Seven-month-old Shannon Dedrick missing *found safe: charges filed*

[silvahalo68]

Both parents are mentally handicapped and CPS is how involved? seriously, how involved was CSP over looking that baby seeing that she was getting proper care. I would really like to know the facts on this. Seems with the sister caring for baby much of the time because of neglect and calling CPS baby should have been removed being that the parents said they did not want baby Shannon.

Fuck. She's not alive. IF she is its a miracle. Be found sweet one.....alive.

[ineedanap]

Did anyone see anything on the presser? I have checked all links, nothing. Fox news now has the story on their front page, but still no update on the presser.

[skeptik]

There was no live feed online. All I am hearing is nothing significant was reported. Search continues for Shannon, no arrests made.

[skeptik]

Updates at link.
http://fosterfollynews.com/news/2009...ssingChild.php

According to Haddock, the infant was discovered missing from the family residence (shown at the left) about 11:00 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 31st. He said a short time later the Washington County Sheriff's Office received a call concerning the missing infant. The mobile home is located on property belonging to Debra McGhee on Brown Street.

Parents are:
Christina Mercer and Rusty Dedrick

[silvahalo68]

It's so frustrating. Clearly the authorities are not treating this as an abduction so it must be that the parents did something to her. Urrrrg, just tell them where the hell baby Shannon is!

[skeptik]

I swear the people that do this shit, if they did do this, are taking a lesson from another missing kid's parents. Clean up, hide the body well and refuse to cooperate.

[ScribbleMuse]

I thought the head looked a little out of proportion too. I hope she didn't suffer. :( It sounds like a terrible situation and that numerous people probably failed this child.

[shadowman]

Originally Posted by Rhoni

What is it about Florida that people seem to "lose" their kids more than anywhere else? Maybe I am totally off base here but I swear I read about more kids missing or murdered in that state than any other..

I agree. I think it started with Sabrina Aisenberg. How could anyone do this to a baby???

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Aside from shooting down rumors, however, Haddock gave little new information about the case.

Haddock also said that Internet rumors that the mother had confessed to burying the baby were not true, and there was no search underway at the old landfill on South Boulevard. The site is being used for the various search teams participating in the hunt for the missing child.

Haddock said the two adults living at 793C Brown Street have been interviewed but he would go into any specifics about what investigators learned. Haddock also refused to release the names of the adults or release the name of the person of interest.

Haddock said the adults had no police records, and declined to say if they had been investigated by the Department of Children and Families.

http://www.chipleypaper.com/news/int...by-person.html

For the past two months, Tanya Wilt and Tina Blaylock received periodic visits from a mother and her docile infant daughter who lived next door in this Washington County, Fla., town.

They’ve been neighbors for the past two months. Their mobile homes are separated by just a few feet at the end of a dirt road off Brown Street in Chipley.

“(The mother) came by a lot to borrow cigarettes or use the microwave to pop popcorn,” Wilt said. “She would have the baby sometimes. They bragged about that baby everywhere, all the time. She was a totally happy and content child, always. We never once heard her cry.”
[...]

Wilt and Blaylock said they saw what they believed to be a grey van near the residence the night Shannon Lea went missing. They said the van has been at the residence numerous times over the past two months.
[...]

Search and rescue personnel created a staging area at the old Washington County landfill not far from Brown Street and used all terrain vehicles and horses to navigate the thick woods. Scent-specific dogs are also being used. Haddock said the dogs picked up a faint scent briefly, but nothing that led investigators to a specific site.
[...]

http://www2.dothaneagle.com/dea/news...d_girl/105570/

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office says Shannon disappeared sometime between 3:00 a-m and 11:00 a-m Saturday morning. Most residents didn’t see anything suspicious, but one neighbor mentions seeing a van pull into the driveway.

It wasn’t until later that morning that they knew something was wrong when Shannon’s mother… who they say normally keeps to herself… came to their doors. Wilt says that “she come and knocked on our door at around 11 or 11:15 in the morning and she said ‘did y’all hear anybody pull up in our driveway?’ and I said ‘no, why’ and she said ‘cause my baby’s gone’ and I’m like ‘what do you mean your baby’s gone?’!”

