Police are continuing their search for a 10-year-old girl who was reported missing at 2 p.m. Saturday. Officers have searched the girl’s northwest Hickory neighborhood with K-9 units but they have not found Zahra Clare Baker.
Maria Claxton, of a local search dog team, led her dog behind crime scene tape and throughout the stacks of firewood and brush in the Bakers’ backyard while their pit bulls strained at their leashes and whined. Then she took the dog to the Bakers’ Chevy Suburban and Toyota Celica, into the crawl space under the family’s house and inside the home. The search turned up nothing.
Zahra’s father and stepmother, Adam and Elesa Baker reported her missing from her home at 21 21st Avenue NW, and told police they’d last seen her sleeping in her bed at about 2:20 a.m. Saturday.
Police interviewed the Bakers for several hours early in the investigation and officers are working to corroborate their statements.
They were allowed to leave the police station after their interview. During their investigation, officers discovered inconsistencies in the Bakers’ story and the couple has not been ruled out as suspects in their daughter’s disappearance.
Elesa Baker arrested on other charges
Elesa Baker was arrested at about 10:45 a.m. Sunday on nine unrelated warrants and charges.
- Six counts of worthless checks in Catawba County
- Six counts of worthless checks in Caldwell County
- Failure to return rental property in Caldwell County
- Larceny by employee in Burke County
- Failure to appear on three counts of communicating threats in Caldwell County
- Failure to appear on charges of driving without a license and unsafe tires in Caldwell County
Police initially suspected that a stranger might have abducted Zahra. New information has surfaced and stranger abduction appears less likely, though no possibilities have been ruled out at this point, said Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins.
Zahra is about 5-feet 1-inch tall and weighs about 85 pounds. She is deaf and has a prosthetic left leg. Her prosthesis is missing, but her hearing aids were left behind in her home.
“It is highly uncharacteristic for her to leave home without her hearing aids,” said Captain Thurman Whisnant of the Hickory Police Department. “According to the interviews we’ve conducted, it’s very unlikely for her to leave her house without her parents.”
“We are deeply concerned for the welfare of Zahra, but remain hopeful that we will locate her safe and unharmed,” Adkins said.
The FBI is assisting Hickory Police Investigators in their search for Zahra. An Amber Alert will be in place until she is found.
Zahra’s biological mother is an Australian native and has not seen her daughter since she was about 8 months old. She is believed to be in Australia and is not considered a suspect, Whisnant said.
Anyone with information about Zahra’s whereabouts is asked to call the Hickory Police Department at 328-5551.
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