Shannon Lea Dedrick, 7mo old missing from home 10/31/09 Chipley, FL(FOUND ALIVE)

[Searching]

the box looked like a coffin to me....

Looked like one to me as well and I do believe that is what it was meant to be. I am thinking Paul may have ended up with a coffin just like it.

[melisb]

the box looked like a coffin to me....

Looked like one to me as well and I do believe that is what it was meant to be. I am thinking Paul may have ended up with a coffin just like it.

I know I've watched too many Forensic Files when I am hoping that the chest Baby Shannon was in somehow holds DNA that shouldn't be there from little Paul!!!  God please leave another clue so that these people are charged with something else for him.  The Bakers' won't get enough time from Shannon.  Maybe South Carolina will be able to slap her with more charges.

[penny for your thoughts]

the box looked like a coffin to me....

Looked like one to me as well and I do believe that is what it was meant to be. I am thinking Paul may have ended up with a coffin just like it.

where did you guys see the box? i must be missing it because i've looked and can't find it
thanks in advance for a link?

[penny for your thoughts]

I haven't seen the box yet and IIRC it was cedar (i hope that is right)
anyways if this part is true then it falls into what i had felt she would do... a "propper" burial because in her mind she does love these kids... also cedar is common in chests and closets because it naturally repels bugs and moths

[MuffyBee]

I haven't seen the box yet and IIRC it was cedar (i hope that is right)
anyways if this part is true then it falls into what i had felt she would do... a "propper" burial because in her mind she does love these kids... also cedar is common in chests and closets because it naturally repels bugs and moths

I haven't seen the box either.  But it sounds very scary.

http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/vid/16491237

This video says Shannon was in the box for 12 hours 

[SuzieQ]

http://www.islandpacket.com/breaking_news/story/1024740.html

Penny a picture of the box at this link.

[SuzieQ]

Here it is. Hope this isn't too large.

[penny for your thoughts]

Here it is. Hope this isn't too large.

thanks!!!
and thelid was down for it to be under the bed and she had blankets in it as shown...
shannon is lucky to be alive after 12 hrs

[cookie]

Here it is. Hope this isn't too large.

thanks!!!
and thelid was down for it to be under the bed and she had blankets in it as shown...
shannon is lucky to be alive after 12 hrs

I believe that I heard that the box also had a lock on it...
no food, no love, no daylight for 12 hours....I hope that someone takes this baby and adopts her and gives her all the love that she deserves...what do we know about the maternal grandmother? other than she is being supportive of her daughter, the bio bag....from what she said on NG the other night..
I am not too certain that she should get her hands on Shannon either...

[SuzieQ]

These are Tabatha the niece's Twitter posts. She seems to have had her eyes opened somewhat. She still dosen't believe her Uncle James knew anything about it. All I can say is that he must be the stupidest man in the world if he didn't.

http://twitter.com/sieric

glad Uncle James knew nothing of Susan's actions with keeping the baby under the bed in a box in the other room!33 minutes ago from MySpace
 
 
put a restraining order on Susan Baker so when she does ever get out of jail, she better never come near me or my kids again!about 7 hours ago from MySpace
 
 
feels like an idiot for defending Sue! I was wrong about her, and I am sorry to all for defending her! I hope they put her under the jail!3:55 PM Nov 5th from MySpace
 

[Searching]

Here it is. Hope this isn't too large.

thanks!!!
and thelid was down for it to be under the bed and she had blankets in it as shown...
shannon is lucky to be alive after 12 hrs

I believe that I heard that the box also had a lock on it...
no food, no love, no daylight for 12 hours....I hope that someone takes this baby and adopts her and gives her all the love that she deserves...what do we know about the maternal grandmother? other than she is being supportive of her daughter, the bio bag....from what she said on NG the other night..
I am not too certain that she should get her hands on Shannon either...

Cookie, all I can say on that is apparently Tina is off her meds and very confused. From what I have heard, she is not sure what happened...

[Searching]

http://www.blufftontoday.com/node/31301#comment-148936

Read Farkwar's comment. Fark, If you are reading this, You are Da Bomb!!!

[MuffyBee]

I can't begin to describe how happy I feel that baby Shannon has been found alive.  I've seen so many times the outcome in these cases end up as a recovery of remains or sometimes they're never found.  This time it was different.  Shannon was found alive!  I had already started resigning myself that this baby was probably already dead, buried under some leaves.  But there was always hope, and this time it came through.  Shannon's case has reawakened something in me to never give up. Shannon didn't give up, not even after being put in a box under a bed for 12 hours.  And we shouldn't give up.  Not while there's hope.  Bless Shannon and all those that helped find her and bring her back from the precipice.  For the first time ever, I went into the Gratefulness Candles area and edited a person was found.  I lit a candle after editing the thread with a prayer for thankfulness she was found.    

