Teen strangled, slit 9-year-old's throat
Thursday, Nov. 5 2009 @ 12:39PM
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| Police believe her mom took part in the abduction |
Shannon's parents reported her missing Saturday morning, saying she had vanished from their rural trailer home sometime between 3 a.m. and 11 a.m. that morning. Washington County sheriff's deputies conducted a massive search, with police and volunteers going arm-and-arm through the brush to find the girl...
Last night detectives decided to search the home of Susan and her husband James Arthur Baker, 12 miles away from the Dedrick's trailer. That's where they found Shannon in a box under the bed, hidden so deputies wouldn't find her. Police believe Shannon may been locked in the cedar box for as many as 12 hours before she was found. They plan to charge both Bakers and Shannon's mother in the abduction. The cops don't believe her father, James Russell Dedrick Jr., was involved.
But you can expect all three defendants to contend they were merely trying to save the child from abuse. According to police, social workers began looking into Shannon's welfare just two weeks after she was born.
In August, Susan Baker wrote a letter to Florida Governor Charlie Crist, pleaded for his intervention. She claimed Shannon's dad shook the girl and that both parents smoked and did drugs in front of the infant. She also claimed Dedrick, who Susan is related to somehow, wasn't Shannon's true father, but merely claiming paternity to score the welfare benefits.
Visits from social workers in August and September revealed that the parents were potheads and the house was a mess. But they also said Shannon was cared for and in good health. Moreover, history reveals that police shouldn't so readily trust Susan Baker.
In 1987, she called police saying that her 3-year-old stepson, Paul Leonard Baker, had disappeared from her Beaufort, S.C., home while she was napping. Despite a huge manhunt, the boy was never found. But police suspected the parents.
Three years later, South Carolina officials had them extradited from Florida in the case, but they were never indicted. During the course of the investigation, however, detectives found that a 6-year-old girl living with the couple had been badly beaten. Susan was given a suspended sentence of 10 years, but only had to serve 80 days.
Given the accusations and weird histories of all involved, we certainly haven't heard the entire story here. We'll keep you posted.
Also see Baby Shannon Lea Dedrick is Missing in Florida
It just kills me that a man will get 3 years in prison for having sex with a horse but you can beat a six year old bloody and get 80 days. I'm not condoning sex with horses but at least no one gets hurt.
Posted 11/05/2009 at 01:00:05 PMWhat the hell does deviant sex with animals have to do beating children???
You want to look for nonsense in the 'justice' system, well there is plenty of it to be found. I don't think locking away repeat animal rapers is a misuse of law, though.
Posted 11/05/2009 at 02:55:24 PMIt's a comparison of two crimes and the punishment doled out for them, obviously. A man molests a horse and he gets 3 years but a woman abuses a child (a worse crime, wouldn't you agree?) and she gets 80 days.
doesn't that seem at all unbalanced to you? If 3 years is appropriate for an "animal rapist" then it would seem that something more severe should be handed to someone who beats their child.
no?
My point is not to defend an animal molester. It's to point out a terrible imbalance. Come on now.
Posted 11/05/2009 at 03:14:17 PMWhy are you guys commenting about a horse! this is about the little baby girl that was missing!
Posted 11/05/2009 at 03:32:27 PMThank god she's been found alive and healthy!!!
r henry was commenting on how unforgivably lenient this woman's punishment was for beating a child.
Posted 11/05/2009 at 03:57:12 PMThanks qwerty. It's nice to know someone actually read my post.
Posted 11/05/2009 at 04:19:04 PMI get what your sayin r henry and agree with every once of me being. I am very confused as to why this person was even allowed near children again. This sounds all to backwoods to me. What happend to the first little girl and where is the little boy now? Does Florida really let this kind of crap happen and just let it roll off? Was the social worker a friend of the family or something? I can't see a messy house and two pot heads not being grounds for a childs removal!!! A cedar box a you serious? That sounds like they weren't planning on keeping the child alive. The social worker needs to be heldaccountable for severely poor judgement and fired!!!!
Posted 11/05/2009 at 05:01:36 PMr henry,
don't sweat the internet, especially the crowd that often comments on the true crime report website. nobody in this thread said anything outrageous or wrong, but frequently (other articles) the comments add up to a mob of screeching chimpanzees bent on raiding the jail and stringing up the accusee. Persuasive arguments will be completely lost on many of them. For all you know, you are talking to some barely educated 14-year-old in his parent's basement, or even a troll. (Again, this is not about the posters i this thread.) I saw you make some very thoughtful comments elsewhere. Don't lose too much time trying to win over your attackers!
I do think you made an intersting point here, though.
Posted 11/05/2009 at 05:07:00 PMIt's a shame that there are more laws out there that protect animals then children!!!!
Posted 11/05/2009 at 05:32:47 PMGlad to know they found this tiny baby girl. I saw newbie pics of her on another site. I think she must have been a preemie, as there was an oxygen mask on one photo. That would explain why she is tiny and only weighed 11 pounds and could not crawl at 7 months.
Now, this new news about the "baby sitter" is disturbing. I hope they investigate her and her seemingly wimpy husband about the death/disappearance of his child.
And where did the 6yo physcially abused girl "living with the couple" come from? Did she babysit that child too and abscond with her as well? Or did she manage to coerce another mother into giving up their child?
Not sure what to think about these new developments just yet.
Posted 11/05/2009 at 05:41:33 PMqwerty, it's all good with me. These are obviously topics I've thought a lot about and I enjoy putting my thoughts out there, even if only one person can get something from it. I'll do it again and again. It's what I feel is important.
It would be nice to see people wake up to their own inner monster, their desires to lynch another human, under any circumstance at all, is not a good thing. It would be nice to see people show the compassion and humanity they seem to willing to strip from another.
Posted 11/05/2009 at 05:45:01 PMOMG! I have an 8 month old baby girl, and i can not believe someone would do this to such an innocent creature! I don't even want to imagine what that little girl went through those 12 hours she was locked up in that box. Little babies like that need attention, food and diaper changes, 12 hours is a long time to be without all those things. Poor baby! I will pray for her, so that someone gives her a better life!!
Posted 11/06/2009 at 01:59:23 AMNope, sorry-being premature doesn't mean a baby won't catch up weight wise or developmentally by age 7 mths. This child has bigger problems than just having been born alittle early-if indeed she was.
She looks as if she is hydrocephalic (water-on-the-brain). The pressure of the fluid can do all sorts of brain damage.
People comment as to how on earth no one heard her cry from in that box-well, maybe this baby doesn't even cry. She looks pretty empty.
I hope she'll get the care she needs now and forever-with some other family!
Posted 11/06/2009 at 09:29:36 AMhttp://www.shutterstock.com/pic-260873.html
This is a photo of a more pronounced case-an older infant? You can see the similarities-lowset ears, tiny facial area-although, actually the photo baby looks more alert.
Maybe this little girl would look more lively if she had proper care.
Posted 11/06/2009 at 09:36:51 AMthe look is called failure to thrive,stems from abuse and or neglect. we have custody of our grandson. Gothim when he was 7 mths old from a drug abusing neglectful mother and he was diagnosed with this. when i saw this baby i remembered the blank stare. May god be with this little girl and take her from all of this trash and lead her to the millions of people who would do anything just have the chance to raise a child. my grandson is now 7 yrs old and was able to overcome it all and is now a happy healthy first grader.
Posted 11/16/2009 at 10:57:28 PM