Neighbors then helped Shannon’s mother search their mobile home. And after the search they called to report seven-month-old Shannon missing. According to Wilt “We walked over the three of us together and I’m like ‘are you sure your baby’s gone’ cause the house…it could have been in there somewhere. And we walked through and there was no baby.”

http://www.panhandleparade.com/index...ce/mbb7719670/

[skeptik]

According to this, FL is third behind California and Texas. We are 13th in sex offenders. I am still convinced that the reason all of this insanity may be happening (if it really even is, and doesn't just look that way) is the availability of prescription drugs in this state, it's easy to doctor shop and we have no centralized data base for known abusers. More drugs, more problems. It's also easy to sleep on the streets year round.

I also think our kidnappings end up being higher profile. Well, unless your Adji. We are a state attractive to families on vacation, maybe that explains all of the additional media attention on our kids.

At times Florida can seem to be the national epicenter of reported missing children and child abductions.

The cases here gain national prominence and rarely have happy endings. After the media fanfare is over, the children's names stick out as sad reminders: Carlie Brucia. Jessica Lunsford. Trenton Duckett. Caylee Anthony. Haleigh Cummings. And now Somer Thompson.

The state does hold a number of unfortunate distinctions when it comes to measuring the number of children reported missing and, what some consider a related statistic, the number of registered sex offenders in the state.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Florida generally ranks third in the nation — behind only California and Texas — for reported missing persons, most of whom are children, registered sex offenders and the number of "stereotypical kidnappings," the most serious kind of stranger abductions.

The large missing-persons numbers in California, Texas and Florida may be explained by a number of common factors.

"You've got large, populous states. You've got magnet states," Allen said. "You've got year-round climate, and kids tend to be relatively more accessible."

The large numbers of sex offenders in those states "probably" have some correlation, Allen said, but he also noted that not all sex offenders' crimes involve children.

"The 51,000 in Florida does not mean they all represent a serious threat to children in the state," said Allen, who has called for a tiered system for delineating sex offenders.

Florida ranks behind 13 other states in the number of sex offenders per 100,000 people. Florida has 281 such offenders per 100,000. Nationwide the ratio is 223 per 100,000.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...,0,73629.story

[RaVen Blackehart]

Originally Posted by ineedanap

I thought the baby's head looked a little big. This story won't have a happy ending.

I noticed that too, maybe it's just the angle the picture was taken at, but I'm wondering if maybe that's WHY the baby is "missing".

[ineedanap]

Marshes being searched for Shannon:

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/21499146/detail.html

The sheriff's office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement would not identify the girl's parents, saying only that the couple is talking to investigators. They also would not discuss why the girl wasn't reported missing until so late in the morning Sunday.

The sheriff said he is not concerned about the safety of anyone else in the community and authorities have identified a "person of interest," in the infant's disappearance.

They have searched dumpsters and garbage cans, now marshes. I believe investigators already know the baby is dead.

[skeptik]

Why admit to the death but not lead them to the body?

[Dakota Valkyrie]

My best guess from the address and the videos is that the location is one of the trailers by the arrow. You can see it is a very overgrown area and seems to be difficult to search.

A state Department of Children and Families spokeswoman said the agency was helping authorities in the case. Any records of agency action on the child’s behalf, however, would be confidential unless Shannon was found dead, said spokeswoman Barbara Ash.
[...]

Haddock earlier said he would not call the search a recovery effort; he termed it a rescue. But nearly 100 searchers during Monday’s effort were poking long sticks through thickets lining Brown Street and doubling back to search again in spots where trash was heavy.

One dog handler said there were several such spots, littered with debris. The trash included baby diapers.

The trailer itself sits about 100 yards off Brown Street, down a dirt path lined by trees.

http://www.chipleypaper.com/news/chi...ing-stone.html

[Amazon]

I just want to know what the FUCK is going on in North Florida.
Seriously. Is it the water that makes people want to kill children?
I hope that water doesn't make it's way down HERE!

