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

Published: 08/22/09 12:00 am | Updated: 08/22/09 7:00 am





The KlaasKids Foundation is organizing a search in McCleary for Lindsey Baum, who has been missing for two months.
Lindsey, 11, last was seen in McCleary after 9 p.m. June 26, after she left a friend’s home on Maple Street by herself to walk about a half-mile to her home on Mommsen Road.
Despite a massive search, police have been unable to find Lindsey or say definitively whether she was abducted.
KlaasKids Foundation representatives will hold a community meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday in McCleary at the McCleary Community Center.
The McCleary Community Center is at 726 W. Simpson Ave.
KlaasKids spokeswoman Tricia Griffith said the search will start at 9 a.m. Friday. People who want to help should check in at the McCleary Community Center between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. that day. Volunteers must be 18 or older and must bring photo identification.
Volunteers are advised to dress appropriately for the weather, wear long pants and wear sturdy, closed-toe shoes.
The KlaasKids Foundation was established by Marc Klaas in 1994 to stop crimes against children after the kidnapping and murder of his 12-year-old daughter, Polly Hannah Klaas. She was taken from her home in Petaluma, Calif.

Thank you so much for the updates - TeamTerrific! *T&T*

You are doing an awesome job of keeping the attention on these vicitms.

Two Thumbs Up And much deserved credit!

MysticOne wrote:Thank you so much for the updates - TeamTerrific! *T&T*

You are doing an awesome job of keeping the attention on these vicitms.

Two Thumbs Up And much deserved credit!

---Don't forget kygirl09...She's helping out as well! So that would be "T, T and K"!

A Missing Child is Everyone's Child
Help find a missing child. Free eBook.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Two months ago today, 11-year-old Lindsey Baum headed out the door of her friend’s house in
McCleary and never made it the few short blocks to her own home.

After weeks of endless searching, family members and investigators have found
no trace of the outgoing brown-haired Girl Scout. But they continue to
rally support and pursue clues as the days drag on.

“We’re continuing to follow up on leads,” Grays Harbor Undersheriff Rick Scott
said Tuesday. “Things are a long way from a dead end.”

National missing child assistance organizations, KlaasKIDS Foundation and the
Laura Recovery Center, also plan to host a community meeting at 7 p.m.
Thursday in McCleary to coordinate renewed search efforts.

Baum disappeared June 26 while walking a short distance along Maple Street
late in the evening. The 4-foot-9 girl was wearing a light blue hooded
shirt and jeans at the time.

Two neighbors spotted her about halfway home, but never saw anything
suspicious. Despite a massive search involving multiple law enforcement
agencies, investigators have found no evidence explaining her
disappearance.

A KlaasKIDS Foundation news release said new
searchers and volunteers will gather Thursday night at the McCleary
Community Center on Simpson Avenue to learn more about the
organizations and sign up for weekend search parties.

The organization said volunteers will also be able to sign up between 9:30
a.m. and 4 p.m. on Friday for search area assignments. All volunteers
must be at least 18 years old with photo identification.

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.

Scott said investigators from the Sheriff’s Office, the McCleary Police
Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation met Tuesday to
compare notes and discuss available resources.

“The case shows progress,” he said, stating detectives at a minimum have ruled out many possibilities.

Scott said the planned weekend searches are separate from law enforcement
efforts, but he hopes they may be able to find something new.

Viable leads still trickle in on the disappearance, he said. Several
detectives remain dedicated to the case full-time, but obviously worry
about lost clues and fading memories as the weeks pass.

The public has continued to offer as much cooperation as possible, Scott
said, and detectives still work the case as hard as they did two months
ago.

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.

McCLEARY, Wash. - The kidnapping and murder of Polly Klaas, a California 12-year-old girl, became national news in 1993.
Klaas’ father hopes to bring renewed attention to the disappearance of 11-year-old Lindsey Baum.
Mark Klaas’ foundation, Klaas Kids, is organizing volunteer searches around McCleary this weekend.

Klaas has been in touch with the Baum family all summer.
“We’re a fraternity of survivors,” said Klaas. “It becomes very therapeutic for people like me to be able to go out and help others.”
Baum was 11 when she was last seen walking home from a friend’s house June 26.
Baum’s mother is still waiting to celebrate her daughter’s 12th birthday, which passed in July.
“I don’t care who has her, I don’t care where she is, I just want her back, “ Melissa Baum said.
Melissa Baum appreciates the help from Klaas Kids because she feels anything that keeps her daughter’s story in the public could help locate her.