[cookie]

I can't begin to describe how happy I feel that baby Shannon has been found alive.  I've seen so many times the outcome in these cases end up as a recovery of remains or sometimes they're never found.  This time it was different.  Shannon was found alive!  I had already started resigning myself that this baby was probably already dead, buried under some leaves.  But there was always hope, and this time it came through.  Shannon's case has reawakened something in me to never give up. Shannon didn't give up, not even after being put in a box under a bed for 12 hours.  And we shouldn't give up.  Not while there's hope.  Bless Shannon and all those that helped find her and bring her back from the precipice.  For the first time ever, I went into the Gratefulness Candles area and edited a person was found.  I lit a candle after editing the thread with a prayer for thankfulness she was found.    

Muffers....I never give up on finding these kids alive until proven otherwise..as you say, there is always hope...
...if parents don't have hope for their child, what else do they have when the child is missing? jmo....Keep faith and hope alive for all missing children everywhere!!!

[SuzieQ]

http://www.newsherald.com/news/places-78885-chipley-shannon.html

Video of the Baker, Mercer arraignments.

[SuzieQ]

http://www.newsherald.com/news/places-78885-chipley-shannon.html

CHIPLEY — When Florida’s Department of Children and Families took custody of Shannon Lee Dedrick this week, they already were very familiar with the infant and her family. The family had been under their eye almost since her March 11 birth.

Shannon’s mother, Crystina Lynn Mercer, her father, James Dedrick, and other household members were the subject of an investigation that began March 23 after the agency received a complaint on its Florida Abuse Hotline. The complainant, whose name has not been released, said Mercer was “emotionally handicapped, bipolar” and was “always looking for places to dump Shannon off,” according to a review of DCF’s actions in the case that was released by DCF earlier this week.

CHIPLEY — When Florida’s Department of Children and Families took custody of Shannon Lee Dedrick this week, they already were very familiar with the infant and her family. The family had been under their eye almost since her March 11 birth.

Shannon’s mother, Crystina Lynn Mercer, her father, James Dedrick, and other household members were the subject of an investigation that began March 23 after the agency received a complaint on its Florida Abuse Hotline. The complainant, whose name has not been released, said Mercer was “emotionally handicapped, bipolar” and was “always looking for places to dump Shannon off,” according to a review of DCF’s actions in the case that was released by DCF earlier this week.
Mercer, 25, reported Shannon missing last Saturday but, according to investigators, she had given the baby to Susan Baker, 50, the child’s baby sitter and stepaunt, and a suspect in the disappearance of her own stepson 22 years ago. The baby was found by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday night stuffed in a box under a bed in Baker’s home. Baker’s stepson was never found.

Baker was charged with aggravated child abuse and is being held on a $125,000 bond on the latest case. Mercer was charged with deserting a child and is being held on a $75,000 bond. Both faced additional counts of interference with child custody, filing a false missing child report, filing a false report of a crime and contributing to the dependency (not delinquency, according to the judge at the women’s arraignments) of a child.
Shannon is “safe and doing well,” Barbara Ash, a DCF spokeswoman, said Friday. She cited privacy concerns and declined to say who had custody of the baby. Shannon’s grandmother (Mercer’s mother), Kandis Boyer, said the baby is still in the custody of Florida’s Department of Children and Families. She added that she supports her daughter.

Boyer said she is determined to gain custody of Shannon.

“This isn’t over yet,” she said. “It might be a long battle but we’re here till the end.”

Washington County sheriff’s officials said Friday morning they would comply with Florida’s public records law and release reports, 911 calls and other documents about the case. But by late Friday afternoon, no one was an-swering the phone at the Sheriff’s Office and it had not released the documents.
DCF involvement

When investigators questioned the adults in Shannon’s home following the initial complaint earlier this year, they all said they did not smoke marijuana or cigarettes around the baby. However, Mercer and Dedrick did admit to smoking marijuana and tested positive for the substance in a urinalysis, investigators wrote. The investigators noted that the home was “messy but not hazardous” and that the family had baby formula, Shannon was dressed appropriately and did not have any scars or bruises. Officials also noted that Healthy Start, Social Security and the Women, Infants and Children programs already were involved in the family’s life.

The investigators asked Mercer and Dedrick to join a substance abuse evaluation and prevention program and they agreed to cooperate. The investigators determined the baby’s risk level was “intermediate” and left the baby in Mercer and Dedrick’s custody, officials wrote. Government officials checked on the situation March 25, March 26, April 15, April 22, May 13 and May 15 and each time determined that Shannon was at risk level of “intermedi-ate.”

On Aug. 12, investigators responded to a complaint someone had shaken the baby. All of the family members denied shaking the baby and Shannon smiled at everyone in the house and would often smile “spontaneously and responsively.” Government representatives then checked on the family Aug. 13, 14, 17, 24 and Sept. 3, 8, 10 and 14.

DCF officials are tasked with trying to keep families together unless the children have been physically, mentally or sexually abused, neglected or threatened with harm, according to the agency’s Web site.
It really is important for children to be with their families,” Ash said. “So what we’re really trying to focus on is giving the family services, whether it’s mental health, substance abuse treatment or parenting skills.”
Investigators have certain things that they look for when determining if a child should be removed from a home but each case is taken on an individual basis, Ash said.

