Zahra Clare Baker #2 10/13/10 - 10/16/10

[Northern Rose]

Family, friends in Australia love 'Bubbly Zahra'

HICKORY --
The disappearance of Zahra Clare Baker has devastated her family and friends in Australia.

The Townsville Bulletin, a newspaper published near Zahra’s former home in Giru, Queensland, reports Zahra’s grandmother, Karen Baker, and close family friend, Kim Wright, “spent many an hour with the bubbly Wagga-born girl in the four years she was growing up in Giru,” the Bulletin reported.

Queesnland is a large state in the northeastern part of Australia.

“She was the most determined little girl I have ever met,” Wright said.

“She was going to still do everything she could, despite not having her leg or her hearing. People say she has had a rough trot, but she never believed that for a second.”

“We are just stunned and shocked and so upset about what has happened,” Karen Baker, who lives in Newcastle,  said.

“There is nothing we can do from here. We feel so helpless. We have friends who live over there who work in the trucking industry, and they have got all their mates to put out the alert that Zahra is missing through their CB systems, so hopefully there will be someone who has seen something. We want our darling girl back safe and sound,” Baker said.

The Bulletin and other news sources reveal a child who was shy, but always smiling in spite of her serious health problems.

Zahra was unable to attend school for a year because of the cancer.

Her friends in the community and the Giru State School raised enough money to buy her a laptop computer and educational software so she could keep up with her studies.

Wright met Zahra during a fundraising drive. Wright also worked with Zahra’s father, Adam, and her grandfather, Tony, at Invicta Sugar Mill.

Wright described Zahra as “determined and positive.”

Giru is near Townsville and has a population of 375.

She and her father lived with her grandparents. Family members say Zahra’s mother had little contact with her since she was eight months old.

Zahra also won the hearts of soldiers at Camp Quality in September of 2008 when she and 30 other North Queensland children and their companions were guests at the camp of Lavarack Barracks, Townsville.

Not long after that, news sources report, “She was uprooted from Australia ... and moved to North Carolina.”

Every report coming out of Australia refers to Zahra’s seemingly permanent smile.

A friend who lives in Brisbane posted this on the Townville Bulletin’s Web site:

“Zahra you are in my prayers. I heard this news ...  and it has left me sick with worry. May you be returned safe and well to your family, you are such a beautiful girl, you taught me so much during our many different Camp trips. The world through you a lot of lemons but you always caught them with a smile, keep on smiling Princess!”

A snapshot of Zahra

• Born 2000 in Wagga, Queensland, Australia
• 2001, father and mother divorce.
• In 2004, moved with her father to the North Queesnland township of Giru.
• 2005, diagnosed with a form of bone cancer that led to hearing loss and amputation of lower left leg.
• 2007, diagnosed with secondary lung cancer.
• 2008, cancer was declared in remission.
• 2008, moved to North Carolina with her father and new stepmother.
• 2010, approximately early September, moved with father and stepmother from Granite Falls area to Hickory.
• 2010, Oct. 9, reported missing from Hickory home.


http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/oct/14/family-friends-australia-love-bubbly-zahra-ar-455651/

[Northern Rose]

Law enforcement continues search for missing child
T search for Zahra Baker spans three counties.

HICKORY --
About 35 investigators followed up on tips and leads Wednesday in the search for 10-year-old Zahra Clare Baker.

Zahra was first reported missing by Adam and Elisa Baker, her father and stepmother, on Saturday. The investigation changed from an AMBER alert to a homicide investigation Tuesday. Elisa has been arrested on obstruction of justice charges for writing a ransom note demanding $1 million.

Wednesday’s search included investigation in Catawba, Burke and Caldwell counties. However, as of press time Wednesday, Zahra has not been found.

Investigators checked the brush pile at Real Tree Services in Morganton, the same place they were at late Tuesday night. Zahra’s father worked for the company.

They also checked the pond next to the property.

In Catawba County, the property around the Baker home was searched with a K-9 unit again. The dumpster for a restaurant near the Baker’s home on 21st Avenue, NW, was also hauled away so investigators could look through it to ensure there was no evidence inside.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Hickory Police Department at (828) 328-5551.

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/oct/13/law-enforcement-continues-search-missing-child-ar-455936/

[Northern Rose]

Vigil held for Zahra
“Ten-year-old life should be about fun, playing and having a good time.”



