thanks searching ..
this is long and not about shannon but rather paul however it shows great insight into what this couple was capable of and there is no way you can say that james didn't know.this was written in 2000 and bold and italics were done by me
Missing Paul
BEAUFORT: 13 years after he vanished, mother hasn't given up hope of finding out what happened to her son.
By Stephanie Broadbent
Carolina Morning News
There was a time when Lynda Solorzano trusted her baby sitter to watch over her young children.
But that was before her husband said he wanted a divorce. Before he married the baby sitter and won custody of Solorzano's daughter and son. Before the new stepmother beat the girl severely enough to put her in a hospital.
Before Solorzano's son disappeared without a trace.
Now the former Cherry Point woman wants answers from her ex-husband and the woman he married. She wants to know if her first-born son died 13 years ago and why her daughter was abused by the woman who was supposed to protect her.
"Not knowing is worse than knowing," said Solarzano, who now lives in Durham, N.C., with her second son. "Let me put my baby to rest. Let me have a memorial, someplace to go. I have dreams at night where he's lost in the dark and can't find his way home and I can't find him."
Solarzano's first son, Paul Baker, disappeared March 5, 1987, while living with his father and stepmother in a Beaufort home. He was 3 years old and hasn't been seen since.
James and Susan Baker, now 41, of Chipley, Fla., were recently charged in the case and returned to Beaufort to face charges of beating the boy before he vanished.
Both remain lodged at the Beaufort County Detention Center in lieu of $75,000 cash bonds while Beaufort County investigators delve into the case with new leads. Neither could be reached at the jail for comment Thursday.
Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner won't discuss details of the arrests, but said the investigation may shed new light on what happened to the little boy searchers couldn't find.
The arrests also provide hope for answers for Solarzano and her 19-year-old daughter, Nina Baker, who was removed from her father's home after her brother disappeared and her stepmother beat her and broke her bones.
She was 6 years old when Paul disappeared, but while the physical scars have faded, the emotional ones still hurt.
It isn't the future Solarzano imagined when she met her husband at a North Carolina roller rink two decades ago.
New love
The skating rink was crowded, but one boy stood out.
His speed, spins and jumps impressed 15-year-old Lynda enough that she asked him to skate with her during the Sadie Hawkins number.
It was love at first sight, she said, but Lynda couldn't date until her 16th birthday, so 19-year-old James Baker started meeting her at church. A year later, her father allowed them to double-date with other couples and when she turned 17 they were allowed to venture out alone.
"I was getting ready to graduate high school and he said he wanted to get married," she remembered. Despite her father's opposition, Linda said yes.
A year later, she gave birth to Nina and James Baker joined the U.S. Marine Corps. But when he got back from basic training, the boy she'd loved was a man she didn't know.
"He came out different, colder," Solarzano said. "
When I got pregnant with Paul, he said I was holding him back in his career."...
could be the reason that susan never had her own kidsStationed in Beaufort, things were fine for awhile. James Baker was an avionics technician and his future looked bright. But Solarzano's luck was taking a turn for the worse.
New woman
Solarzano had a part-time job but needed someone to look after Nina and Paul.
One of James Baker's friends had a sister, who he said was good with children. Susan lived nearby and seemed to be the obvious choice."She was my baby sitter," Solarzano said. "But what I didn't know was she was baby-sitting my husband too."
Solarzano said she found about the alleged affair, which caused her marriage to crumble. She took the children and moved out but claims her husband didn't pay child support. She had very little money and couldn't afford a lawyer.
It was a long separation, and she eventually met someone else, she said. Before the divorce was final, she was pregnant with her boyfriend's child.
"I don't believe in abortion, so I went to court pregnant," she said. "I lost on adultery. I was separated, pregnant and on welfare. He had a house and was in the Corps."
Although she wanted 6-year-old Nina and 3-year-old Paul, Solarzano said the judge sided with her husband.
She vowed to try to get them back within a year, but only nine months later her son was gone and she'd have to fight the state to return her daughter after they took the battered girl from her father's home.Paul Baker
Like so many toddlers, Paul loved his big sister and followed her wherever she went.
That's why Solarzano can't believe that he wandered away from home on his own. Searchers were called to the Bakers' home March 5, 1987, after his stepmother,
Susan Baker, told police she put Paul down for a nap and returned to his room to find him missing.Deputies and volunteers scoured the area for days but no trace of Paul was ever found.
What social workers did find were sores on his sister's body and broken bones in her hand that hadn't healed. Her stepmother was arrested and convicted for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but a judge suspended the sentence to time she'd served in jail before trial.
Meanwhile, Solarzano was fighting for custody of her daughter again. The state wanted to put her up for adoption but her mother and grandmother were determined to get her back, Solarzano said.
At first her mother was only allowed short visits and what she saw shocked her, she said.
"
She had whole patches of hair that had been pulled out by the roots and it grew back white," Solarzano said. "There were open sores on her back, probably from burns. She still has scars on her back and hands."open soars on the back and broken hands that wouldn't heal indicates repetition of breaking and coupled together these are identical to old school religious style hand beatings and whippings After spending more than $10,000 in lawyer fees, Nina was given to Solarzano's mother, where she lived until her mother could care for her alone.
For years, Nina had no contact with her father or stepmother. The couple moved to Florida after James Baker left military service and for years there was only silence.
At times, his daughter didn't even know where he lived, Solarzano said.
"She's always asked me questions about him, but she wanted answers from him," Solarzano said.
Nina recently contacted her father in hopes of resolving mixed emotions, her mother said.
Nina wants to know what happened and why. She's 19, works in retail as a shift manager and is going to college. She's adjusted well, but still needs closure, Solarzano said.
Solarzano's youngest son also wants to know about the brother he never met. He recently found a computer generated photograph from the Center for Missing and Exploited Children of what Paul might look like at age 16.
It was a photo his mother had never seen until she came from work to find it on her computer screen saver.
"I asked who that boy is and he told me Paul," she said, crying. "It's too much. It still hurts too much."
Solarzano still hopes to meet the 16-year-old boy in the photograph, but doubts it will happen. She holds out hope that her son is still alive, but won't believe it without proof.
In the meantime, she's still pressing authorities to find out what happened to her boy and hopes her husband will tell them if there's anything else he knows.
"I just hope someone will touch his heart," she said. "We've been waiting 13 years. Paul hasn't been forgotten."
Reporter Stephanie Broadbent can be reached at 837-5255, ext. 110, or at
stephanie@lowcountrynow.com