Florida baby missing for 5 days found alive under babysitter’s bed

roanoke,va - 10:46 a.m. CHIPLEY, Fla. (AP) - A baby missing for five days was found alive in a box under her baby sitter’s bed, and authorities said Thursday they plan to charge the sitter, her husband and the child’s mother.     Investigators who searched Susan Elizabeth Baker’s home near this rural Panhandle town found 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick tucked under a bed surrounded by items meant to hide her, Washington County Sheriff Bobby Haddock said. The baby, who was taken to a hospital but appeared healthy, was placed in protective custody.     “It was very emotional for us, because once we got her to the hospital, we called our wives and every one of us was crying,“ Haddock said. “Grown men crying. It’s just such a relief. We’ve had missing children cases in the past, but nothing like this.“     Haddock said deputies plan to charge Baker, husband James Arthur Baker, and the child’s mother, Chrystina Lynn Mercer.     He would not specify Mercer’s role in the disappearance but said authorities do not believe the baby’s father, James Russell Dedrick Jr., was involved. Dedrick Jr. and Susan Baker are related.     The baby had been missing since Saturday morning. Her parents said they last saw her when they went to be bed around 3 a.m. and investigators believe she vanished sometime between then and 8 a.m. Her parents did not report her missing until after 11 a.m., but authorities have not explained the discrepancy.     About 100 law enforcement agents and others spent days scouring dense vines and marshes surrounding the baby’s home in a remote, makeshift community of dirt roads, tin-roof shacks and old mobile homes.     On Wednesday, investigators contacted the Bakers and asked to search their home, about 12 miles from where Shannon was last seen. They agreed and authorities found the baby there Wednesday night.     “Statistically speaking this should not have ever happened, that we found this child alive, especially after so many days,“ said Haddock, who cradled Shannon in his arms as he spoke to reporters early Thursday. “Time was against us.“     According to court documents, child welfare officials began looking into allegations Shannon was being abused less than two weeks after she was born.     In August, Susan Baker wrote a letter to Gov. Charlie Crist’s office, pleading for help for the baby. She claimed Dedrick shook the baby and that he, Mercer and others smoked cigarettes and drugs in front of her. Baker also claimed Dedrick was not the child’s father and said he claimed paternity to get welfare benefits.     Investigators frequently went to the infant’s home from August to late September and reported that both parents used marijuana and kept a messy home. But they said Shannon seemed to be cared for and in September, a physician determined that she was healthy and expressed “no concerns regarding the baby.“     In another twist, Susan Baker was involved in a missing child case in South Carolina more than two decades ago. She told authorities her stepson, 3-year-old Paul Leonard Baker, disappeared from the family’s Beaufort, S.C., home on March 5, 1987, while she was napping.     A massive manhunt in the swampy area around the Bakers’ home turned up nothing, and she and her husband, James Baker, were extradited to South Carolina in 2000 to be charged in the child’s disappearance. Susan Baker was never indicted and authorities could not say what became of the charges against her husband. The child was never found.     Susan Baker did serve prison time after authorities investigating her stepson’s disappearance discovered a 6-year-old girl in their home had been badly beaten. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison but the sentence was suspended after 80 days. Authorities could not say how the girl was related to Baker.     —-     Gartner reported from Chicago. Associated Press Writer Katrina A. Goggins in Columbia, S.C., contributed to this report. ——— 6:35 a.m. (AP) - A baby missing for five days was found alive and well under her baby sitter’s bed, and Florida authorities said Thursday they plan to charge the sitter, her husband and the child’s mother.     Investigators found 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick in a box tucked under a bed surrounded by items intended to hide the child at Susan Elizabeth Baker’s home near Chipley, a rural Panhandle town, Washington County Sheriff Bobby Haddock said in an interview early Thursday. The baby was placed in protective custody.     “Statistically speaking this should not have ever happened, that we found this child alive, especially after so many days. Time was against us,“ Haddock said.     Shannon was taken to a hospital but appeared healthy, Haddock said.     “It was a very emotional for us, because once we got her to hospital, we called our wives and every one of us was crying. Grown men crying. It’s just such a relief” that the child was found, he said. “We’ve had missing children cases in the past, but nothing like this.“     Haddock said deputies were working to charge Baker, her husband James Arthur Baker and the child’s mother, Chrystina Lynn Mercer. He wouldn’t provide details about the possible charges but said more information would be released later Thursday. Authorities don’t believe the child’s father, James Russell Dedrick Jr., was involved but the case is still under investigation, Haddock said. He said Susan Baker and the father are related.     Haddock confirmed that Baker was the Susan Elizabeth Baker cited in court records as being convicted of assault in South Carolina in 1987, and questioned but not indicted in 2000 for a 3-year-old child’s disappearance, also in 1987. He confirmed that Baker wrote an e-mail to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s office in August, pleading for the governor to help Shannon Dedrick.     “And my response is, ‘We saved the child, Ms. Baker,“ Haddock said.     Court documents released Wednesday showed that child welfare workers in Florida began looking into allegations Shannon was being abused less than two weeks after she was born.     Her parents reported her missing around 11 a.m. Saturday. They told authorities that they had not seen her since about 3 a.m.     About 100 law enforcement agents and others scoured the woods around the couple’s home, Haddock said. Investigators contacted the Bakers again on Wednesday and they allowed them into their home, Haddock said.     “They gave us consent to search the home and found the baby in a box under a bed, with stuff pushed around the box to hide the baby,“ he said.     Court records released Wednesday said investigators frequently went to the infant’s home from August to late September and reported that both parents used marijuana and kept a messy home.     But investigators reported that Shannon seemed to be cared for and repeatedly cited that the risk to the baby was “intermediate.“ In September, an investigator said a physician determined that the child was healthy and expressed “no concerns regarding the baby.“     Court records show Elizabeth Baker was charged in South Carolina with assault and battery with intent to kill and assault and batter of a high and aggravated nature in 1987. After being convicted, she was sentence to 10 years in prison. The sentence was suspended to 80 days.     She was extradited to South Carolina from Chipley in 2000, and charged in the disappearance of 3-year-old Paul Leonard Baker. The child was never found, according to the Beaufort County, S.C., sheriff’s office.     Police reports don’t indicate the child’s possible relation.     A sheriff’s investigator from Beaufort County was sent to Florida to assist in the missing child case, sheriff’s spokeswoman Robin McIntosh said Wednesday.

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