LINDSEY J BAUM - 10 yo (2009) - McCleary WA

MCCLEARY -

The father of the missing McCleary girl Lindsey Baum is speaking out and asking for help.

Lindsey disappeared 10-days ago while walking home from a friend's house.

Her dad Scott Baum lives in Tennessee and is in the National Guard. He
flew out here to plead for help from the public to find his little girl
who turns 11-years-old tomorrow.

Scott Baum says, "Please bring my daughter home. I'm fixing to deploy
to Iraq and tomorrow is her birthday and I would love nothing more than
to see my daughter before I have to go."

Lindsey's mom Melissa says, "I just want my baby back. That's all I
want is for her to come home and I want her to be here for her 11th
birthday."

Melissa planned to take Lindsey to the new Harry Potter movie for her birthday and get her a digital camera.

Meanwhile, today dozens of searchers including dogs continued to look
for Lindsey. They focused on a nearby ORV park now that holiday
travelers have left. The park, which is a few miles east of McCleary,
also provides more parking for search & rescue vehicles.

McCLEARY -- Lindsey Baum's 11th birthday came and went, but the girl has yet to come home.
Police hoped to find the missing girl by her special day - Tuesday - but they have not found any sign of her.
With little to go on, investigators said dozens of people have been
taken off the search. Detectives are now waiting for a tip that will
send them in the right direction.
At the height of the search, 75 members of the search and rescue
team, as well as up to 35 officers and countless volunteers were
scouring Grays Harbor County for the girl, who disappeared while
walking home last month.
Their latest focus were the hills above an off-road vehicle park. Nothing was found.
Without solid tips, the county can't afford to keep the
investigation moving at the same pace. The search and rescue team has
been dismissed, and the number of officers have been reduced to 12.
But investigators say they're not giving up. They're waiting for the call that will break the case open.
"We're trying to keep her pictures and her face in the minds of as
many people as possible, hoping that someone will see her or know
something or it will jog their memory or provide the information we're
desperately seeking," said Undersheriff Rick Scott.
The undersheriff says tips are trickling in, and none has led to evidence explaining Lindsay Baum's disappearance.
Scott, who spoke with the Baum family on Wednesday, said family
members are convinced their little girl will be brought home safely.
On Monday the missing girl's father pleaded with the public to help find his little girl before he's deployed to Iraq.
"But please bring me my daughter home before I have to leave," he said.
Scott Baum is expected to fly out next week.
Anyone with information on Lindsey Baum's disappearance is urged to call (866) 915-8299 immediately.

With the town of McCleary shaken by the recent disappearance of
11-year-old Lindsey Baum, authorities hope to take advantage of this
weekend’s Bear Festival to spread information and solicit new tips,
according to The Daily World of Aberdeen. Grays Harbor
Undersheriff Rick Scott said the command center will pull out of town
to make room for the festival, but extra officers and deputies in
uniform will be present to talk to the public.“We just want to be here and do what we can to talk to folks,” Scott said.Baum
disappeared June 26 from a McCleary street blocks from her home. She
had been walking back from a friend’s house. Investigators have yet to
find any evidence explaining her disappearance.

MCCLEARY, Wash. - A little girl who vanished without a trace more than
two weeks ago missed her 11th birthday this week - still with no sign
of her.
The town where she lives celebrated its annual Bear Festival on Saturday - but it wasn't the same as in previous years.

Lindsey Baum is shown in a newly released photo.

Yes, there was a parade, and floats, and music - and flags waving. But
there were also volunteers passing out flyers of the missing girl's
photo."It's just getting harder and harder. I think every day that goes by,
everybody just gets a little more upset," said Kim Paull, Lindsey's
aunt.
John Munson of Olympia, who was there for the festival, agreed.
"It's just totally different, the atmosphere, it's just really something. It makes you want to cry," he said.
He and other visitors grabbed flyers from volunteers. "I'm gonna post them in Tumwater, Olympia and the Lacey area," he says.That's exactly what McCleary police, the FBI and the Grays Harbor
County Sheriff's Office want. Law enforcement personnel took advantage
of the influx of visitors to familiarize people with Lindsey's plight."To get the word out. More people here, more people see the flyer, more
people are aware of our situation here in McCleary," says the town's
police chief, George Crumb.
Law enforcement was very visible on Saturday, hoping townspeople will talk to them about anything unusual.Police also released new photos of Lindsey that were taken at a "Shop
with a Cop" event last winter. They show a girl having a good time,
with $100 to spend.
Her mother and this town still hold out hope, as exemplified on a sign at a local store that says simply "Hope & Pray.""I feel her in my heart. And I know the statistics, but I know she's
out there, and I know she's alive. And I want to her to know ... that
I'm never going to stop looking for you," says Lindsey's mother,
Melissa Baum.