HICKORY --
More than 250 people showed up at a vigil for Zahra Clare Baker Wednesday night. Some came with hope that she would be found alive by searchers. Some came because they wanted to support the community. Others came to pray.

Many wondered why a 10-year-old girl with a smile so bright could have harm done to her.

“She always had a smile on her face, and that’s the best thing about her,” said Cynthia McCurry, 11.

Zahra was first reported missing at 2 p.m. Saturday, although Hickory police suspect she may have been missing longer than that. No one other than family has seen Zahra in a month.

On Sunday, Zahra’s stepmother, Elisa Baker, 42, was arrested on nine unrelated charges to Zahra’s disappearance. Hickory police interviewed Baker on Tuesday, and she admitted writing the ransom note found on one of the Bakers’ car, demanding $1 million. She has since been arrested for obstruction of justice and had her first court appearance on the charge. Law enforcement is still searching for Zahra.

East Hickory Baptist Church held the vigil for Zahra because they realized the community needed it. The church’s deacons decided to hold a prayer vigil for her.

“We’ve had people calling the church and asking for directions all day,” said Brian Gragg, a deacon at the church. “This story has touched everybody’s hearts.”

He said he hoped the vigil helps people realize that God loves them.

“And it would be great if Zahra is found alive,” Gragg said. “It’s just a sad story, but we have hope.”

East Hickory Baptist Church held the vigil next to its playground for symbolic reasons, said church member David King.

“Ten-year-old life should be about fun, playing and having a good time,” he said.

Ragan Martin decided to come to the vigil because she’s followed the news about Zahra.

“I felt compelled to come,” she said. “Everybody should really be paying attention to their children. When they see violence, they should speak up.”

With Martin was Serenity Bapties, 14. She said she came because the disappearance affected her.

“I felt like I should,” she said. “It’s different that it happened so close to home.”

During the vigil, East Hickory Baptist’s minister offered prayer as well as words of support. Many at the vigil wiped away tears as they sang “Amazing Grace.”

Several people in the crowd implored that others love their own children and remember how special they are. Others encouraged people to speak out if they heard or saw something happen to someone in the community that was wrong.

“It’s been assumed that something’s happened to Zahra. If that’s true, they’ll have to deal with that,” Gragg said. “If they don’t confess, they will have to stand before God one day. The same one that said ‘do not kill’ also said ‘do not lie.’”

A family friend of the Bakers was also at the vigil.

“The family tried, they did honestly try to get help,” said Lindsey Parker, a friend of Zahra’s sister. “DSS was called three times.”

Also at the vigil were people who had family members who had been murdered. They wanted those in Catawba County to know that support was there, if needed.

“She’d already beat cancer, one of the worst things in life,” said Dwayne Baker, father to 19-year-old Travis, who was missing for two years and found dead in June 2009.

Dwayne was ready to support any searches for Zahra, or to support her family members. Dwayne said he knows first hand what it’s like when a child is missing, and can help Zahra’s family members get through it.

Most at the vigil were hoping for a positive outcome in law enforcement’s search for Zahra.

“It’s just sad. I just hope they find her and she’s alive,” said Jeanette Surratt. “If not, then she’s gone to a better place than we are in.”

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/oct/13/vigil-held-zahra-ar-455924/

[Deenie]

Thank You Northern for the articles 

[klaasend]

http://www.wcnc.com/news/Police-return-to-Burke-County-search-site-104880109.html

Crews search pond for Zahra Baker, come up empty

by NewsChannel 36 Staff

WCNC.com

Posted on October 13, 2010 at 2:32 PM

Updated today at 11:59 PM

BURKE COUNTY, N.C. -- Late Wednesday afternoon, firetrucks arrived at an area that police and canine units have been searching in connection with the disappearance of Zahra Baker. Crews unrolled hoses and started draining a pond on the property they've been searching for the past two days.

 

[klaasend]

Elesa's son speaking at the candlelight vigil:

[bananas]

What a beautiful and brave little girl is Zahra.  God watch over this little one tonight.  She has stolen my heart.

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.ulladullatimes.com.au/news/world/world/general/what-did-the-stepmother-do/1968612.aspx

What did the stepmother do?
SIMON MANN WASHINGTON
14 Oct, 2010 03:00 AM

THE missing 10-year-old Zahra Baker recently told a charity worker that she had a prosthetic leg because an alligator had eaten the real one.