[thequeenofsorrow]

I cant believe it's taking so long to figure this one out. If the parents are both involved and they are not right mentally, shouldn't someone have figured it out by now???

[buggysmommy]

Originally Posted by RaVen Blackehart

I noticed that too, maybe it's just the angle the picture was taken at, but I'm wondering if maybe that's WHY the baby is "missing".

She has a growth restriction. I believe that was on the FP? I don;t know for sure, but I read it somewhere today. She stands 24 inches and weighs only 11lbs...it also has to do with the larger head.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

On the third day of searching for a baby feared hidden in the woods or trash cans around her family’s tiny trailer park, the few people who knew 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick weren’t saying much.

Neither were the people looking for her.

“I know there’s a lot of rumors out there that aren't true,” said Washington County sheriff’s spokeswoman Andrea Gainey. “People are talking and spreading them as the gospel, and they are not.”

The puzzling case gained traction in newspapers and on television sets across the country Tuesday, but many details of the case remained secret.
[...]

Sheriff Bobby Haddock soon said there was no evidence of an abduction, but investigators did have a “person of interest” in mind.

He did not immediately return phone calls Tuesday, but there was no indication that the Sheriff’s Office considered Shannon dead.
[...]

Rumors swirled around them across the Internet as the search continued.

One of those rumors centered on a mysterious gray van often seen coming and going from the family’s home, leading to speculation that it could belong to someone with information.

Located Tuesday, the van’s driver, babysitter Susan Baker, said Sheriff’s Office warned her not to speak about the case.

“They just said that if I talked to (reporters) and everything like this, that it’s gonna mess up the investigation,” said Susan Baker, who apparently babysat Baby Shannon frequently over the past few months — including the day before her disappearance.

“And if it messes up the investigation, they’re not gonna be able to find the baby.”

Gainer said it was “untrue” that investigators were hushing people, and “I can’t answer for why somebody would feel that way.”

http://www.newsherald.com/news/chipl...es-rumors.html

Of course there are rumors. They are releasing very little info and what info they do release doesn't make sense... so people try to make sense of it.

[skeptik]

I gots links!! And updates!! Things are changing, sounds like!!

Link to video:
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/u...147598&catid=6
Article didn't say much so I didn't watch.

Shannon's maternal relatives are asking that the public direct their attention to helping locate the 7-month-old infant rather than making unkind comments about the baby and her parents.

In a telephone interview this afternoon they said they will be more than willing to grant interviews when the disappearance has been resolved, but they aren't willing to do so until that time.

They acknowledged they have been contacted by the 'Nancy Grace Show' seeking comments on the investigation, but don't feel it is appropriate at this time for them to comment.

This news outlet was also contacted by the show for an interview, but was referred to our web site. Comments concerning the ongoing investigation will be left up the Washington County Sheriff's Department.

Members of Christina Mercer's family are expected in Chipley later tonight and will be meeting with officials from the Sheriff's Department
http://fosterfollynews.com/news/2009...ssingChild.php

Also, I read on a link I lost that Police are asking for any witnesses to a person carrying a baby or acting suspicious but, of course I cannot find it right this second. I'll be back with it.

[skeptik]

Found it.

"We're appealing to the public in this area, Brown Street, Wynn Road, if they've seen any suspicious activity or someone carrying a baby we ask that they would give us a call."

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/u...147598&catid=6

[dawnmpeters]

http://www.newsherald.com/news/pleas...d-chipley.htmlIt's looking more and more like the mother had something to do with this. This sucks!

Months before a 7-month-old girl disappeared from her family’s home, her baby sitter pleaded with the governor to “please, please save that child” from her parents’ alleged pattern of drug use, abuse and “really strange things,” according to an e-mail obtained Tuesday by The News Herald.

In response — on the third day in the search for little Shannon Dedrick — top officials with the state Department of Children and Families told The News Herald they were revisiting the case to see if they missed signs of danger.

“Did we miss anything? Were there any red flags? Should we have been more skeptical over the progress? We’re digging as hard as we can to see if there’s other things that we should’ve been doing,” Peter Digre, DCF’s assistant secretary for operations, said Tuesday night.