(CBS)

A desperate search for a Washington State girl missing for more than
two weeks is all-the-more urgent because her father's National Guard
unit is due to deploy to Iraq soon.


Police say Lindsey Baum, 11, of the small town of McCleary,
disappeared the night of June 26 while walking home from a friend's
house just four blocks away.


More than 100 searchers have used dogs, horses and helicopters
seeking any trace of Lindsey, but investigators says they have little
to go on, and they're appealing to the public for help.


Lindsey's parents and the local police chief appeared on "The Early Show" Monday.

MCCLEARY, Wash. -- The search for
missing 11-year-old Lindsey Baum got nationwide attention when her
parents appeared on CBS' 'The Early Show' Monday morning.“My
heart tells me she is alive; where I don’t know,” Melissa Baum,
Lindsey’s mother, said on 'The Early Show.' “I would give anything to
know where she is.”Lindsey disappeared on June 26 while walking
home in McCleary and although thousands of fliers have been passed out
and both the FBI and law enforcement in McCleary have been searching
for her, there has been no sign of Lindsey. Her 11th birthday was July
7.Authorities have been working on the theory that she might
have run away to Tennessee, where her father lives, but Rick Scott of
the Gray’s Harbor County Sheriff’s Office said it’s unlikely that
someone her age would be gone this long without “surfacing in some
manner.” Lindsey’s father, Scott Baum, a member of the Tennessee
National Guard who is deploying to Iraq soon, told authorities that he
has not seen or heard from his daughter since her disappearance.Lindsey
is 4 feet 9 inches tall, 80 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes.
She was last seen wearing a light blue hooded pullover shirt and blue
jeans.Officials have not had any new developments in the case
but ask anyone with information to contact the Grays Harbor County
Sheriff’s office at 866-915-8299 or send an e-mail to:
soadmin@co.grays-harbor.wa.us.

While the official search for Lindsey Baum has been scaled back, no one in this town is giving up on finding her.

"We continue to get tips, we continually talk to the public," said McLeary
Police Chief George Crumb. "I don't believe they've given up hope."

At the town's annual Bear Festival over the weekend, volunteers were
passing out flyers with photos of the missing girl, who missed her 11th
birthday last week.

"I know she's out there and I know she's
alive," said Lindsey's mom, Melissa. "I just want her to know if she
can hear me that I'm never going to stop looking for you. I'm going to
look for you until I have you back. I swear I will never stop looking.

Lindsey vanished June 26 after leaving a friend's house to walk home. But
something happened in that short distance, and she never arrived.

The investigation, which has involved multiple local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, has turned up nothing.

"Still from day one we haven't gotten any real viable good leads," Crumb said.
"Leads keep coming in, but actual things we can work on, nothing has
been presented to us."

Detectives don't want to see Lindsey's story disappear from the headlines, because each story could kick loose that one crucial tip.

At the height of the search, 75 members of the search and rescue team, as well as up to 35 officers and
countless volunteers were scouring Grays Harbor County for the girl,
who disappeared while walking home last month.

Lindsey's mother and the police chief appeared on a national TV program Monday morning
to urge anyone with information to call investigators.

"Please, if anybody knows anything, even if you don't think it's
important to you, it may be very beneficial to this case in bringing
Lindsey home."

Lindsey Baum's father Scott made the emotional
plea Wednesday as the family still waits for word of what happened to
their daughter.

Lindsey disappeared June 26 walking home from a friend's house. Her parents are confident she's still alive.

"I feel her in my heart. I just know she's alive," said her mother
Melissa. "I just want to say to whoever has my daughter: 'Please, just
let her go.' I don't care who you are, I don't care where you are, I
just want my daughter back."

The parents came forward Wednesday eager to make sure their daughter isn't forgotten.

"We want to keep her face out there," Melissa Baum said. "We want people to see who she is."

They've even created a couple of Web sites for folks to contact: lindseybaum.com and findlindseybaum.com.

"The search continues even though we don't see it," Scott Baum said.
"There's still people out there looking for her. Everybody still has
faith and that's all I can ask for is people don't give up on her."

Scott lives in Tennessee and is a member of the National Guard there. He was set to deploy to Iraq soon, but that may change.

