Shannon Lea Dedrick -- Found Alive 11/4/09

Shannon Dedrick
By Lance Griffin
Published: November 2, 2009
Updated: November 3, 2009

CHIPLEY, Fla. — 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.”

Something happened early Saturday morning that has investigators as well as search and rescue teams from several neighboring counties searching the thick, wooded, marshy area around the home for 7-month-old Shannon Lea Dedrick. Her parents reported her missing at 11:23 a.m. Saturday, prompting an intensive search of the area. She is still missing.

Washington County Sheriff Bobby Haddock said investigators have been talking to a “person of suspicion” they believe could resolve the case. Haddock was tightlipped about the details surrounding Shannon Lea’s disappearance, citing an ongoing investigation. He declined to release the parents’ names. He also declined to release the person of suspicion’s name or relation, if any, to the parents.

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.

Haddock said several search and rescue teams from the region began an arm-to-arm search of the immediate area around the residence Saturday morning.

The search extended Sunday and continued into the evening on Monday. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is also assisting with the investigation.

“We’re hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst,” Haddock said.

Haddock said Shannon Lea’s parents called the Washington County Sheriff’s Office to report her missing Saturday, telling investigators she was in the same bedroom as the parents and could have gone missing as early as 3 a.m. or as late as 11 a.m. He did not indicate whether the parents were believed to be implicated in her disappearance, but did say they have no past criminal history. He described the parents’ emotional state as “upset.”

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.

“The dogs are more effective in tracking a person that walked away from a place, but this baby couldn’t walk,” Haddock said. “The child cannot walk or crawl. It did not leave the residence by itself.”

Haddock said the parents have chosen not to make a public statement.

“We are making that appeal and acting for the family,” Haddock said.

Wilt and Blaylock said they were surprised to learn about Shannon Lea’s disappearance.

“This is crazy,” Wilt said. “This is something you always hear about happening somewhere else. You never think about it happening in your backyard.”

CHIPLEY, Fla. (Nov. 2) - Search teams looking for a missing 7-month-old girl scoured dense vines and marshes for a second day Monday.
Authorities said Shannon Lea Dedrick was last seen when her parents went to bed about 3 a.m. Saturday.

They believe she disappeared from her home in this remote, makeshift community of dirt roads, tin-roof shacks and old mobile homes sometime before 8 a.m. Saturday. Her parents reported her missing around 11 a.m.
"We have searched every dumpster in the city limits of Chipley, we have turned over every garbage can," Washington County Sheriff Bobby Haddock said late Monday.
But Haddock said search teams were focused on the densely wooded area surrounding the enclave about 45 miles north of Panama City where the girl and her family live.
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.
"The child cannot walk or crawl, it did not leave the residence by itself," he said.
About 75 search and rescue workers from three counties have scoured a 1/2-mile radius.

Shannon is described as 2 feet tall and 11 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.
Neighbors in the ramshackle neighborhood of clotheslines and "Beware of Dog" and "No Trespassing" signs said they rarely spoke to or saw the parents of the missing infant.
"They had only lived here about two months. I only know that this is a wonderful neighborhood and I've always felt safe here," said Donna Davis, who lives two homes down.
Susan Martinez lives across the street and said neighbors mostly keep to themselves.
"I just know there's a baby missing and I hope they find it," she said.

i didnt see this one on here.. praying they find this baby safe.. but it doesnt sound good..

why did no one check on this baby until 11am??
7 months old, and only 11lbs??
makeshift community of dirt roads, tin-roof shacks and old mobile homes??

they have not released the parents names yet, but they did say they have a "person of interest, and it does NOT look like an abduction".. what does that mean??

I hope the baby is found safe. The parents' story sounds suspicious to say the least. How many parents of a seven-month old baby stay up until 3 a.m. and sleep until 11 a.m., especially without getting up during that time period to check on the baby?

I wonder who the person of interest is and how the police came to the conclusion that it doesn't look like an abduction.

Hi Randi.. thanks for the informative post..

What is wrong with our world???

I heard on CNN that the mother suffers from a growth developmental disorder...which seems to have been passed on to Shannon...

