling how many other children she has come into contact with."
SSgt. Brian Baird, who worked Paul's case in 1987, traveled to Chipley and questioned Susan, according to Sheriff P.J. Tanner. Investigators hope this new case will help resolve the old one.
So does Nina.
"I hope anyone who reads this or sees this might remember something," Nina said. "... Something. Just anything (about Paul's disappearance."
Remembering, though, can be a painful thing.
Complete story at link.

[nanabillie]

http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/1040022.html


What if Paul Baker disappeared today? Resources would have been better, officials say


By PATRICK DONOHUE
P.J. Tanner was one of several Beaufort County Sheriff's deputies who combed the woods of northern Beaufort County in 1987, in search of a missing 3-year-old boy.
Today, Tanner is sheriff, and he recently considered how the search for Paul Baker would have been different had the toddler vanished today instead of 22 years ago."That's a tough question," Tanner said. "The knowledge that we have, the technology and other assets at our disposal have increased tenfold. It's hard to say, though. Hindsight is always crystal clear."
The AMBER Alert system and a child protection statute might have helped authorities prevent or solve Baker's disappearance, said Tanner and others.
The case attracted interest again last month when 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick was found alive after missing for five days. She was shut in a small, cedar box beneath the bed of Paul's stepmother, Susan Baker, in Chipley, Fla.
In 1987, Susan Baker told investigators she put Paul down for a nap and reported him missing a few hours later when she said she awoke.
Susan and James Baker were suspects in Paul's disappearance, but two attempts to press charges against them failed to stick. Neither was tried.AMBER Alert

Six years after Paul's disappearance, South Carolina implemented its first statewide alert system for missing or abducted children, Operation Child Alert.
That was six years too late for Paul Baker, says his sister, Nina Hernandez.
Operation Child Alert was the state's predecessor to the AMBER Alert system, introduced statewide in 2002.Both systems interrupt regular programming of television and radio stations using the state's Emergency Alert System to broadcast information about a child's abduction, such as what the child was last seen wearing, a description of the vehicle the child might be in and other details.
"Also now, you have the Internet,"Hernandez said. "Now, it's much easier for them to find background on (Susan.) If they had those things back then, (Paul) might have had a fighting chance."AMBER Alert is a critical tool to locate missing or abducted children, said Bob Lowery, a division director of the National Center for Missing or Exploited Children in Washington, D.C.
"That system is the most glaring and significant difference since now and 1987 because it has enabled us to locate children much more quickly," Lowery said. "In missing children cases, time is your enemy. Most of the children that are murdered are killed within the first three to four hours (after abduction)."
South Carolina had six AMBER alerts last year, up from three the year before, according to a U.S. Department of Justice report.The report did not specify whether those children were found.
Knowing Susan Baker

Part of the reason investigators didn't initially suspect Susan Baker was that they didn't know with whom they were dealing, Tanner said.
"We know more about the Bakers today than we did in 1987," Tanner said. "Back then, they had never been on the radar, it was our first time dealing with them. They will always be on the radar now."
The Bakers had barely lived in Beaufort a year when Paul went missing. The family moved to the area when James Baker, a Marine sergeant, was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.
Within 18 days of Paul's disappearance, Susan Baker was in custody, but the charges stemmed not from her stepson's case but abuse of Hernandez.
A doctor examining the girl, then 6 years old, noted that she had not received medical attention for a broken hand and had ulcerated sores on her back from repeated whippings.
Susan Baker was charged with assault and battery with intent to kill but pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, a misdemeanor. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was released from jail after 80 days when the sentence was suspended for time served.
Judge Luke Brown said he could not say, in retrospect, if he should have given Baker a stiffer sentence. Brown said he could not recall details of the case nor if the sentence was the result of a plea bargain.Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone said he did not know if the Baker case involved a plea bargain.
Stone would not say whether he would offer such a deal today but said defendants accused of what Susan Baker was would not receive lenient treatment from his office.
"The way my office prosecutes cases is, one, how good is the case and two, how bad is the defendant?" Stone said. "I can't imagine anyone worse than a person who would intentionally harm a child and cause serious bodily injury to that child. She's bad. As far as the case goes, I don't know enough information about the quality of their case so it wouldn't be fair of me to play Monday morning quarterback on a case that happened in 1987."
Hernandez said her stepmother should have spent more time in jail.
"When a sentence is given, they should at least have to serve half of it, not less than one-tenth of it," Nina said last week.
The 10-year sentence Baker received for aggravated assault is still the maximum allowed under state law.
Today, Stone said Baker also could be charged with unlawful conduct toward a child, a felony that carries an additional 10-year prison sentence. The law, passed in June 2008, makes it a crime for a caretaker to put a child at "unreasonable risk" or cause or intend to cause bodily harm to the child.
Hoping for a break

