Zahra Clare Baker #4 10/22/10 - 10/28/10

[Itaryl Moosee]

I'm glad they found that mattress before the bad storms.

OMG!

There wouldn't be much evidence left after a huge storm... not that there may be any after what the mattress has gone through since it was thrown away.

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One thing that keeps coming to mind... would the Bakers still be allowed to remain in their trailer now that the boss, Mr. Coffey, knows what they have been up to? After the fake ransom note that included his family in it...

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Another thought, why is Elisa "helping" the police?

Is she working a deal in exchange for information?

Or... is Adam the REAL murderer, and not her?

The reason I say this is because if she were confessing and "helping" in exchange for a lighter sentence, why bring the police to three places and not know EXACTLY where the evidence was?

One other scenario could be that she committed the crime, and it was Adam who discarded the evidence... so she may not know exactly where it is.

Either way the authorities in this case are going the extra mile, and it may be soon that Zahra would be found.

[Brandi]

I'm glad they found that mattress before the bad storms.

OMG!

There wouldn't be much evidence left after a huge storm... not that there may be any after what the mattress has gone through since it was thrown away.

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One thing that keeps coming to mind... would the Bakers still be allowed to remain in their trailer now that the boss, Mr. Coffey, knows what they have been up to? After the fake ransom note that included his family in it... Adam had been moving out of the house Mr. Coffee owns before he was arrested and sent to jail.

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Another thought, why is Elisa "helping" the police? To get a better deal, IMO.

Is she working a deal in exchange for information? Probably.

Or... is Adam the REAL murderer, and not her? Doubtful, IMO, but possible.

The reason I say this is because if she were confessing and "helping" in exchange for a lighter sentence, why bring the police to three places and not know EXACTLY where the evidence was? Could be there is more than one site where "evidence" is.

One other scenario could be that she committed the crime, and it was Adam who discarded the evidence... so she may not know exactly where it is.

Either way the authorities in this case are going the extra mile, and it may be soon that Zahra would be found. I agree!

My answers/opinions in BLUE above.

[StarMonkey]

A mattress North Carolina police believe may belong to missing Australian girl Zahra Baker has been found in a garbage tip while the FBI has joined a separate search in bushland where local residents say a "bad" smell was present


http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/potential-key-evidence-found-in-zahra-case-20101027-172ud.html

[StarMonkey]

A mattress North Carolina police believe may belong to missing Australian girl Zahra Baker has been found in a garbage tip while the FBI has joined a separate search in bushland where local residents say a "bad" smell was present


http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/potential-key-evidence-found-in-zahra-case-20101027-172ud.html

Im wondering if its near the same neighbors and witness's that saw Adam and Elisa at night in this neighborhood?
Tolerence posted this...

Meanwhile, the residents of a trailer park in Caldwell County where Zahra lived until mid-summer are still hoping the girl will be found alive, but they admit that hope is fading.  Search teams combed the woods around the trailer park last Wednesday.

"They need to come back and do some more," said Tabitha Haas.

Haas said Adam and Elisa Baker were spotted in the neighborhood about three weeks ago.

"They came here at night," Haas said.

Peggy Johnson claims a few days later, "the most awful smell was coming up out of the manhole in my yard."

She said authorities lifted the lid and looked inside, but only for a few seconds.

"They's another manhole in the holler that they need to come back and look at," Johnson said.

The place she talked about is hidden in a valley area behind a vacant trailer.  It is in the same area where the couple was spotted

from this article

http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13297637

http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?topic=8794.680

[Kat_Gram]

Is it common to go to three search sites?
Unless she is showing them where Adam might have placed different things.
Misty Cummings comes to mind. 

[Nana29]

Is this common to be driving around with your lawyer also?

Not sure, maybe in court appointed cases?

I just don't ever remember reading anything like this before, but maybe it is done in these type of situations.

Maybe Dubs came in hard and fast telling her girlfriend, you need to cop a plea or else you are going to be charged with the DP.  And maybe her client said I will tell them what I know but only if you are there the whole time.  LE  probably said fine..lead us to the body and or evidence.  If I was in that situation ..I would want my attorney along for the ride..the DP would make me want to hold someones hand..and that is what her attorney is doing.

Since this is an indigent case and she is appointed,  I think the judge realizes Dubs is between a rock and a hard space....maybe she can't afford to free up anyone else from paying cases in her office.