Its a longshot, but wondering if Shannon has progeria AKA Huthinson Gilford Syndrome? I doubt her mother cud have the same disorder, as i dont think offsping is possible with progeria...

If so, its the very sad rare disease. She is soo cute.. poor lirttle angel..

I hope this babay is found soon...

I am so sick and tired of reading about children that just disappear into thin air...and parents that have absolutely no clue...What do they expect us to believe...I know, a UFO came and beamed them up a la Whitley Streiber fashion...and sooner or later they will be found like mutilated animals...I'm running out of parental sympathy...All these beautiful children...cast aside like disposed dog poop...I cry every time I see another incident...I hope and pray that these children can be found so that their families can have a tid-bit of closure....and I hope the perpitrators are apprehended and disposed of in just fashion...Justice for all the children...

This too is a long shot J4A.. but if the baby woke at 3am for a feeding ( a little old at 7 months but possible ..or even fussed where mom put her bak in bed at 3.am and she herself wud have went bak to bed.

i remember the days when waking up, used to be set by the sound of stirring baby... In this case, if the baby was already removed, the mom cud have stayed sleeping and then when she awoke she wud have immediately wondered wth? and then discovered Shannon was gone..
Not likley..but possible..Like the experience when the baby pulls their first 7 hour stretch... Mom wakes up and look at the clock and runs to the nursery only to see her little one safe and sound and still sleeping..

It is possible that a baby could sleep for eight hours straight, but it seems weird that both parents slept until 11 a.m. in the same room as the baby, and that somebody was able to walk into the room and take the baby without one of them waking up. Then you have the police saying that it does not look like an abduction, so that really makes me worry.

There is so much info posted on this poor infant. Very curious as to what is really going on with the parents. I found a site, webslueths.com where there is an intensive ongoing discussion about this situation. One of the posters is a relative living in Texas. Says the mother has the mental state of a 13 yr. old, the father pas developmental disabilities also. Her is a link, which skips over a lot og postings, but talks about the mother's situation and the failed attempt to adopt the baby:
I skipped over to page 13 I believe, to find some of the family info

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4378667#post4378667

The fact that the parents haven't come forward asking for help in finding their baby is very telling. Their account of what happened is very suspicious, and makes no sense at all. God Bless little Shannon. She will be in my heart, thoughts & prayers.

Here is yet another case of people who don't deserve to have children. Children are NOT disposable! Try telling that to the idiotic parents who don't care.

thanks cali.. <3!!!

Thanks for posting this Randilynn...I read late today they are now looking at the babysitter...the sitter supposedly wrote a letter to Gov Crist months ago pleading for Shannon to be removed from the home due to her parents drug abuse, and abuse of little Shannon.

http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/69127747.html

Here is the babysitter's letter:
The following letter was provided by Florida Department of Children and Families:

"Mr Governor Crist,

I want to tell you something, there is four people living together. They
are not working nor are they doing any kind of community serves. But they are drawing food stamps. They take there food stamps and trade them for drugs.

Tina Merter was pregnant when she meet James Russell Dedrick, jr
dob:Oct 23, 1978, he is 31 yrs old and has never had a job. So James R
Dedrick, jr put his name on Tina Merters baby birth certificate. So now he can get a check, food stamps, medicare.

Now there are Micheal, Erica, Tina Merter & James R Dedrick, jr living all together in a house on 537 5th St, Chipley Florida 32428.

They are all drowing food stamps and not woking or
doing community service. That Is so wrong in alot of wasys.

Tina Meter's baby is being aboused. I have seen James R Dedrick, jr pick that baby up and shake her, just becouse the baby crys and that gets on his nerves.

Micheal & Erica also have shoke that baby too. They smoke ciggerets and drugs with the baby in the same room. THAT CHILD NEEDS HELP & NO ONE IS HELPING HER.

Please Help this child she is mentaly challenged. It is not right that these
people are selling their food stamps for drugs.

My husband works 58 hrs a week for us to live and it makes me very angry to see these people sitting on their back sides and draining the system that is put in place for the needy, Not the lazy.

Please do something about this unjustice and Please
Please save that child."