"There's talk that they're not going to deploy me," he said.

It means he could stay stateside and stay on the search for his daughter.

"Just please bring my daughter home. Give us the peace of mind. Let her go unharmed."

Melissa added: "I still feel in my heart I know she's alive, but every day that goes by is just agony."

The Baum's have been contacted by other families across the nation who've
been through the pain of a missing child offering words of
encouragement, but saying it doesn't get easier.

TUMWATER, Wash. - Police are investigating whether the attempted
abduction of a girl in Tumwater on Wednesday is linked to last month's
highly publicized disappearance of 11-year-old Lindsey Baum in McCleary.

Officials say three men tried to kidnap the 14-year-old girl in broad
daylight on Wednesday as she was walking along a busy street, but the
girl was able to escape by running away.

Lindsey Baum

The close call left the girl very shaken, and now detectives are
comparing the similarities between her experience and Lindsey Baum's
unexplained disappearance June 26 in McCleary, about 13 miles away."We investigate because child lurings aren't as common as most crimes,
and when you have two communities that are so close together and the
circumstances where obviously it occurred in public areas. And the
girls are approximately the same age," says Detective Jen Kolb of the
Tumwater Police Department. The Tumwater girl, whose name is being withheld, says she was walking
along Capitol Boulevard to her mother's place of work when the three
men jumped out of a black pickup.
They were yelling, "Hey, pretty lady, how are you?" then came after her, she says.The girl started running, and the men chased after her. But soon after
they gave up the chase, ran back to the pickup and drove off.The experience left the girl scared, alone and distraught. So she ran
to her mother's place of work and breathlessly told her what had
happened.
"She was very scared, shaken - didn't know what to think or what to do," says her mother.
The girl now says she believes the men wanted to hurt her.
"In a way, yeah. ... Just the way they were talking to me and trying to come to me," she says.
Kolb said she finds the case "very disturbing" and is struck by the parallels to the disappearance of Lindsey Baum.
Investigators want anyone with information to call the Tumwater Police Department at (360) 754-4200.
* * * * *
A 14-year-old girl said three men attempted to lure her about 4:30
p.m. Wednesday as she walked in the area of Capitol Boulevard and
Dennis Street. She said a pickup carrying three men pulled
over, and two got out and approached her. One called out to her. When
she saw they were following her, she ran away, she said. She said the men briefly chased her before getting back in the truck and leaving.The
vehicle is described as an older, lowered, small black truck with
tinted windows and stickers on the tailgate. The girl did not get a
good look at the driver, but she described the men who chased her as
white males, 18 or 19 years old, between 5 feet, 8 inches, and 5 feet,
11 inches tall, of medium build, and wearing baseball caps sideways.
Both were wearing plain white T-shirts and baggy blue jeans.

Poster's Note: At this point there is no connection between this report and Lindsey. However, I found it interesting that the victim was in the same age range and the van had plates from Lindsey's state.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputies are looking for a man who they say tried to lure a small child. Investigators
say a man in his 50's approached an 11-year-old child Monday near the
area of Hartnell Rd. and Cain Dr. in Santa Maria. The man reportedly
asked the child to help him find his missing dog. Deputies say
the man was driving a white cargo-type van with no side windows. They
also say the van was possibly bearing Washington license plates. The man is described as a white male adult, about 50-years-old. He was about 5' 8" tall, weighing about 150 lbs. Anyone who may have seen the man is asked to call the Sheriff's Department.

Investigators hope a $6,000 reward will help bring a missing McCleary girl home. Lindsey Baum, 11, hasn't been seen since June 26 when she disappeared while walking home from a friend's house.
Two people spotted the then 10-year-old along the way, but she never
made it home and investigators have found no evidence that could
explain her disappearance.In an effort to find out what happened to their daughter, Lindsey's family created two Web sites: http://lindseybaum.com/ and http://findlindseybaum.com/. Both sites have photos of Lindsey and links to detectives working the case. The money is being offered by CrimeStoppers and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.Lindsey
is 4 feet 9 inches tall, 80 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She
was last seen wearing a light blue hooded pullover shirt and blue jeans.Anyone
with information about Lindsey’s disappearance is asked to call the
Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office at 1-866-915-8299 or send an e-mail to soadmin@co.grays-harbor.wa.us.