“Our primary focus is keeping children safe and protecting them,” Ash said. “If we can, we want to keep the families together.” If investigators believed the child was in danger, Ash said, they would have taken her from the family during an earlier investigation.

 

[cookie]

again I say that I am not so sure that I would want the maternal grand mother to have Shannon...I know nothing about her really but I just have a feeling about her...I could be way off base on this, but not sure that she would be good for Shannon either....for some reason she reminded me of Anna Nicole Smith's mother....jmo...for now I think that the best place for Shannon is in state custody..

[SuzieQ]

I agree, cookie.

[cartfly]

Here it is. Hope this isn't too large.

thanks!!!
and thelid was down for it to be under the bed and she had blankets in it as shown...
shannon is lucky to be alive after 12 hrs

My mom used to have a chest/box like that. She said they called it a "HOPE CHEST". It was usually a cedar chest like a cedar chiffarobe (sp?). Ironic, that little Shannon was put in a "Hope chest" 

[SuzieQ]

http://www.newsherald.com/news/everybody

Baby Shannon case: 'She had everybody fooled' // REPORTS, 911 CALL

CHIPLEY — When sheriff’s deputies found Crystina Mercer sitting on a rock outside her trailer, smoking a cigarette and casually wondering where her baby daughter could be, they wondered if it might be a Halloween prank.

Not quite.

A 911 call, released Tuesday, became the latest piece of the case against Mercer and her step-aunt, Susan Baker, whom investigators said conspired to make 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick disappear.

“Yes, my little girl… I woke up this morning and my 6-month-old daughter is… my 7-month-old daughter is missing,” Mercer told a 911 dispatcher at 11:23 a.m. Oct. 31, some 10 hours after investigators now believe she carried Shannon to a mailbox at the end of the dirt path to her home and handed her off to Baker.

“My front door looks like it’s been jimmied open today,” she continued.

There was no jimmying, at least not in connection to Shannon’s disappearance, investigators would conclude later, after finding Shannon hidden in a wooden box under a bed in Baker’s home.
---

Mercer’s report was strange from the moment deputies arrived, as they said she was calm and smoking outside the dirty, roach-infested trailer while the baby’s father, James “Rusty” Dedrick, was distraught, his face streaked with tears.

He didn’t know of the plan, Sheriff Bobby Haddock said. Meanwhile, Baker kept the baby and denied any involvement.

“She had everybody fooled,” Baker’s niece, Tabatha Phillips, said Tuesday in reaction to the arrests. In previous days, she had defended her.

“I never thought she would’ve done it.”

It was through Phillips that The News Herald reached Baker — before investigators confirmed she was a person of interest in the case — and published a story based on an interview with her. In it, Baker said she loved Shannon and that an abusive Mercer must know her whereabouts. She provided an e-mail she sent to Gov. Charlie Crist, pleading for state intervention in the home.

There were no hints, Phillips said, nothing even in hindsight to make her doubt Baker’s story.

What Baker kept hidden from The News Herald — besides the baby — was her history. She was the prime suspect in the 1987 disappearance of her stepson, Paul Baker, who vanished after she put him down for a nap and never was found.
She has been a suspect all along, and served 80 days for the beating of Paul’s sister, Nina, but prosecutors never had enough evidence to indict her in Paul’s case.

Documents obtained Tuesday from The Beaufort Gazette in Beaufort, S.C., show the depth of their suspicions.

The search for 3-year-old Paul was much like the search for Shannon — searchers with dogs scoured a creek bed, swamps, woods and yards and used a Marine helicopter to hover over outer creek banks and marsh grass.

Eight days later, Baker took a polygraph test. Results were incomplete because Baker was stressed, obese and taking muscle relaxers, but the man who administered it said he “believes Mrs. Baker is lying,” according to a report.

Her husband, James Baker, failed a polygraph test four days later.

Those results were not admissible in court.

Deputies investigated tips on Paul’s case. There was a call from a local girl who said she stumbled upon a 7-year-old boy’s body partially buried in the woods. It never was found.

There was Baker’s cell mate, who said Baker told her James had beaten Paul to death and she helped bury him in a neighbor’s yard — pretending the boy was a dead dog. Baker was taking the blame for him, she said.

There was James Baker himself, who one day told authorities he believed his wife had snapped at Paul’s misbehavior, asked Paul to take a walk down to the river, killed him and tossed him in the water.

A day later, he recanted that statement.

James Baker, who was released from custody in Chipley early after investigators found Shannon, did not return messages at two phone numbers seeking comment. He still could face charges.

Phillips said she saw him soon after deputies pulled Shannon from the box. She said he came to her house to profess his innocence, saying he was at work most days and had no idea Shannon was hidden under a bed in the home’s guest room — apparently also used as a computer room.

“When him and Sue were out in the yard and the cops came out, he looked at Sue and said, ‘What the hell have you done?’ ” Phillips recounted. “He claims not to have known, period.”

Investigators said Shannon spent as many as 12 hours in the box. Phillips said it must have been much longer, as Baker was away babysitting Phillips’ children during much of the search.