“As to whether we were being as smart as we could be, I’m not totally sure yet.”

In an interview Tuesday, Shannon’s baby sitter Susan Baker claimed the little girl’s mother said she wished her daughter “would disappear” weeks before the tiny infant vanished.

Even before that, though, Baker was concerned.

In an August e-mail provided to The News Herald, Baker begged Gov. Charlie Crist’s office to intervene, urgently claiming “that child needs help and no one is helping her.”

“I loved that child,” Baker said of Shannon in an interview Tuesday. “And I don’t know where she’s at. And I’m really sick and tired with all these games that’s being played.

“The only things they can come up with is exactly what they’re saying: ‘I don’t know.’ ”

Baker apparently sent Crist the e-mail Aug. 12, more than two months before Shannon’s disappearance.

The next day, Baker said, she received a call from a Child Protective Services worker who said he would investigate. She said she didn’t hear of any progress after that.

DCF, Digre said, received two reports on the family. The allegations included marijuana use around Shannon and a complaint that she had been shaken.

Doctors found no evidence of the latter, Digre said.

The family entered treatment programs and received help from food stamps and a Women, Infants and Children program. Home visitors checked on progress and DCF stayed in contact with Shannon’s pediatrician, Digre said.

“The reality is, for a number of months, we have had a lot of involvement with this family in many, many ways,” he said.

DCF Secretary George Sheldon said the alleged marijuana use “doesn’t necessarily give us the legal authority to remove a child.”

Today, Digre said, the agency would be poring over records for any signs they might have missed. Those records would become “totally open” if Shannon is found dead, Digre said.

Baker identified the mother as Tina Mercer and her boyfriend as Rusty Dedrick. However, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office – which has released little information about the case – would not confirm those names.

The Sheriff’s Office did acknowledge receipt of a Freedom of Information Act request from The News Herald, which asked for confirmation of names, incident reports taken at the time Shannon was reported missing and a recording of the 911 call.

But there was no response to the request and the Sheriff’s Office neither produced the documents nor cited a statute that would allow investigators to withhold them.

For days, investigators have feared Shannon is hidden in the woods or in one of many trash bins near her family’s trailer on a dirt drive off Brown Street.

Dozens of searchers have labored there, hoping to find clues.

“I know there’s a lot of rumors out there that aren't true,” said sheriff’s spokeswoman Andrea Gainey. “People are talking and spreading them as the gospel, and they are not.”

The Sheriff’s Office has not addressed many of those rumors, and Gainey did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Baker’s claims.

Baker flatly denied any involvement in the baby’s disappearance.

While the puzzling case has drawn attention in major newspapers and on cable television, many details have remained secret.

[dawnmpeters]

http://www.fosterfollynews.com/news/...ssingChild.php

Shannon's maternal relatives are asking that the public direct their attention to helping locate the 7-month-old infant rather than making unkind comments about the baby and her parents.

In a telephone interview this afternoon they said they will be more than willing to grant interviews when the disappearance has been resolved, but they aren't willing to do so until that time.

They acknowledged they have been contacted by the 'Nancy Grace Show' seeking comments on the investigation, but don't feel it is appropriate at this time for them to comment.

This news outlet was also contacted by the show for an interview, but was referred to our web site. Comments concerning the ongoing investigation will be left up the Washington County Sheriff's Department.

Members of Christina Mercer's family are expected in Chipley later tonight and will be meeting with officials from the Sheriff's Department

[skeptik]

I'm just going to say this.

Chipley Fl is a fucking shit hole. I am starting to think that if you receive anything from the Gov't you should be drug tested. Why the fuck don't we do that? This shit is fucking ridiculous!!!

I got no issue with people smoking pot. UNLESS YOU'RE RECEIVING BENEFITS, THEN NO FUCKING POT FOR YOU!

I saw Susan Baker's myspace last night. She seems like a nice person. I feel so sorry for her and Shannon.