Lindsey Baum’s father returned to Tennessee last weekend to attend
to personal issues and sort out his possible deployment to Iraq,
according to The Daily World of Aberdeen.
Grays Harbor Undersheriff Rick Scott told the newspaper that Scott Baum, a member of
the Tennessee National Guard who has orders to deploy to Iraq, headed
home but hopes to remain in the country to help with the effort to find
his 11-year-old daughter.
Scott said Baum had a round-trip ticket so he could return quickly if anything changed.
Baum went missing June 26 as she walked a few blocks from a friend’s
house to her home in McCleary. The 4-foot-9, brown-haired girl last was
seen wearing a light-blue hooded shirt, blue jeans and black shoes.
Scott said Lindsey’s mother, Melissa Baum, has worked with family members to start two Web sites dedicated to the search: www.findlindseybaum.com and www.lindseybaum.com.
Investigators hope a $6,000 reward will prompt someone to come
forward with information about Lindsey’s disappearance. The money is
being offered by Crimestoppers and the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children. Anyone with information is asked to call local
authorities or the investigation’s tip line at 866-915-8299.

When a parent hears that a child is missing, heartbreak for the family
instantaneously comes to the surface. The emotional rollercoaster that
this family must be going through is something most of us, thankfully
will never be able to understand.

Lindsey Baum, a 10-year-old
girl from McCleary, Wash. went missing on June 26 while walking home
from a friend’s house. She has never been seen since.

Having a daughter almost the same age as Baum, has made me even more empathetic
and more cautious about her walking alone or being out of my sight. Our
motto is “stay where I can see you”.

While we have all heard about the disappearance, it is disconcerting that more has not been
seen or heard within the media over this young girl just vanishing.

When Elizabeth Smart disappeared from her home in Utah, state, national and
even global attention was given to the case for months and months. Her
family even appeared on Oprah and other national television shows in
hopes of finding her.

Why is Baum’s disappearance any less important? There are bits and pieces seen here and there on nightly
newscasts but the constant coverage and continual reminders of her
disappearance have vanished right along with her.

There are hundreds of children who disappear in this country every year, many of
them taken by someone outside of their family and friends, yet we only
hear of a select few.

Now, the family has announced that there is a $6,000 reward for information given that will help find Baum and/or her abductor.

Is this one reason Baum’s disappearance hasn’t gotten the same media attention – money?
Searchers have been probing trails, rivers, roads, and every other place they can think of for this child, but to no avail.

Now her father may be deployed to Iraq soon and would like nothing more
than to see his daughter and know she is safe before he leaves.

Every child deserves to be safe and when one of them goes missing, their
disappearance should be a top story on the news each night. Race,
religion, age, money, none of this should matter.

For now, thoughts and prayers go out to Lindsey Baum and her family, prayers
that they will not only find her, but that they will find her alive.
Hope that she will return home to the arms of all of those who have
searched for her.

Search teams from the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office, the FBI and Pierce County are in McCleary today conducting another search for missing 10-year-old Lindsey Baum.The
teams, including search dog, are battling very high heat as the check
up on additional tips and re-check area hoping to find Lindsey missing
since June 26.A $6,000 reward is being offered by Crimestoppers for information that helps find her.

It's been more than a month since Lindsey Baum disappeared while walking home from a friend's house, but investigators are not giving up.

On Tuesday, detectives from Pierce County joined the search, hoping to turn up new leads or tips in the case.

They searched homes, trash cans and crawl spaces near where Lindsey was last
seen, and cadaver-sniffing dogs were also brought in to comb the area.

Everywhere you look in this small town there's a photo of Lindsey -- posted in
store windows, hanging on the side of a truck parked on Main Street.

Everyone knows her name and everyone wants her to come home.

Spending time here you get the feeling the the girl's disappearance has changed
the town. Instead of trading the usual neighborhood gossip, it seems
all anyone talks about is what might have happened to Lindsey.

Kevin Pratt lives in McCleary and says he's always keeping his eyes open and thinking of the missing girl.

"Every time I go out in these wooded areas, any time I'm out anywhere I'm
looking for anything for anything out of the ordinary."

The investigation into Lindsey's disappearance, which has involved multiple
local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, has turned up
nothing.

Grays Harbor County Undersheriff Richard Scott told Q13 FOX News that
they recently received quite a few tips, so they checked them out on
Tuesday with the help of several agencies including the FBI, Aberdeen
Police, Crime Stoppers and Thurston, Mason and Pierce County Sheriff's
Offices. Pierce County Search & Rescue dogs also helped in the
search.