Stone said Baker still could be charged in Paul's disappearance because South Carolina has no statute of limitations.
Charged with neglect of a child with aggravated circumstances and interference of child custody in connection with Dedrick's disappearance, Tanner said he hopes Baker's arrest 400 miles away will help his deputies crack the Paul Baker case.
But he's not counting on it.
"They have the smoking gun in Chipley, Fla. We didn't have the smoking gun here and we still don't," Tanner said. "Paul Baker is still missing. Susan Baker will pay for her sins. I know she will. I'm hoping that that case in Chipley, Fla., will help our case here, but I'm not getting my hopes up that it will."

[nanabillie]

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/baker-22637-baby-shannon.html

Missing baby case: A tangled web, from S.C. to Chipley

November 14, 2009 8:29 PM

Hundreds of miles and 22 years of mystery separate baby Shannon Dedrick and toddler Paul Baker.
Susan Baker will always tie them together.
Baker remains jailed in Chipley on charges stemming from the nationally publicized search for 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick, who was found hidden in a box under Baker’s bed four days after her mother reported her missing. Baker was her baby sitter and, investigators say, wanted to raise her.
Baker was a baby sitter and later stepmother to 3-year-old Paul, who went missing in 1987 and never has been found. Baker served time for abusing his sister, then-6-year-old Nina Baker, and remains the prime suspect in Paul’s disappearance.
Few said they believe Baker when she says she had nothing to do with it. Least of all: Nina and her mother, Lynda Solorzano.
As investigators worked to tie together two mysteries decades apart, The News Herald tracked down both women, who agreed to tell their stories.

Painful memories
Nina Baker Hernandez is 29 years old now with three children of her own, but she still remembers being kept in a locked closet by her stepmother, Susan Baker, two decades ago in South Carolina.
Her memory has spared her some of the rest.
“I know I don’t remember everything,” she told The News Herald in an interview last week about her past with Baker. “I don’t remember how I got the scars on my back. I have scars on my fingers. … I don’t know how I got those, either.”
After Paul disappeared March 5, 1987, authorities discovered 6-year-old Nina was bruised and suffering from broken bones. They removed her from the Baker home, and Baker, then 27, was arrested soon after that. She later was convicted on charges of assault and aggravated battery.
Her 10-year sentence ended after just 80 days (credit for time served) and eventually she and Nina’s father, James Baker, moved to Chipley.
Hernandez still remembers her punishments. She remembers the days when she was first learning to count, when Baker punished her for faltering at the number 10.
For each mistake, she said, Baker repeatedly dunked her head in a bathtub filled with water, bringing her up at intervals for short breaths. When she finished, the water was red with blood.
For the most part, she has put the abuse behind her. “I can’t dwell on it” and still raise a family, she said.
But the reduced sentence struck her as unfair, and for years after Baker’s release, Hernandez wondered if her brother, Paul, was dead or alive and, either way, if Baker made him disappear.
Asked if her father could be involved, too, she said, “Either she’s that good at lying and covering things up, or he’s that blind.”
Nina and Paul’s real mother, Lynda Solorzano — the woman James Baker left to marry Susan, the family baby sitter — said she still has no clues to explain what happened to her son. Susan and James Baker, in the early stages of the case, accused her of taking Paul.
“I hope they just make a big sensation out of it and really get her this time,” she said of the Chipley case. “I’m wondering how many children she was involved with before then. She always was a baby sitter for people; that’s how she got involved with Nina and Paul and James.”
For 22 years, she and Hernandez questioned each missing child case in the news.
“I’ve always expected that eventually her name would come up,” Hernandez said. “Every single one that came over, I would sit there and watch until they would tell me who was involved.”
Now that it has, “I hope they convict her,” she said. “I hope she doesn’t get off this time.”