They are not going to allow AB, EB or her attorney walk through an unprocessed crime scene.  EB can tell them the general area, but they are not going to allow her in that secure area.  The only people who need to be in that area are the police to secure it, the ME, crime scene processors, possibly the DA and the people who are going to retrieve her body if located.  That's a lot of people.  the job of the lead officer ono that case is to preserve the integrity of the evidence.

Nope, I don't see any of those people in the secure area.

I believe the article/s I read stated she/they stayed in the vehicle...I agree, they would not allow them to traipse around.

[Desdemona]

Tuesday's search site (Christie Rd.) is about midway between the mobile home park where the Bakers used to live, and Monday's search site (Dudley Shoals Rd.).

From the old trailer, it would be about a 10 or 11 minute drive to Christie Road.  And another 9 or 10 minutes to Dudley Shoals Rd.

(Attaching a rough map for those able to see.)

[Monkey King]

Why would Dubs be between a rock and a hard place? She's a professional attorney and chooses to defend death penalty cases. Her office has staff and other attorneys to assist. Dubs office has to be able to defend more than one client at a time and give each client the professional attention that is required- especially when we're talking life or death.
Postponing a Change of Venue hearing, or any hearing connected to a death penalty case, doesn't seem too professional and I would be pretty upset if I were that client! As for Elisa Baker being transported to an alleged dumping site, obviously NOT for the mattress, why would her attorney need to be present for evidence collection or body retrieval? She doesn't. Is she present so her client doesn't say something to implicate herself further?
That's the only thing I can think of. The attorney isn't LE, so she isn't watching her. That would be the police or jail staff. Being placed in the backseat of a squad car is a secure environment, the same as a holding cell at the jail. 

[Monkey King]

As for Dubs holding Elisa's hand, haha, it doesn't work that way. Dubs is there to do a job, not make friends. Like all of us, Elisa had choices. Where she is now, today, is because of those choices. Once all the evidence is in, Elisa will be judged by a jury of her peers and they will determine what punishment fits her crime(s). In the meantime, she is trying to show she is co-operating with police to lessen the consequences for her behavoir. No, I don't think Elisa needs anyone to hold her hand.

[Gypsy DD]

As for Dubs holding Elisa's hand, haha, it doesn't work that way. Dubs is there to do a job, not make friends. Like all of us, Elisa had choices. Where she is now, today, is because of those choices. Once all the evidence is in, Elisa will be judged by a jury of her peers and they will determine what punishment fits her crime(s). In the meantime, she is trying to show she is co-operating with police to lessen the consequences for her behavoir. No, I don't think Elisa needs anyone to hold her hand.

MK, with all due respect, I believe you took my post way too literally.

By lead them to the body..I did not say or mean get out of the car and walk with them....I meant tell them the general area(s) she thinks they disposed of the evidence.  Which it appears is exactly what she is doing.  They took her along for the ride to put more pressure on her.  Which at this point they should have her in a pressure cooker to my way of thinking

Secondly, I never mentioned the word friend or anything like that. Handholding was meant to infer she was not talking to or going anywhere with LE without an attorney present.  That is par for the course in every case..once someone lawyers up they have the right (and normally exercise that right) to have their attorney present anytime they talk to or engage with LE.

It appears this evil, drunken, drugged out witch wants to be the first one to talk..problem is her brain is so scrambled who knows what she remembers clearly and what she doesn't. 

 

[Tolerance]

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/oct/26/10/mattress-found-landfill-ar-485567/

This article states that Adam picked up his mom and brother from the airport.
Maybe he did so earlier in the evening and they talked him into going to HPD to turn himself in?
I am not sure how reliable this reporting is since I have seen no other report of his mother and/or brother being in the states.
FWIW
Tol

[Monkey King]

Gypsy DD,  A "normal" person might be sweating bullets by now.
"Normal" people don't threaten people with tasers and gun, threaten to kill people and their kids (IF Brittany Bentley is to be believed), they don't beat their kids, lock them in their rooms, take them out of school, or allegedly murder them and dump them in the woods. Yes, she lawyered up and yes, I can see the attorney wanting to protect her from further implicating herself- but, Dubs also has obligations to other clients, and, AB had his chance to come clean with the cops first. Either he doesn't know and EB acted alone or he is witholding information.

[Tolerance]

Today: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. High 79F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Tonight: Scattered thunderstorms this evening followed by a few showers overnight. Low 62F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Tomorrow: Sunshine and clouds mixed. High 74F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.