The search teams braved temperatures of more than a hundred degrees and
searched several areas in McCleary including an abandoned house, but
came up empty. Investigators also went door-to-door and handed-out
flyers.

10-year-old Lindsey Baum disappeared on June 26 as she walked from a
friend's house to her own home. Her mom called police when Lindsey
failed to show the night she disappeared.

The FBI along with the National Center For Missing And Exploited
children joined the search days after the little girl disappeared.

Undersheriff Scott has been trying to find out what happened to the
little girl. He says so far in the investigation, they've received
about 700 tips. He told Q13 FOX News, "This is a girl with no means, no
money, and no true opportunity to leave. We have nothing specifically
that is pointing us in any direction that is going to allow us to rule
out any scenario.... this may be a worst case scenario criminal
investigation involving a predator or predatory behavior."

Lindsey's mom Melissa Baum told Q13 FOX News that she knows the police
will find her little girl and she prays it's sooner than later because
of the extremely hot weather. Baum says, "It's hot and if she's in an
old house, shed or basement somewhere she's probably burning-up and
that's been bothering me the last couple days because it's been so hot.
I just worry."

Lindsey also missed her 11th birthday. Melissa says they'll have a huge party for her when she comes home.

Lindsey is 4'9" tall and 80 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. She
was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt with blue jeans and black shoes.

A $6,000 reward is now being offered in hopes that it'll prompt someone
to come forward with information about Lindsey's disappearance.
Investigators say the money is being offered by Crime Stoppers and the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Melissa says she's in the process of setting-up a search center in
McCleary. She says it'll help organize volunteers to look for her
daughter. Melissa says if you're interested in volunteering or making a
donation, go to www.findlindseybaum.com

As temperatures soar near 100, teams from the Grays Harbor County
Sheriff's Office, the FBI and Pierce County are in McCleary Tuesday
conducting another search for missing 10-year-old Lindsey Baum.The
teams, including search dogs, are battling the heat as they check up on
additional tips and re-check the area hoping to find the girl who has
been missing since June 26.The skyrocketing temperatures are making the search very difficult for people and animals."It's
really hard. It's hot. It's hot for us; it's hot for the dogs. The
scent conditions aren't as good," said searcher Beth Chesier.Searchers
and dogs have been seeking refuge inside a cool building to rest and
drink as much water as possible before the teams hit the field again,
going door to door interviewing everyone to find some clue that will
lead to Lindsey.Though the work is hard in the heat, searchers said they're glad to be part of the effort to help bring Lindsey home.A $6,000 reward is being offered by Crimestoppers for information that helps find her.

Searchers returned to the streets of McCleary under a brutal sun
Tuesday to follow up on new leads in the hunt for 11-year-old Lindsey
Baum, according to The Daily World of Aberdeen. About 25
officers and searchers with dogs braved near-record temperatures to
re-canvass areas of town, Grays Harbor Undersheriff Rick Scott said.A
recent $6,000 reward for information in the missing girl’s case has
produced a new wave of tips, Scott said. Surrounding law enforcement
agencies including the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office and the
Aberdeen Police Department sent officers to help perform follow-up
searches and interviews.About six core investigators have been
leading the effort to find Lindsey, who disappeared while walking a few
blocks home June 26. The detectives have found no evidence explaining
the 4-foot-9, brown-haired girl’s disappearance, but they continue
sorting through thousands of tips.
Officers and volunteers knocked on doors throughout town Tuesday,
asking new questions and trying to reach people missed in previous
interviews, Scott said.Two teams with cadaver search dogs also
roamed the town, he said, but the hot conditions limited the available
scents and quickly wore out the dogs.Scott said detectives and
extra officers expect to follow up on new tips in town for at least the
rest of the week. He asked anyone with any potentially helpful
information to call 866-915-8299.

The reward for information leading to 11-year-old Lindsey Baum has
been raised to $10,000 as investigators continue checking on new leads,
according to The Daily World of Aberdeen. Lindsey’s mother,
Melissa, said donations have contributed to the increase in the reward
previously offered by Crime Stoppers and the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children.Lindsey disappeared June 26 while walking a few blocks to her home in McCleary.Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call 866-915-8299 or send an e-mail to soadmin@co.grays-harbor.wa.us

Poster's Note: The following article was posted on the Find Lindsey Baum website;
http://findlindseybaum.com/

Power lines hang low over the narrow, gravel-lined stretch of asphalt in McCleary called Maple Street.

Cars roll past rows of small houses. Sprinklers spin in the front yards.
Shrubs and street lights stand on either side of the road.