Becoming a suspect
At the Beaufort County, S.C., Sheriff’s Office, about 40 miles north of Hilton Head Island, Paul Baker’s missing-child case file is about an inch thick. Dozens of pages of reports and interview summaries released by the Sheriff’s Office show Susan Baker was a suspect in the case almost from the start — and even before she became a suspect, she was less than cooperative with investigators.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) also worked the case; James Baker was a sergeant at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.
The day of Paul’s disappearance, Susan Baker told investigators she had put him down for a nap at 11 a.m., and when she awoke — she’d been fast asleep, too, knocked out by a combination of muscle relaxers and alcohol — Paul was gone. The initial report lists her as the complainant and Linda Mott (now Solorzano) as the suspect.
Searches through a nearby river bed and marsh grass turned up nothing. Over the next several weeks, and eventually years, the many tips called in to investigators led nowhere. People suggested Paul was dumped in a landfill or a bog, buried like a dog in a neighbor’s yard, sold for cash or sent to Sarasota. Some tips were debunked; others simply couldn’t be traced.
Meanwhile, a nervous 6-year-old Nina, when investigators asked about her brother, answered, “Mama told me not to talk to you about (him),” according to one report.
Asked last week if she can remember anything she might have seen or overheard, Hernandez said, “There’s a lot of things I don’t remember. I can’t tell you why I don’t remember; I just don’t. I wish I did. I’ve searched my mind.”
Days after the initial report, James Baker failed a polygraph. Susan Baker’s polygraph was listed as inconclusive because she was stressed, obese and taking pills. Even before she took it, she told the polygrapher, “You know I’m going to fail,” according to a report. Afterward, she said, “I failed, didn’t I?”
But in various interviews with investigators, James Baker began to recount how Susan “was too hard on the children,” how she beat Nina nearly to death and, eventually, how he believed “Susan had killed (Paul) and threw him in the river.”

‘I don’t think the truth’s in her’
James Baker suspected his wife, he said, because the day after Paul went missing, Susan, suffering from a chronic sore back, wanted to take a rare walk to the nearby river, Battery Creek. According to the report, James Baker thought maybe it was “to check to make sure the body couldn’t be seen.”
Investigators next turned to Susan Baker, who maintained in her interview she did not know where Paul went, but acknowledged both children were straining her and “she didn’t get married to raise children.”
She said “that she was the one that got up when the children (were) sick, that she was the one that put her arms around them and comfort(ed) them,” an investigator wrote.
Paul was very sick for four days just before he disappeared, sometimes soiling his bed and his clothes. Susan said “she felt he was antagonizing her by whining and wetting in his pants.”
She began to yearn for an escape to Florida, where she could “wash her hands of the whole mess,” the report said.
She was becoming a suspect in the disappearance when James Baker recanted his statement, a sudden change of mind. The investigation continued down other alleys.
An investigators’ timeline of the case shows deputies serving a March 24, 1987, search warrant found blood splatters inside the Baker home and sent samples to the FBI. It’s unclear what happened to them.
Months later, when investigators came back to the Bakers for new written statements, Susan Baker had grown paranoid.
“Mrs. Baker stated to her husband that the only reason we wanted another statement was to see if they lied and to compare statements,” a deputy wrote.
Investigators even hypnotized Susan Baker’s cell mate (from Baker’s stint in jail for the abuse of Nina), who spoke of a boy’s body in a garbage bag but not much else.
“She lies to everybody,” Solorzano said of Baker. “I don’t think the truth’s in her.”