  Forecast for Hickory today and tomorrow.

[Tolerance]

If AB's family is here from AU does it seem odd to you that they would not bail him out of jail?
If my thinking is correct it would only cost $700?
Tol

[cookie]

http://www.wcnc.com/news/Search-for-Zahra-Baker-intensifies-in-Caldwell-County-105806948.html?gallery=y&c=y&img=0#gallery-image

skipping ahead:  the last photo...looks like they found something..the Police officer closest to the STOP sign looks distressed to me...
back to catching up....thanks for all the updates and photos everyone..

[cookie]

If AB's family is here from AU does it seem odd to you that they would not bail him out of jail?
If my thinking is correct it would only cost $700?
Tol

I thought that too...

[Gypsy DD]

Gypsy DD,  A "normal" person might be sweating bullets by now.
"Normal" people don't threaten people with tasers and gun, threaten to kill people and their kids (IF Brittany Bentley is to be believed), they don't beat their kids, lock them in their rooms, take them out of school, or allegedly murder them and dump them in the woods. Yes, she lawyered up and yes, I can see the attorney wanting to protect her from further implicating herself- but, Dubs also has obligations to other clients, and, AB had his chance to come clean with the cops first. Either he doesn't know and EB acted alone or he is witholding information.

     ITA

[klaasend]

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/oct/26/10/mattress-found-landfill-ar-485567/


Credit: John M. Setzler, Jr.
A search of a site in Dudley Shoals for missing Zahra Baker turned up animal bones on Monday


Mattress found at landfill, to be tested for DNA
Elisa Baker talks through attorneys
HDR-1026-Search-02


Published: October 26, 2010
Updated: October 27, 2010 - 12:36 AM

Investigators spent Tuesday searching for Zahra Baker’s remains off Christie Road in Hudson about seven miles from the site they had searched Monday.

Misinformation persisted throughout the day. One frequently repeated rumor was that Zahra Baker’s body was found stuffed in a mattress at the search site.

Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins said there is no truth to the rumor. He said investigators have not found Zahra’s remains.

A mattress was found at the Foothills Environmental landfill in Caldwell County Tuesday, but it contained no remains. Employees discovered the mattress when they were regrading the area that was searched last week. Hickory police confirmed that, “This mattress possessed DNA evidence that will be tested in the future to confirm if it is involved with this investigation.” The nature of the evidence was not released.

Adkins said investigators have been getting information from a newly-cooperative source: Zahra’s stepmother, Elisa Baker. He said Baker is cooperating with police and providing them with information through her attorneys, Lisa Dubs and Scott Reilly.

Zahra’s father, Adam Baker, has been in the Catawba County jail since he turned himself in at the Hickory Police Department at 3:12 a.m. Monday. He went to the police station after picking up his mother and brother at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.

Baker was arrested on charges unrelated to the disappearance of his daughter and jailed under a $7,000 bond. They include five counts of worthless checks and failure to appear.

The Australian Consulate in Atlanta was notified of Baker’s arrest at his request.


THE SEARCH


The Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office posted barricades and deputies at both entrances to Christie Road as investigators combed the area with dog teams.


“We just had to shut the road because it is so narrow down in there,” said B.J. Fore of the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office. “We’re extending the search area. We’re going to be here at least until dark.”


Though access to Tuesday’s site was tightly controlled, Monday’s search location near the intersection of Dudley Shoals Road and Burns Road was not secured.


Investigators had searched along a short dead-end road. The smell of rotting flesh was heavy in the air.


Small flags in the thicket on the southern side of the road marked several rotting deer carcasses. Long jawbones, skulls ribs and vertebrae littered the ground. A hoof and tattered hide lay beside the road.


Trails on the northern side of the road led through a stand of trees to a stone dam where water cascades onto smooth rocks below.


The sound of the rushing water contrasted with the piles of trash and clothes moldering under wet leaves. An orange flag marked a small bone. A pile of rotten boards looked like it had been sifted and dug through in recent days.

[pfaubush]

http://www.wcnc.com/news/Search-for-Zahra-Baker-intensifies-in-Caldwell-County-105806948.html?gallery=y&c=y&img=0#gallery-image

skipping ahead:  the last photo...looks like they found something..the Police officer closest to the STOP sign looks distressed to me...
back to catching up....thanks for all the updates and photos everyone..

To me, it looks like he's on the phone. The first pic looks to me like they found something.

[Monkey King]

I sure hope you're right, pfaubush!