In truth, Zahra lost her leg to bone cancer, but such was the character of the child, described by those who know her as plucky and possessing ''an absolutely great personality''.

But police in the small industrial town of Hickory, in North Carolina, say Zahra, who was born and lived in Australia until last year, is almost certainly dead.

Suspicion has fallen upon her 42-year-old stepmother, Elisa Baker, who describes herself on her MySpace page as a ''Gothic'' and who is being detained after she admitted to writing a ransom note that was discovered in the Bakers' car. Police plan to charge her with obstructing justice.

But the case is full of mystery. Police say they cannot find anyone - other than her immediate family - who has seen Zahra in at least a month, although Ms Baker and her husband, Adam, didn't report her missing until Saturday.

And as her disappearance gained publicity, relatives of Ms Baker have said Zahra appeared to have been mistreated.

On Tuesday, Hickory police switched the focus of their investigation from a missing person or abducted child case to a homicide investigation.

Last night, officers and FBI agents were searching through piles of woodchips at the Hickory plant of a tree trimming company that employed Mr Baker.

Zahra was born in Wagga Wagga and moved to North Carolina with her father last year after he met Ms Baker on the internet. The couple married in July.

Zahra's mother lives in Australia but is believed not to have had any contact with her daughter since Zahra was a baby.

[Tibrogargan]

Family, friends in Australia love 'Bubbly Zahra'

HICKORY --
The disappearance of Zahra Clare Baker has devastated her family and friends in Australia.

The Townsville Bulletin, a newspaper published near Zahra’s former home in Giru, Queensland, reports Zahra’s grandmother, Karen Baker, and close family friend, Kim Wright, “spent many an hour with the bubbly Wagga-born girl in the four years she was growing up in Giru,” the Bulletin reported.

Queesnland is a large state in the northeastern part of Australia.

“She was the most determined little girl I have ever met,” Wright said.

“She was going to still do everything she could, despite not having her leg or her hearing. People say she has had a rough trot, but she never believed that for a second.”

“We are just stunned and shocked and so upset about what has happened,” Karen Baker, who lives in Newcastle,  said.

“There is nothing we can do from here. We feel so helpless. We have friends who live over there who work in the trucking industry, and they have got all their mates to put out the alert that Zahra is missing through their CB systems, so hopefully there will be someone who has seen something. We want our darling girl back safe and sound,” Baker said.

The Bulletin and other news sources reveal a child who was shy, but always smiling in spite of her serious health problems.

Zahra was unable to attend school for a year because of the cancer.

Her friends in the community and the Giru State School raised enough money to buy her a laptop computer and educational software so she could keep up with her studies.

Wright met Zahra during a fundraising drive. Wright also worked with Zahra’s father, Adam, and her grandfather, Tony, at Invicta Sugar Mill.

Wright described Zahra as “determined and positive.”

Giru is near Townsville and has a population of 375.

She and her father lived with her grandparents. Family members say Zahra’s mother had little contact with her since she was eight months old.

Zahra also won the hearts of soldiers at Camp Quality in September of 2008 when she and 30 other North Queensland children and their companions were guests at the camp of Lavarack Barracks, Townsville.

Not long after that, news sources report, “She was uprooted from Australia ... and moved to North Carolina.”

Every report coming out of Australia refers to Zahra’s seemingly permanent smile.

A friend who lives in Brisbane posted this on the Townville Bulletin’s Web site:

“Zahra you are in my prayers. I heard this news ...  and it has left me sick with worry. May you be returned safe and well to your family, you are such a beautiful girl, you taught me so much during our many different Camp trips. The world through you a lot of lemons but you always caught them with a smile, keep on smiling Princess!”

A snapshot of Zahra

• Born 2000 in Wagga, Queensland, Australia
• 2001, father and mother divorce.
• In 2004, moved with her father to the North Queesnland township of Giru.
• 2005, diagnosed with a form of bone cancer that led to hearing loss and amputation of lower left leg.
• 2007, diagnosed with secondary lung cancer.
• 2008, cancer was declared in remission.
• 2008, moved to North Carolina with her father and new stepmother.
• 2010, approximately early September, moved with father and stepmother from Granite Falls area to Hickory.
• 2010, Oct. 9, reported missing from Hickory home.


http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/oct/14/family-friends-australia-love-bubbly-zahra-ar-455651/

BBM :  This is an Australian newspaper and you would think they would know that Wagga Wagga is not in Queensland but is in New South Wales.  Very sloppy reporting and lack of editing.