From the front step of her nearby home, Melissa Baum can almost see its
intersection with Fifth Street where her 11-year-old daughter took her
last known steps into oblivion.

“I feel like she’s right under my nose and I can’t find her,” she said.

Baum sat on her front step earlier this week, staring eastward toward Maple
Street with the faint plinking of wind chimes behind her. She lit a
cigarette.

“It’s really frustrating,” she said.

The family dog, Cadence, curled up on the concrete at her feet. Signs of
support hung in the windows. Empty Diet Coke cans and fountain drinks
sat stacked beside her chair after hours of waiting and watching the
end of the road.

“It was all a fluke that whole night,” Baum
explained quietly. “It’s like everything fell into place. The one time
she left the house without her cell phone. The one time she started
walking home alone.”

A prayer candle with an image of the Virgin Mary rested among the cups and cigarette butts.

“That wasn’t a usual night,” she said. “It was a very unusual night and very unusual circumstances.”

DISAPPEARANCE

Lindsey Baum, an outgoing 4-foot-9 Girl Scout with shoulder-length brown hair,
started walking home from her friend’s house shortly after 9 p.m. on
June 26. She was 10 years old, just 11 days shy of her birthday.

Lindsey set out alone after an argument with her brother. Her cell phone
battery had died earlier in the day and she left it behind. She wore a
light-blue, hooded pullover shirt and blue jeans. The sun still burned
low on the horizon as she started the short walk home.

A couple neighbors spotted her approaching 5th Street, but she never made it to her front door.

In the first frantic days of searching, hundreds of detectives,
volunteers, search dogs, reporters and neighbors descended upon the
rural crossroads. Thousands of new footprints scattered Lindsey’s last
known steps.

They flooded the streets of the small East County
town of about 1,500. They knocked on doors. They stomped through bushes
and flew search planes over the nearby woods. Their dogs hunted for
Lindsey’s scent. Television news vans transmitted her picture to
screens across the country.

For weeks, volunteers in orange vests passed out fliers with Lindsey’s photo. Officers from nearby law
enforcement agencies came into town to help. Neighbors held candlelight
vigils in the city’s park to comfort each other and hold off despair.

Cable news programs, Nancy Grace from CNN and other shows, picked up on the
mystery. Lindsey’s father flew in from Tennessee to help investigators.
Lindsey’s photo turned up on bulletin boards from Ocean Shores to
Olympia.

For all of the hoping and searching, investigators could not find any evidence explaining what happened to Lindsey.

Local detectives and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents eventually moved
from leading search teams through bushes to establishing a “war room”
in Montesano for a long-term search. They assigned a task force of core
detectives to the case full-time and worked through weekends and
holidays.

Grays Harbor Undersheriff Rick Scott said at times he
forced investigators to go home as their determination to find Lindsey
battled with their mounting frustration.

“They’ve put in a solid month on this case,” he said recently, “and they’re working as hard as they were when we first started.”

But as the weeks have stretched, many of the search teams went home, taking
their planes, dogs and orange vests. Lindsey’s 11th birthday passed
without word of her fate. Lindsey’s father returned to Tennessee.
McCleary businesses who changed their reader boards to signs of support
have changed them back to the daily specials.

The shadow of the unknown remains, filling the streets like the droning hum of the Simpson mill.

“It’s affected all of us,” Baum said. “It’s affected the whole community.”

With one hand reaching down to pet Cadence, she scanned the empty afternoon
streets. Lindsey’s disappearance has shaken the small town. She said
the groups of playing children vanished with her daughter.

“The streets are quiet,” she said, “almost deserted now compared to what they were a month ago.”

INVESTIGATION

Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Detective Polly Davin now spends most of her time
about 16 miles away in a small Montesano office, filled with files,
in-boxes and phones. A couple computers hum on the desktop.

The office has served as the “war room” for the investigation since the
Sheriff Office’s mobile command center pulled out of McCleary.

“It’s not anything special,” she said, “but it does the job.”

Davin shares the office with a handful of sheriff’s detectives and FBI agents
still dedicated to the case full-time. Other investigators come and go
as necessary.

“This is my world,” she said. “I am assigned exclusively to this case.”

In the past five weeks, the investigators have questioned hundreds of
people, collected thousands of tips and built a computer database of
information that they hope will point them to Lindsey.

Short summary paragraphs of every tip are catalogued in 5-inch-thick binders. Davin said they just started their fifth binder.

“You get so much information on a daily basis,” she said.