The sitter's name is Susan Baker, and besides the letter, they are looking into her background, if it's the same Susan Baker, they think she may be involved with her own son's disappearance:

Investigators at the Washington County Sheriff's Office are now trying to find out whether she is the same Susan Baker suspected of involvement in the March 1987 disappearance of 6-year-old Paul Baker in Beaufort, S.C. The boy has never been found.

okay.. i am going to TRY not to say anything about the gross butchering of the english language contained in that letter.. ooopppsss .. i think i let the cat out of the bag..

getting past that.. the message contained is horrifying .. if ANY of those claims are true, i PRAY someone stole the baby to protect her, because god knows children and family services does nothing of the sort...!!!

i have a sneaking suspicion that everyone involved in this disaster are SEVERAL levels below those we have seen in Satsuma... and we all know how THAT has turned out.......

This is a very sad story. Chipley is not too far from where I live. The babysitter has been harping a little too much. Hope it's not the same lady who did something to her son. Yikes. Who do you trust?

Right....did anyone follow up on this letter? Or, was it dismissed....is the babysitter insane or truly pleading for help for little Shannon. Hopefully someone took the baby to take care of her. I hope and pray this is the case......

The baby has been FOUND alive, under the babysitter's bed. Halelujia.

The babysitter and her husband and the mother are going to be charged. And it is the same Susan Baker who was suspected in another disappearance. What a relief that the baby is ok.

Here's a story I read this morning about this sweet baby.

http://news.aol.com/article/missing-baby-shannon-dedrick-found-alive/753349

Missing Baby Found Alive Under Bed

CHIPLEY, Fla. (Nov. 5) — 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.

See more at the link above.

Babbette,
I saw this also this morning too. Have you ever heard something so strange? Thank Goodness this little girl is safe. NOW, watch, the parents will be trying to get her back! UGH!

randilynn wrote:okay.. i am going to TRY not to say anything about the gross butchering of the english language contained in that letter.. ooopppsss .. i think i let the cat out of the bag..

getting past that.. the message contained is horrifying .. if ANY of those claims are true, i PRAY someone stole the baby to protect her, because god knows children and family services does nothing of the sort...!!!

i have a sneaking suspicion that everyone involved in this disaster are SEVERAL levels below those we have seen in Satsuma... and we all know how THAT has turned out.......

Respectfully bolded by me:

Randilynn,

In the article I read this am, it says CPS had gone to the house and cited, the risk to the child was "intermediate". So, why the hail did it have to come to this for someone to finally help her? My goodness, can you imagine if we had been reading a completely different headline this am? This infuriates me!

From what I understand, the mother is mentally challenged. She wanted to get rid of Shannon so she could have a baby with her new husband. Yes, I'm outraged, too. Seems like something could have been done long ago. They investigated the mom way back when the baby was two weeks old. Thank God the baby was found safe. At least now she has a chance.

Thank God the baby is ok!!!!!! They should have removed that baby anyway. Now hopefully she will get the care and love she deserves.

I just watched the press conference and I am crying tears of joy...Praise God...we needed a happy ending...she is just so precious.

Dis

It is so awesome to have some good news for a change!! If these parents want to get rid of their kids so bad, why don't they just give them away? Aren't there "Safe Havens" in nearly every state? Take the baby to a church!! A hospital!! A fire station!! A police station!! Your next door neighbor, even!! Sheesh.

Thank God, this story has a happy ending !

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,571888,00.html?test=latestnews

Shannon was in a sealed box for almost 12 hours. Angels were with her as she should never have survived.

How in the world does one keep a 7 month old quiet for almost 12 hours? I shudder to think of the options....

My God, this 7 month old child was kept silent, in a box for 12 hours, under the bed, with a box of Arm and Hammer to cover the smell of a soiled diaper? What I want to know is, will they proceed with murder charges for the boy/step son she supposedly beat to death in 87 that was never found? What about the little girl, with severe lacerations and broken hands? Where is she now? Whatever happened to her? What kind of life is this girl living? This Susan Baker obviously had a penchant for inflicting severe pain and suffering onto innocent children, and resulting in death to the little boy. God only knows what her she had in mind for tiny 7 month old Shannon.....what is wrong in this freaking world?
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