Thank you for bringing these reports, Northern Rose.

[trimmonthelake]

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/World/2010/10/14/Search_goes_on_for_Aussie_girls_body_525995.html

Search goes on for Aussie girl's body
Thursday, October 14, 2010 » 06:39pm
Zahra Baker's stepmother is locked up in a US jail, as the search continues for the 10-year-old Australian girl, who police believed has been murdered.

American authorities, who believe Zahra was murdered, are yet to determine what happened to the girl or find her body.

Search teams began draining a pond near the bushland premises of a tree-trimming company where Zahra's Australian father, Adam Baker, worked while cadaver-sniffing dogs inspected mulching machinery and large piles of wood chips at his place of employment.

Zahra's stepmother Elisa Baker and father remain suspects in the disappearance of the girl, who had her lower left leg amputated five years ago after a battle with bone cancer. The cancer also resulted in Zahra needing hearing aids.

Apart from her stepmother and father, police are yet to find someone who sighted Zahra during the past month.
Hardened US law enforcement officers have been emotionally struck by the girl's disappearance, while tears flowed in the Bakers' small home town of Hickory, North Carolina, on Wednesday night when 250 residents attended a vigil.

'I think the images you see - the smile, a handicapped girl that age - (are) just emotionally upsetting,' District Attorney Jay Gaither told reporters.

'Law enforcement doesn't show it, but I think that they are affected by it.'

Adding to the law enforcement and community anger and sorrow over the case was the unearthing of a photo of Zahra - taken on a mobile phone on August 9 by family friend Brandy Stapleton - which appeared to show Zahra with a bruise under her right eye.

Stapleton told US TV show Good Morning America that she took the photo to cheer Zahra up because the little cancer survivor seemed down at the time, but Zahra's stepmother told her not to take the picture.

Other family friends and former neighbours told how Elisa Baker had a terrible temper and would beat Zahra and keep her locked in her bedroom.

Elisa Baker, 42, wearing a pink prison jumpsuit and with her arms and legs shackled, appeared briefly in North Carolina's Catawba County court where she faced a charge of obstruction of justice for allegedly writing a fake ransom note demanding $US1 million ($A1.01 million).

The note was found on a car windscreen at the family's home on the weekend, hours before Zahra was reported missing.
Elisa Baker was remanded in custody on $US40,000 ($A40,460) bail and her lawyer, D. Scott Reilly, said his client was not doing well in jail.

'She's scared to death, she's emotional,' Reilly said.

'She's upset with being in jail and away from her family.'

Elisa Baker's son from a different relationship, Douglas Proctor, released a statement to the media declaring: 'Due to the fact I am still gathering facts right now, I am unable to make any comment on anything regarding Zahra Baker as well as my mother Elisa Baker. I would also like to ask that everyone please respect my family's privacy during this difficult and stressful time.'

The search for Zahra's body included a garbage disposal unit at a restaurant near the Bakers' rented home.

Adam Baker accompanied police on the search of his work premises, but he reportedly was 'not exactly co-operative'.

'He seems concerned,' Burke County Sheriff John McDevitt told CNN.

'But I don't know how sincere his concern is.'

Zahra, who used a prosthetic leg to walk, was born in the NSW country town of Wagga Wagga and spent time in Newcastle before moving north to Townsville and eventually North Carolina with her father two years ago after he met Elisa Baker on the internet.

Zahra's mother still lives in Australia.

While Zahra's hearing aids were found at her home, her prosthetic leg is missing.
The mobile-phone photo of Zahra with an apparent black eye follows other reports that the girl was abused and beaten by her stepmother before her disappearance.

'Just the way she yelled and screamed at her, and I did see her hit the child a couple of times,' a former neighbour, Renee Bobbitt - who also said she witnessed Zahra with black eyes - told America's ABC News.

'I should have called and said something then.

'I wish I had've a million times, because no child deserves anything like this. And it's really got the whole neighbourhood upset because we all loved the child.'