Undersheriff Scott said the investigation has produced an abundance of clues, but
almost no evidence. Thousands of tips have been called or sent in, but
they lead in a thousand different directions, few any more likely than
the others.

Investigators considered all possibilities from lost
to run-away to abducted at first. As the days passed, they quickly
began to fear Lindsey had been taken. They worked longer hours and
re-canvased areas of town.

“You can’t work, eat and sleep one situation like this and not become obsessed about it,” Scott said.

Sheriff Mike Whelan agreed that the detectives have given everything they can to the investigation.

“Our detectives are going out there and talking to the family over and over
again,” he said. “They do this so much that they get an idea of what
this child is like. ... It’s almost like they knew the child even
though they have never seen her before.”

Whelan said he has authorized long hours of overtime and extra resources for the case
despite the department’s current budget issues.

“I don’t know what it’s cost us,” he said. “It’s cost us an awful lot, but we’re going to spend whatever it takes.”

Scott said it has been difficult to balance staff levels dedicated to the
case while making sure other everyday crimes and previous cases are not
neglected. He said no other cases will be ignored, but they will have
to be prioritized.

“There isn’t a single detective on this case
that was sitting around with nothing to do,” he said. “They all had big
case loads, so we’ve had to dole that out.”

Scott said the detectives now practice a “routine” of collecting and prioritizing new
tips and assigning investigators to check them out daily. The
methodical approach is meant to single out valuable information, but it
often ends in false leads and little reward at first.

“Every time you think you’re onto something that’s going to be viable, you hit
a brick wall,” he said. “It fizzles out. Then you have to regroup and
take the next task you’ve been assigned, the next tip and hope that
it’s the one. And you have to go at it with the same energy.”

Davin said she is responsible for coordinating incoming information and
helping sort through the daily assignments. She feels encouraged by the
support from other law enforcement agencies and the investigative
experience many have brought to the case.

The core investigators— Davin, Keith Peterson and Ed McGowan — have a good balance of
temperaments and perspectives. They will often sit over meals and try
to sort through different aspects of the case as a group.

“We talk,” she said. “We sit as a team and we talk.”

Having worked more than 10 days straight at the beginning of the search, Davin
said the case has definitely taken a toll on some of the detectives.
They are trying to make sure each other get enough time off so they can
recharge and come back with fresh insights.

“It’s probably hard to focus at home,” she admitted.

The lost leads and dead-ends also weigh on the investigators, she said, but
they know one small piece of information could turn things around
quickly.

“We haven’t given up,” she said.

Despite the setbacks, Scott said the case remains the office’s highest priority.
Investigators will do whatever is necessary to bring Lindsey back to
her family.

“The hell that we’re going through can’t compare to theirs.”

WAITING

Melissa Baum said the anxiety hits her at night when the air quiets and she runs out of tasks to keep herself distracted.

“I cry myself to sleep begging and praying for the Lord to lead me to my
daughter,” she said. “Every night I lay down with the hope that it will
be tonight that they come pounding on my door at 3 a.m. and hand her to
me, but every night it gets harder and harder.”

She sleeps with a copy of “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” next to her on the
nightstand. The book hasn’t moved since Lindsey disappeared.

“Lindsey and I were sort of taking turns reading aloud to each other,” she said.
“I haven’t touched the book. It’s still on my nightstand. I haven’t
touched it.”

Baum said she and her 12-year-old son, Josh, will sit down at night to watch a movie and feel overwhelmed by Lindsey’s absence.

During the first two weeks, she almost never left home for fear she would miss
a phone call. She now tries to stay busy throughout the day by posting
fliers, often replacing old black-and-white versions with color
posters. She talks to investigators and tries to make sure Josh has
things to keep his mind occupied.

“He’s having a difficult time,” Baum said. “He’s angry. He misses his sister a lot. He’s wanting
to go out and find whoever has her.”

When Baum runs out of things to do, sometimes she just gets in the car, which is plastered with fliers, and drives.

“I’ll just drive around for hours,” she said, “just drive around, hoping something will pull me toward her.”

Baum said the community support has been great. Her friends and family have
collected donations to help her pay bills until she can return to work.
But she says she still can’t focus on anything else.

She struggles with wondering how the investigation is going. She calls daily for updates on the case.

“I’m just at that point where I’m having a really difficult time sitting
back and trusting them to do it,” she said. “I have tried really hard
from the beginning to just stay out of their way.

“It’s getting hard.”