Lindsey Baum, 10, disappeared from the small town of McCleary.


“I really and truly have a very strong faith I’m going to get her back,” said Baum.
Anyone who is interested in searching this weekend needs to check in at the McCleary Community Center between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Friday, August 28. Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older and bring photo identification.
Anyone with information about Lindsey is asked to call Grays Harbor 911 Center at 360-533-8765 or McCleary Police at 360-495-3107.
The Baum family has set up two Web sites to help in the search, Lindseybaum.com and Findlindseybaum.com

Crews are organizing a search for 11-year-old Lindsey Baum who
disappeared while walking in her hometown of McCleary on June 26th.

Volunteers have set up a search center with the help of two national
missing child assistance groups, The KlaasKIDS Foundation and the Laura
Recovery Center. Lindsey's mother Melissa Baum says she's confident they're going to
find Lindsey. "I absolutely believe she's alive and we're going to find
her. We're going to do it, I'm not going to stop until we do."
The group searches began Friday morning at 9 a.m. and will continue
through the weekend. Volunteers must be 18 years or older and present a
valid ID at the sign up station at the McCleary Community Center.

Melissa Baum struggled to describe her missing 11-year-old daughter to more than 40 potential search volunteers gathered Thursday night at the McCleary Community Center.

Lindsey loved to read, breezing through the “Twilight” books, Baum said. The 4-foot-9, brown-haired girl also spent much of her time writing, even working to write a play shortly before she disappeared from a McCleary street two months ago.

“She’s just an outgoing, bright little girl,” Baum said, a large photo of Lindsey smiling on the wall behind her.

Several volunteers teared up alongside Baum as she spoke at the community meeting to launch new search efforts today and throughout the weekend with support from national missing child organizations.

Coordinators from the Laura Recovery Center and the KlaasKIDS Foundation came to McCleary this weekend to rally new resources and volunteers around finding Lindsey.

“I’m thrilled,” Baum said. “I’m really excited about it.”

The organizations set up shop in the Community Center on Simpson Street, hanging maps, photos of Lindsey and setting up a copy machine for duplicating fliers.

Lindsey disappeared on June 26 while walking home from her friend’s house just down the street. Though two neighbors spotted her within blocks of home, investigators have found no evidence explaining her disappearance.

Dawn Davis, with the Laura Recovery Center, said finding lost children takes cooperation between law enforcement, the community and the family.

“There is hope,” she said. “Kids come home every day.”

Volunteers were scheduled to start registering this morning. The organizations would be leading teams through the streets passing out fliers and hanging red, white and blue ribbons in Lindsey’s honor.

Davis said teams will also comb nearby neighborhoods and wooded areas, re-searching areas scoured during the first days after Lindsey went missing.

Volunteers must all be at least 18 years old, she said. They should dress appropriately with sturdy shoes. Dogs, children and weapons are prohibited.

Anyone who cannot search or walk the streets can help coordinate at the center, documenting search efforts and organizing food or equipment.

“There is something for everyone,” Davis said. “There’s always something you can do in the search.”

Mark Klaas, whose daughter was kidnapped and killed in 1993, said the work of the KlaasKIDS Foundation and Laura Recovery Center has helped many families in recent years.

“Children have been found as a result of our efforts,” he said.

Organizers said the search will go on as long as possible, starting today and stretching to Sunday if needed. Klaas encouraged the volunteers at the center to contact friends, neighbors, coworkers — anyone who could join the effort and help expand the search area.

“If we get 300 people,” he said, “we’ll go a lot farther than if we get 30 people.”

Baum also asked anyone with private property that included large forested areas, abandoned buildings or abandoned vehicles to check their property for any sign of Lindsey.

If the owner cannot check, they can call local police or the center to have someone search the property, she said. Searchers hope to check every corner they can.

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.

The community meeting ended with a prayer, asking for a miracle. Friends moved forward to offer Baum hugs and support as Lindsey smiled down from several missing child posters.