[Tibrogargan]

A short description of Wagga Wagga (pronounced Wogga Wogga - rhymes with Dogga    ) :

Wagga Wagga is the largest inland city in the State of New South Wales with a population of about 58,000 people on an area of about 480,000 hectares. It is the "capital" of the Riverina Region and the major support city for some 200,000 people who live and work in the rich southern agricultural area of the State. Wagga Wagga, a "Garden City" with its excellent facilities, provides an ideal base from which to tour and inspect the technical and general features of the area.

[Nightowl]

I just heard on a local television station, on a brief news report, that the father of the missing Newcastle girl in the United States, is no longer co-operating with the police.  It was just a brief report in between shows.

[melisb]

Interesting, they took 3 PASSPORTS and 2 TOOTHBRUSHES from the home.

I really don't believe this child lived in this house.  Ever.

The toothbrushes came from the cars.  This is an inventory from the items took as evidence out of them.  This isn't stuff from the house.  Don't think they have said what items are from the house yet, have they?  Also got various drug paraphanelia out of the car, wonder what these were?  Might indicate what drug she was doing if we knew.

[Nightowl]

Apart from the 2 toothbrushes, the thing that struck me was that they had their passports in the car.  I wonder why that was, I keep all our passports in a safe place in my house unless I am travelling overseas or need my passport for identification. It just seems a bit odd. 

[bananas]

Who keeps passports and toothbrushes in the car?  Isn't that odd?

[melisb]

thanks pink angel

wonder why she wrote the ransom note, if she had nothing to do with
her disappearance, maybe they should ask EB, the right Q,
what do you know about Zahra's disappearance

CW...my thinking on the note is she was hoping she could make LE think that someone came in and took Zarha not knowing they had recently moved into the house.  She wanted it to look like the kidnappers didn't know the former owner/tenants had moved and grabbed Z by mistake.  This is the only sensible thing to me.  Of course I'm wrong lots of times!

[Lazydog1]

Interesting, they took 3 PASSPORTS and 2 TOOTHBRUSHES from the home.

I really don't believe this child lived in this house.  Ever.

The toothbrushes came from the cars.  This is an inventory from the items took as evidence out of them.  This isn't stuff from the house.  Don't think they have said what items are from the house yet, have they?  Also got various drug paraphanelia out of the car, wonder what these were?  Might indicate what drug she was doing if we knew.

After reading the search warrant several times I finally noticed the first line in the little box at the top.

If you look at the box where it shows the vehicles it also shows the address of the house. This is stated as what they searched. I assume it includes the family home and the vehicles. It doesn't break down what was found in the vehicles or the house just a grouping of what was taken from all of them.

Hope that helps.

LD1

[bananas]

Yes, you are right, they searched the house too... so the toothbrushes and passports could have come from either.  Odd that they would not say where they found which of these things.

[Bearlyhere]

Elisa Baker's son speaks out at vigil for missing Zahra

HICKORY, N.C. -- Zahra Baker's stepbrother made his first public statements Tuesday to a crowd of reporters at a candlelight vigil for his missing stepsister.

Douglas Proctor, the 22-year-old son of Elisa Baker, would not answer questions about charges against his mother, the ongoing homicide investigation, or allegations that Elisa Baker abused Zahra. "I can't really comment right now what's going on because I am still learning everything and it's a private matter right now between myself and my family," he said. "To all the people who helped us come out and look the other day, to all the messages that we've received, all the phone calls--it's not gone unnoticed."

He also thanked law enforcement officers investigating the case. "I just want everyone to know that we really appreciate everything and that we're not going to stop looking for Zahra. We'll go as long as it takes."

On Zahra, he said, "I think it would make her happy to see all this, but with that in mind, until anything changes, or we get any more facts, I am not really going to make any more statements."

Proctor personally thanked the pastor of East Hickory Baptist Church where about 300 people gathered on the lawn to pray for Zahra Baker.

Most people who attended--many with children--said they were strangers who'd been touched by the news of her disappearance.

"She lost a leg to cancer, she survived cancer twice," explained a tearful Teresa Brittain, who said she is currently having chemotherapy for cancer. "She was 10 years old, she had her life ahead of her, and we don't even know if it's taken away from her."

Debbie Fogle, whose son was murdered, urged the community to stand-in for Zahra's parents as this investigation unfolds. "This case is different. So I think as a community we need to rally around the child."

Lindsey Parker, a friend of Elisa Baker's biological daughter Brittany, took the microphone to tell the crowd that Brittany had often fought with her mother over Zahra.  She and other friends said the Department of Social Services was contacted.

