Wednesday, February 17, 1999
1,000 volunteer to search for Erica
Center set up to spread word on missing girl
BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Erica Baker
|
KETTERING, Ohio — More than 1,000 people have streamed through the doors of a formerly abandoned storefront, offering to aid the search for a 9-year-old girl who vanished while walking her dog more than a week ago.
The Erica N. Baker Recovery Center, set up Monday in the Woodlane Plaza here, houses a child play center, a kitchen full of donated food for volunteers and a reception area where potential volunteers are screened. Cell phones, computers and a copier/fax machine are working overtime to help spread the word about Erica's Feb. 7 disappearance from the Kettering Recreation Center area.
INFORMATION LINES
|
|
A special phone line — (937) 293-5984 — was activated Tuesday to accept calls from tipsters, volunteers and people wanting to make donations. It will be in operation from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
Information about Erica has been posted with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at: www.missingkids.com.
Anyone with information should call the Kettering police at (937) 296-2555, or (937) 296-2570, or email to erica@siscom.net.
|
Meanwhile, police — who consider the case an abduction — are doggedly continuing their work in secret. They are pursuing thousands of tips but focusing on a half-dozen “premium leads” about possible suspects and Erica's possible location, said Patrolman Larry Warren, Kettering police spokesman.
With the center serving as home base, an army of volunteers will fan out within the next couple of days and redistribute fliers throughout the Kettering area, said Greg Baker, Erica's father.
Besides featuring Erica, the fliers are seeking information on two potential witnesses — a female jogger and an older man who was walking his dog — who were seen around the time and place Erica vanished.
Mr. Baker is fighting hard to keep attention focused on the case.
“Without that, the chances of finding her get very slim,” he said. “Once it's out of the media, it's out of people's minds, and whoever has my daughter has the freedom to move around and do whatever he wants.”
ABOUT ERICA
|
Erica Baker is 9 years old, 3 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 65 pounds. She was last seen wearing a pink rain jacket, a pink Winnie-the-Pooh sweatshirt, blue jeans and white tennis shoes. She has blond hair and hazel eyes.
|
As of Tuesday, police still had no physical evidence connected to Erica's disappearance.
A black pickup truck, which was confiscated from a Dayton man earlier in the investigation because it had been linked to alleged abduction attempts, has been returned to its owner. The unidentified owner has taken a lie-detector test that produced results confirming information he gave to investigators, Officer Warren said.
Erica's parents, who are divorced, have also been administered lie-detector tests with results “favorable” to them, Officer Warren said.
The Baker family is receiving organizing advice from missing-child organizations from Washington, D.C.; Texas; and California, said Erica's mother, Misty Baker.
The lack of progress in the case is frustrating, Erica's parents said, but they don't fault the police.
“They've handled everything just fine,” Mr. Baker said. “I don't have a problem with them. What I have a problem with is believing that a little girl can just disappear off the face of the earth — and nobody knows anything about it?
“It's been nine days and that's too long.”
Taft faces life-or-death decision
Minister confident heaven awaits Berry
Prosecutor: Whipping daughter was murder
Ky. assembly could let Turfway add casino
Winburn pulls back electoral proposal
1,000 volunteer to search for Erica
Online therapy for MS
Teacher waives right to speedy trial
Uncle Sam wants dropouts, too
Flu cases below average
More foreheads showing ash cross
Riverfront tower landmark idea toppled
Top skater stays busy off the ice
Woman held on fake-ID charge
Couple appeal in fight for tot
Flynt trial could be delayed again
Judge says jury can hear murder suspect's statement
Museum celebrates posters
City to look at 12th Street plans
Fairfield schools aim higher on sixth-grade tests
Fire merger takes shape
Flaws found in planetarium deal
Landmark for Butler Co.
Local police talent recognized
Middletown board agrees to decide on mall plan
New bridge in Newport a challenge
Ohio 747 spot to get fixed early
Police: Man dodged 5 shots
Pride learned through a play
Regional vs. local focus of meeting
Roosters have to go, court rules
Sergeant is evaluated
Teacher directs 7th-graders to link science and writing
TRISTATE DIGEST
Village seeks outside help on landfill
Water pact could curb annexation
YMCA plans to open four Dearborn Co. facilities