McCLEARY --
Teams of volunteers inspected roadsides, wooded areas and creeks Saturday as part of the ongoing effort to find Lindsey Baum, the 11-year-old McCleary girl who disappeared the evening of June 26.
Saturday was the second consecutive day in which volunteers fanned out into outlying areas and neighboring towns, hoping to find clues. The search continues today.
At the request of Lindsey’s mother, Melissa, two nonprofit groups – the Laura Recovery Center of Friends­wood, Texas, and Klaaskids Foundation of Sausalito, Calif. – organized the search. Both groups have been involved in high-profile missing-­child cases before, including the disappearances of Elizabeth Smart of Utah and Elaine Sepulveda of Oak Harbor.
About 120 people searched Friday, and about 40 people had taken part before noon Saturday, said Brad Dennis, director of search operations for the Klaaskids Foundation. The search is being staged from the McCleary Community Center, and although organizers have enough volunteers to handle administrative duties, they need more searchers, Dennis said.
“We need people to come out and be a part of this,” he said.
Baum disappeared about 9:15 p.m. June 26 as she embarked alone on about a half-mile walk from a friend’s house on Maple Street to her home on Mommsen Road. Her mother, who moved to McCleary from Lacey about two years ago, said Saturday that she is doing all she can so her daughter won’t be forgotten, such as putting up flyers and making buttons with Lindsey’s picture. She thinks her daughter is alive, although “getting through the nights” is the hardest part, she said.
“My main focus is just finding her and then we can deal with the rest,” Melissa Baum said.
Volunteers who showed up Saturday were separated into groups. Team leaders were selected and groups were given directions on how and where to search. The team leaders also were provided with global positioning systems to note the locations of their searches, as well as clipboards with paper so they could jot down possible clues.
Patty Thorsen and Judy Enz of Olympia, plus team leader Mike Davis of Gig Harbor, spent about an hour exploring Niels Lane, a rock-covered road that overlooks state Route 8 about 4 miles west of McCleary. All three decided to volunteer because they are parents, but Thorsen and Davis also were moved by Melissa Baum’s story after hearing her interviewed on a Seattle radio station. Mike said the combination of listening to Melissa Baum and hearing news about Jaycee Dugard, the California woman recently discovered after she was missing for 18 years, prompted him to act.
“I said, ‘Well, I can give up a Saturday,’ ” he said. Davis, too, has five children, including three girls. All three got into his truck, drove to the end of the road and then worked their way back, stopping frequently to look down hillsides, peer into the woods and inspect roadside debris. The three also discovered a black garbage bag filled with clothes, including a pair of denim jeans, the same kind of clothes Lindsey last was seen wearing. After that discovery, it was determined that the clothes and trash likely belonged to a transient and not Lindsey, although Dennis praised the group’s efforts in finding the bag.
Davis marked the site with orange fabric so investigators could inspect the site. Once volunteers return to the community center, they are debriefed and their information is shared with law enforcement, Dennis said.

Search for Lindsey Baum

When: Friday Sept. 11 thru Sunday Sept. 13.
8:30 am to 4:30 pm

Where: Beerbower Park
Downtown McCleary Next to City Hall

Dress: Dress for the weather and wear comfortable
shoes. Long sleeves and pants suggested.

Bring: If you have; flash light, cell phone, walkie talkies,
garmen or gps devices, backpack to carry water
and snacks.

We will also need a few people to work at the center, so if you
aren’t able to search, we can still use your help.

For more information or any questions contact us on our
website: www.findlindseybaum.com

donations can be made for the search at any Sterling Savings bank.. be sure and tell them it's for the LINDSEY BAUM SEARCH FUND

MCCLEARY, Wash. - Months of disappointments haven't sapped the strength of a search effort for a missing McCleary girl.
Lindsay Baum disappeared 11 weeks ago - and despite a lack of clues, volunteers won't stop looking.
It's slow going, poking through the brush - but volunteers say it's worth any effort to find a clue to Lindsey's disappearance.

Lindsey Baum

"Well, we're looking for anything that's, well, perhaps out of the ordinary," says volunteer Dick Hall. That could be a scrap of clothing, a bit of trash - or anything - to show whether someone has been in a given area.
In 2 1/2 months of searching, nothing has turned up that ties back to the missing girl. But that doesn't stop volunteers from trying.
They were back out again on Saturday, combing through the thick brush.
"This morning we had people standing in line just to register," says Lindsey's mother, Melissa Baum.
She is coordinating this latest effort, with help from the biker club "Guardians of the Children" and a second group called "Helping Heroes Productions."
"I truly believe my daughter's alive and that we're going to bring her home," Melissa says. "I just hope whoever has her would just let her go, let her come home where she's loved and where she's wanted."
Lindsey disappeared on the evening of June 26 while walking home from a friend's house.
Police are stumped.
McCleary is a small town, but there is a lot of open ground and wooded areas for searchers to cover. Volunteers though, say there is strength in numbers.
"Maybe with as many eyes as we have, we'll discover something," says Hall.
Searchers are looking for a miracle - and stories like the California woman who resurfaced 18 years after being kidnapped gives them a reason to go on.
"It gives me hope because it's saying after 18 years, surely probably mostly everybody had given up," says Hall.
Adds Melissa Baum: "It scares me because I just can't imagine the next months - let alone years - of not knowing where my daughter is."
The search resumes Sunday - and people are encouraged to help.
Donations of cash and office supplies are also being accepted to keep the volunteer effort going.