"She was--she is--an absolutely beautiful child. And we don't know anything until she's found or she's found safe, and I pray that she's found safe," said another friend, Milly Humphrey.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Elisa-Bakers-son-speaks-out-at-vigil-for-missing-Zahra--104914834.html

I have seen this before.  I don't buy the privacy thing.  You had your privacy and you blew it.  I wonder if this is the family spokesperson.  Will he start asking for money or her father?

Every one of her family failed her, every single one.  No one talked to her in 2 months?  They say she was being abused, and they did not check on her, offer to keep her for the weekend?

 

[Bearlyhere]

Vigil held for Zahra
“Ten-year-old life should be about fun, playing and having a good time.”



HICKORY --
More than 250 people showed up at a vigil for Zahra Clare Baker Wednesday night. Some came with hope that she would be found alive by searchers. Some came because they wanted to support the community. Others came to pray.

Many wondered why a 10-year-old girl with a smile so bright could have harm done to her.

“She always had a smile on her face, and that’s the best thing about her,” said Cynthia McCurry, 11.

Zahra was first reported missing at 2 p.m. Saturday, although Hickory police suspect she may have been missing longer than that. No one other than family has seen Zahra in a month.

On Sunday, Zahra’s stepmother, Elisa Baker, 42, was arrested on nine unrelated charges to Zahra’s disappearance. Hickory police interviewed Baker on Tuesday, and she admitted writing the ransom note found on one of the Bakers’ car, demanding $1 million. She has since been arrested for obstruction of justice and had her first court appearance on the charge. Law enforcement is still searching for Zahra.

East Hickory Baptist Church held the vigil for Zahra because they realized the community needed it. The church’s deacons decided to hold a prayer vigil for her.

“We’ve had people calling the church and asking for directions all day,” said Brian Gragg, a deacon at the church. “This story has touched everybody’s hearts.”

He said he hoped the vigil helps people realize that God loves them.

“And it would be great if Zahra is found alive,” Gragg said. “It’s just a sad story, but we have hope.”

East Hickory Baptist Church held the vigil next to its playground for symbolic reasons, said church member David King.

“Ten-year-old life should be about fun, playing and having a good time,” he said.

Ragan Martin decided to come to the vigil because she’s followed the news about Zahra.

“I felt compelled to come,” she said. “Everybody should really be paying attention to their children. When they see violence, they should speak up.”

With Martin was Serenity Bapties, 14. She said she came because the disappearance affected her.

“I felt like I should,” she said. “It’s different that it happened so close to home.”

During the vigil, East Hickory Baptist’s minister offered prayer as well as words of support. Many at the vigil wiped away tears as they sang “Amazing Grace.”

Several people in the crowd implored that others love their own children and remember how special they are. Others encouraged people to speak out if they heard or saw something happen to someone in the community that was wrong.

“It’s been assumed that something’s happened to Zahra. If that’s true, they’ll have to deal with that,” Gragg said. “If they don’t confess, they will have to stand before God one day. The same one that said ‘do not kill’ also said ‘do not lie.’”

A family friend of the Bakers was also at the vigil.

“The family tried, they did honestly try to get help,” said Lindsey Parker, a friend of Zahra’s sister. “DSS was called three times.”

Also at the vigil were people who had family members who had been murdered. They wanted those in Catawba County to know that support was there, if needed.

“She’d already beat cancer, one of the worst things in life,” said Dwayne Baker, father to 19-year-old Travis, who was missing for two years and found dead in June 2009.

Dwayne was ready to support any searches for Zahra, or to support her family members. Dwayne said he knows first hand what it’s like when a child is missing, and can help Zahra’s family members get through it.

Most at the vigil were hoping for a positive outcome in law enforcement’s search for Zahra.

“It’s just sad. I just hope they find her and she’s alive,” said Jeanette Surratt. “If not, then she’s gone to a better place than we are in.”

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/oct/13/vigil-held-zahra-ar-455924/

There was no personal touch to this vigil.  No friends came out, no one knew her.  Three times is not enough to call DSS out for a girl who was abused every day, 300 times is not enough if no one listens.  Why didn't someone call the police when the SM hurt her hand, when they saw bruises, when she was only allowed out of her room for 5 minutes, when she was forced to run on her prosthesis?

She had no advocate.  No one cared enough.  No one talked to her in 2 months, no one.