Mother charged in missing Fla. baby case
Babysitter has also been charged
Last Updated: Thursday, November 5, 2009 | 4:01 PM ET
The Associated Press
Washington County Sheriff Bobby Haddock said early Thursday that investigators found seven-month-old Shannon Dedrick in a box at her babysitter's home in Chipley, Fla. (Washington County Sheriff's Office/Associated Press)Florida authorities have charged the mother of a baby, who was reported missing for five days but found alive and apparently healthy under her babysitter's bed.
Police found seven-month-old Shannon Dedrick in a box hidden under a bed at the home of Susan Elizabeth Baker in the rural town of Chipley, Fla.
Chrystina Lynn Mercer is charged with interference of child custody, desertion of a child and several other charges.
Charges against Baker include neglect of a child with aggravated circumstances and interference of child custody.
Both women remain in jail.
Baker's husband, James Arthur Baker, was arrested but has been released. He is still under investigation, Washington County Sheriff Bobby Haddock said
The baby's father, Russell Dedrick Jr., is not believed to have been involved.
The baby has been placed under protective custody, according to Haddock.
"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.
Police confirmed Baker is the same woman cited in court records as being convicted of assault in South Carolina in 1987 and questioned but not indicted in 2000 for a three-year-old child's disappearance, also in 1987.
Baker sent an email to Gov. Charlie Crist's office in August asking the governor to help Shannon Dedrick.
Child welfare workers had been looking into allegations of abuse within two weeks of Dedrick being born, but did not find enough evidence to warrant taking her into protective custody.
Her parents reported her missing on the weekend, and 75 search and rescue workers scoured a kilometre radius around the girl's home looking for evidence. Investigators contacted the Bakers on Wednesday and were allowed into their home, where the child was found, Haddock said.