Baum said the worst part is knowing somebody holds the answer. Somebody, if
they wanted to, could bring her daughter home at any moment.

“I can’t believe that nobody knows anything,” she said. “They just need to
come forward. They need to re-evaluate their morality and put my little
girl first.”

She said she knows Lindsey is alive and soon
somebody will have the courage to lead investigators to her. She asked
anyone with information to call the tip line at 1-866-915-8299.

“I just want her back,” she said. “You can stay anonymous, even calling a tip in. You don’t have to give your name or anything.”

After five weeks, yellow police tape still hangs over Lindsey’s door.
Hand-written signs of support still hang in the windows of the house.
Log trucks still slowly roll past Maple Street.

“She’s an 11-year-old little girl with her whole life ahead of her,” Baum said.
“I will find her because I won’t stop. I’ll never stop. I will find my
daughter.”

She lit a second cigarette and glanced eastward.

The mother of a girl missing since June is going to New York City to raise awareness about missing children. Melissa Baum will be part of the “Amber Ready Back to School Safety
Weekend” starting Friday in Times Square. Amber Ready is a company that
produces DNA and fingerprint kits for children. Baum’s
10-year-old daughter Lindsey vanished June 26. Lindsey was last seen
walking home from a friend’s house. Police have not found her or anyone
who knows what happened to her. “I know she’s alive,” said Melissa Baum, who refuses to give up hope her daughter will be found safe. Melissa Baum just bought school supplies for Lindsey. She’s supposed to
start school as a sixth grader later this summer. A $10,000 reward is being offered to anyone who helps police locate Lindsey. The reward started as a $6,000 offer, but an anonymous donor raised it to $10,000. “There are people out there that really do care,” said Melissa Baum.

Desparate search for missing girl, Lindsey Baum

McCleary, WA. Lindsey Baum was walking home from a friend's house in the small town of McCleary, Washington on June 26, 2009 when she disappeared. “It's like she literally vanished,” said Melissa Baum, Lindsey's mother.

Despite extensive, well coordinated searches by law enforcement, Lindsey is still missing. Lindsey's mother has called on two national non-profit organizations, the KlaasKIDS Foundation and Laura Recovery Center (LRC), to organize a community volunteer search.

Brad Dennis, Director of Search Operations for the KlaasKIDS Foundation said they will be holding a community meeting at 7pm Thursday, August 27, 2009 at the McCleary Community Center. Community members are encouraged to attend and learn about the two organizations and plans for the weekend search. The McCleary Community Center is located at 726 W. Simpson Ave, McCleary, Washington 98577.

Individuals who would like to participate in the search for Lindsey should check in at the McCleary Community Center between the hours of 9 am and 4:30 pm on Friday, August 28th. Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older and bring photo identification. “Dress appropriately for the weather, wear long pants and sturdy, covered toe shoes. We need people who can do foot searches as well as individuals who are willing to work in the search center explained Dennis. Volunteers are not required to attend the community meeting. In addition, we are looking for donations of bottled water, office supplies and the use of a copier.”

For more information about the search or information on how you can donate supplies, volunteers can call the LRC toll free number 866-898-5723.

The KlaasKIDS Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization determined to stop crimes against children and assists families of missing children. Please visit www.klaaskids.org for more information

National missing child assistance organizations plan to host a community meeting and coordinate new search efforts next week for 11-year-old Lindsey Baum, who disappeared from McCleary in late June.

The KlaasKIDS Foundation and the Laura Recovery Center plan to hold a community meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 27, at the McCleary Community Center on Simpson Avenue to launch the new effort.

Weekend search


The meeting will address resources available through the organizations and plans for a new search of the McCleary area over the weekend.

A KlaasKIDS news release said all search volunteers must be at least 18 years old with photo identification. Volunteers for the weekend search should dress for the weather, including long pants and sturdy shoes.

Baum disappeared on June 26 while walking a short distance home from her friend’s house late in the evening. The 4-foot-9, brown-haired girl was wearing a light blue hooded shirt and jeans at the time.

Despite a massive search from multiple law enforcement agencies, investigators have found no evidence explaining her disappearance.The organizations stated they hope local businesses or families can donate bottled water, office supplies or copying facilities. For information on making donations, call the Laura Recovery Center at 1-866-898-5723.

Law enforcement officials are asking anyone who might have any information about the whereabouts of Lindsey Baum to come forward with tips. Tips can be made by phone at 1-866-915-8299 or via e-mail at soadmin@co.grays-harbor.wa.us.