Losing the bet
The investigation plodded into the late ’90s. About that time, Hernandez came to Chipley on what she thought was a simple visit to her father. Authorities were monitoring it.
In 2000, Beaufort County and NCIS investigators filed aggravated battery arrest warrants for the Bakers. Washington County sheriff’s deputies made the arrests.
The Bakers waived extradition, but a grand jury eventually found insufficient evidence to indict on that charge.
Investigators had another angle, though — a photocopy of a letter, the original somehow lost, believed handwritten by Susan Baker during her 1987 stint in jail. Addressed to James Baker and signed, “Your friend,” the letter suggested Paul was safe in North Carolina.
Armed with that, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office filed a child neglect warrant — long-awaited charges related to Paul’s actual disappearance — and the charges stuck. They believed the letter was Susan Baker’s ploy to divert suspicion, and that, in itself, was suspicious.
A grand jury indicted the Bakers, but that was as far as the case went.
Prosecutors dropped the case because the child neglect charge was a misdemeanor count in South Carolina, so even if the Bakers were convicted, they wouldn’t be severely punished. Authorities decided to wait for more evidence to file more serious charges.
It was a gamble they lost.
The Chipley case has not opened any new leads into Paul’s disappearance, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Cpl. Robin McIntosh said Thursday, but Hernandez said she hopes for the justice she was denied.
“I know you can’t prosecute someone for something they’ve done in the past,” she said, “but I hope the judge does take that into consideration.
“I would like to know (about Paul) either way. Either tell us he’s dead and at peace, or tell us, ‘I sold him,’ so we know he’s alive. Let us breathe, either way.”

Follow the story:
Search on for missing baby » (http://www.newsherald.com/news/baby-78728-chipley-missing.html)
'We're not leaving any stone unturned' » (http://www.newsherald.com/articles/person-78739-baby-case.html)
Baker's e-mail: 'Please, please save that child' » (http://www.newsherald.com/news/please-78782-child-chipley.html)
History twists missing baby case » (http://www.newsherald.com/news/span-78790-baker-class.html)
Baby Shannon found alive » (http://www.newsherald.com/news/shannon-78823-alive-video.html)
'A little bright light': Baby Shannon alive after 12 hours in box » (http://www.newsherald.com/news/little-78847-alive-shannon.html)
Mike Cazalas: We all seek the truth for baby » (http://www.newsherald.com/articles/baby-78863-miracle-involved.html)
DCF report: Mother 'always looking for places to dump Shannon off' » (http://www.newsherald.com/articles/places-78885-chipley-shannon.html)
Baby Shannon case: 'She had everybody fooled' » (http://www.newsherald.com/articles/everybody-78966-fooled-baby.html)

[LiveLaughLuv]

My heart goes out to Nina.:give_rose:

Why would her father place her in foster care rather than get rid of the monster who's causing the heartache and still with that monster today! :madranting94dp:

Nina rised above the odds, she is a wonderful, beautiful woman who has gone on with her life, becoming a nurse, has a husband and three beautiful children. She yearns for her brother wants to know what happened to him. I'll bet Paul Bakers first response was correct. He must know Susan did something to him, for she was the last one to see him before she took a muscle relaxer and slept. Nina's last memory is of Susan yelling at Paul to lie down, then it all went silent...Paul Baker did not just run away, or walk away, or was abducted, IMO..she should have given Paul back to his family, she knows and will live under this cloud of suspicion until the day she dies or tells where Paul is..:girl_sad:

[nanabillie]

http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/1025171.html

Sheriff says latest charges might help solve 1987 case of missing toddler

Before drifting off to sleep, 6-year-old Nina Baker heard her stepmother screaming at her little brother to lay down and take a nap, the girl's grandmother said. Then, the house in Shell Point fell silent.

Little Paul Baker hasn't been seen or heard from since that day in March 1987,

Paul was 3 years old when he disappeared, and his case remains unsolved. His stepmother -- who admitted shortly after Paul vanished to abusing Nina -- was a prime suspect, but two attempts to charge Susan Baker and the children's father, James Baker, went nowhere because of a lack of evidence, investigators say.

Now comes renewed hope from 400 miles away.

A five-day search for 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick of Chipley, Fla., ended Thursday when the girl was found in a 2-by-3 cedar box that had been shoved under her baby sitter's bed.

That baby sitter was Susan Baker.
http://media.islandpacket.com/smedia/2009/11/05/17/MISSING_Baby_ShannonBox1_1106.standalone.prod_affi liate.9.jpg

Complete story at link

[LiveLaughLuv]

"They have the smoking gun in Chipley, Fla. We didn't have the smoking gun here and we still don't," Tanner said. "Paul Baker is still missing. Susan Baker will pay for her sins. I know she will. I'm hoping that that case in Chipley, Fla., will help our case here, but I'm not getting my hopes up that it will."

I do hope he is right...

Hoping something good comes of this tragedy and Paul Jr. will get justice served...:1222423: