A baby was found under a bed after being missing for 5 days at the home of her babysitter. Police say they were stunned to find the baby in a box under the woman’s bed, where she as apparently trying to hide it. Officers were reportedly crying on the scene, saying they’d never seen anything like it and feeling full of relief that the baby was found alive…
Baby Shannon Dedrick, seven months old, is alive and well. Susan Elizabeth Baker, the babysitter and Chrystina Lynn Mercer, the mother have been detained for her disappearance.
In a bizarre story, last Saturday Susan Baker asked Shannon Dedrick’s mother Chrystina Lynn Mercer to give her custody of Shannon, which Susan claims, Chrystina did. However, Shannon was reported missing on the same day.
According to Washington County Sheriff Bobby Haddock, both Mercer and Baker have been charged today with multiple felonies, such as false report of a crime and contributing to the delinquency of a child. Baker has been charged with neglect and Mercer could be charged with child desertion.
In a twist, Susan Elizabeth Baker, along with her husband James, is already suspected for having something to do with the 1987 disappearance of her 3-year-old stepson Paul, who has never been found.
Baby Shannon Dedrick was found in a sealed two by three foot box under Susan Baker’s bed. She had been in there for about 12 hours according to Haddock.
“The baby had been fed, well cared for,” he said. “There was no baby bottle in the box. This was a hiding place. She knew we were coming and would place her in the box.”
It has been determined that husband James Arthur Baker was not involved. The father of baby Shannon, James Russell Dedrick Jr has also not been detained or charged.
“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’s parents said that the last time they saw her was around 3am on Saturday morning, but they did not report her missing until after 11am.
Child services have looked in to Shannon’s case before, when she was just two weeks old, after allegations that she was being abused. There are reports that her parents kept a messy home and both used marijuana in the home. However they deemed that Shannon was cared for and they declared they had no concerns.
Shannon’s grandmother Kandis Boyer told the local paper that she is just so relieved her granddaughter is safe. She said her main focus is on Shannon.