[wintersfootsteps]

Skeptik, I agree with your comment about drug testing. I don't see a problem with this at all. If you receive help from the government, the government should have the right to make sure this money isn't going to drugs instead of feeding children and keeping a roof over their heads.

This is kind of off topic, but I have no problem with pot. The only reason I don't smoke pot is because it's illegal and I don't want to get arrested. Are the effects of pot worse than the effects of alcohol? Cigarettes? Not in my opinion. As a matter of fact, if the government were to tax pot they would receive more funds for those in need.

Anyway, back to poor little Shannon...

I am leaning towards believing that Shannon's Mom hurt her daughter because she wanted her to disappear. If this is correct, another parent harmed their child instead of giving the child to someone else to take care of. How utterly selfish can some people be?

If she did this, I hope she is haunted by it 24-7.

[skeptik]

There are some crazy rumors flying all over but this one courtesy W.Sleuths is particularly disturbing. I'm gonna post it, but if I shouldn't please let me know. I would credit the original poster but I don't know who the hell they are.

Susan Baker is an aunt on (i think) the paternal side. She was Shannon's babysitter. I am posting this info in hopes that one of the better researchers here like DV, or HesBomb or Booblady can find out some more.

Susan Baker is also believed to be this Susan Baker:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/baker_paul.html

It won't let me C and P the details of the disappearance but--whoa.
Her myspace says she is 50 and her ex husband is a James. I don't know what to fucking think.

[wintersfootsteps]

Originally Posted by skeptik

There are some crazy rumors flying all over but this one courtesy W.Sleuths is particularly disturbing. I'm gonna post it, but if I shouldn't please let me know. I would credit the original poster but I don't know who the hell they are.

Susan Baker is an aunt on (i think) the paternal side. She was Shannon's babysitter. I am posting this info in hopes that one of the better researchers here like DV, or HesBomb or Booblady can find out some more.

Susan Baker is also believed to be this Susan Baker:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/baker_paul.html

It won't let me C and P the details of the disappearance but--whoa.
Her myspace says she is 50 and her ex husband is a James. I don't know what to fucking think.

Oh. My. God.

Coincidence much? Doubt it. That is absolutely shocking.

[penelopejo]

holy shit....


that's a great find skeptik...I wonder, do the authorities know of this other disappearance?

[skeptik]

They do, Penelope.

PS-- Gimme that bird in your avatar.

[skeptik]

This shit's INSANE.

CHIPLEY — Authorities confirmed Wednesday they were investigating whether a 26-year-old missing child case in South Carolina is related to the disappearance of 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick from her family's trailer near the woods.

On the fourth day of the search for her, the investigation continued to include baby sitter Susan Baker, who said Tuesday in a News Herald interview she "loved that child" and tried to have the state intervene with the family. Baker also supplied an e-mail she sent to Gov. Charlie Crist pleading that someone help Shannon, whom she said was being abused by her parents.

Washington County sheriff's investigators are now working to determine whether she was the same Susan Baker implicated in a 1987 missing-child case in Beaufort, S.C. That child, then-6-year-old Paul Baker, never has been found.

The Center for Missing and Exploited Children provided this synopsis of the 1987 case:

"(Paul) Baker was living with his father and stepmother, James and Susan Baker at the time of his disappearance. They have been arrested in connection with his disappearance. They were charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature for allegedly beating him before he vanished March 5, 1987.

"Susan Baker told police she put him down for a nap that day and returned to find him missing. Deputies and police searched the area around their home for several days but found no trace of the little boy.

"After the disappearance, the couple's 6-year-old daughter was removed by state social workers who discovered broken bones and sores on her body.

"Susan Baker was convicted for beating the girl and sentenced to 10 years in prison for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. Paul has never been found."

http://www.newsherald.com/news/span-...ker-class.html

[wintersfootsteps]

Originally Posted by skeptik

This shit's INSANE.





http://www.newsherald.com/news/span-...ker-class.html

Holy Shit.

I didn't see this coming at ALL.

Maybe we can get some answers as to what happened to poor little Paul when the investigators get to the bottom of things.

Not one, but two missing children?

Someone needs to fry for this.