Friday, March 05, 1999
Con man solicits money in name of missing girl
Police pursuing 3 'premium' leads in Erica's case
BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Butler County authorities warn that someone is fraudulently soliciting money in the name of Erica Baker, a missing 9-year-old from the Dayton suburb of Kettering.
“It's bad enough when you're dealing with the tragedy of a missing child, but it's worse when you have some low-life that's trying to benefit from that tragedy,” Butler County Sheriff's Detective Sgt. Mike Craft said Thursday.
Erica's case has attracted national attention because she is thought to have been kidnapped by a stranger. About 99 percent of missing-child cases are abductions by non-custodial parents or other family members.
Erica disappeared while walking her dog Feb. 7, a rainy Sunday afternoon, at a park near her home. A massive ground search by professionals was abandoned after a week, but volunteers continue to look for her while they hand out thousands of fliers bearing Erica's photo and description.
In Kettering, police confirmed Thursday that they are looking at three leads, including a middle-aged Columbus man with a criminal record and ties to the Kettering area.
“He is not cooperating totally, on advice of his lawyer,” said Officer Larry Warren, spokesman for police in Kettering, a Dayton suburb about 50 miles northeast of Cincinnati.
Officer Warren said he was told the man was awaiting sentencing on sex crimes, at least some of them involving juveniles, in the Columbus area.
However, Officer Warren said the Columbus man “is no more of a prime suspect than anyone else.”
The man is among three remaining “premium leads” that police have been tracking for weeks, Officer Warren said.
Since then, they have narrowed the field to three, including the Columbus man.
In another development, two potential witnesses came forward. Within days of Erica's disappearance, police said they were looking for a female jogger and an elderly man who was walking a dog. Both talked with Kettering police last week — but the “female” jogger turned out to be a male, Officer Warren said.
P While under hypnosis, “(the jogger) gave us additional information that we already had, but it did help us to confirm that information is true,” Officer Warren said.
Kettering Police Sgt. Joe Niehaus, a professional hypnotist, also hypnotized a couple who were walking their dog around the time of Erica's disappearance and reported finding Erica's dog alone, trailing its leash. Again, the information elicited while the couple were under hypnosis merely confirmed what police already knew, Officer Warren said.
In Butler County, the bogus fund-raisingcame to light Tuesday, when a Hamilton senior citizen called the sheriff's Triad program, which supports seniors.
The woman said a man had come to her apartment complex and knocked on doors, representing himself as raising funds to aid Erica's family, Sgt. Craft said.
The suspect is described as white, about 6 feet tall, with a scruffy beard and wearing a ballcap.
Barbara Schmidt, a volunteer who is coordinating fund-raisers for the Erica N. Baker Recovery Center, the Kettering headquarters for the continuing search for the little girl, said anyone legitimately connected with her organization will be wearing a name tag.
To make a contribution, mail it to: The Erica N. Baker Fund, Account No. 0777660, County Wide Credit Union, 2089 Dayton-Xenia Road,
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