Volunteers searched areas throughout Western Washington for missing McCleary girl Lindsey Baum over the weekend but didn't find any clues, said Linda Walkut, a volunteer with the Laura Recover Center for Missing Children.

Walkut said 25 to 30 people searched Friday, about 75 searched Saturday and about 60 were involved Sunday, venturing as far away as Portland to look for Baum, who has been missing for nearly three months.

The search effort recently received a boost when a McCleary church donated a trailer that can be used as a headquarters, Walkut said.

“We’ll be having bigger searches now,” she said. “We’ll start scheduling them in about three weeks.”

A candlelight vigil for Baum is set for about 7 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Park & Ride facility on Mommsen Street in McCleary, Walkut said.

For more information about the search for Lindsey and future searches, go to www.findlindseybaum.com.

A candlelight vigil is being planned for September 26th 2009. This date
will mark 3 months that our innocent angel Lindsey Baum has been
missing. Please check back for more details on the time and location
that the vigil will be held.

Don't forget to mark this date on
your calendar. Please join us, show your support and lets help light
the way home for Lindsey Baum!!!
UPDATED!! Visit Our - FIND LINDSEY BAUM - BLOG for more information you can also access read the most recent posts regarding the search center here.

Search expanding for missing McCleary girl



The Grays Harbor County sheriff's office says deputies started serving search warrants Friday in the McCleary area in the search for a missing 11-year-old girl.

The Associated Press

MCCLEARY, Wash. —
The Grays Harbor County sheriff's office says deputies started serving search warrants Friday in the McCleary area in the search for a missing 11-year-old girl.
Sgt. Steve Shumate told KXRO more warrants would be served through the weekend in an operation involving the FBI and the King County sheriff's office.
Shumate says investigators have been following leads and conducting interviews that identified areas that may contain information about the disappearance of Lindsey Baum. She disappeared the night of June 26 while walking home from a friend's house.

Search intensifies for missing Washington girl Lindsey Baum, warrants served


September 25, 4:07 PMCrime ExaminerCindy Adams


On Friday morning, law enforcement investigating the case of missing 11-year-old Lindsey Baum began serving search warrants in the McCleary, Wash. area.
The Daily World reports investigators said they have “credible information” that may assist them in locating the girl, who disappeared three months ago, when walking home from a friend's house in the evening.
Sgt. Steve Shumate of the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office read from a statement, saying “Credible information has been developed that there are locations in the McCleary area that may contain evidence that may assist investigators in locating Lindsey Baum. This activity is expected through the weekend. Due to the sensitive nature of the investigation and to reduce the risk of compromise, no further details of the current investigative activity will be released.”
Shumate also noted that they are just getting started with serving search warrants and would not jeopardize the investigation by elaborating further.
More volunteer searches for Lindsey are scheduled for Oct. 2 through 4 at 9 a.m., with searchers meeting at the Evergreen Christian Church.
Anyone who might have any information about the whereabouts of Lindsey Baum should call 1-866-915-8299 or via e-mail soadmin@co.grays-harbor.wa.us. Information may also be mailed to PO Box 305 McCleary, 98557.

Investigators
will be out again Saturday searching for clues in the disappearance of
11-year-old Lindsey Baum – three months to the day she vanished while
walking home from a friend's house. Friday morning, Grays
Harbor Sheriff's Office investigators, along with FBI agents and
members of the King County Sheriff's Office, began serving search
warrants in and around the McCleary area. The warrants allow
investigators a chance to thoroughly search private properties. A Grays Harbor Sheriff's Office spokesperson said the search warrants
were a result of their "continuing investigation." Detectives said they
had "credible information" to conduct the searches.
"They [the
serving of the search warrants] started this morning and will continue
through the weekend," said Grays Harbor County Sgt. Steve Shumate. Investigators would not say where the locations were or if anyone was
specifically being investigated as a suspect in Baum's disappearance. Approximately 50 searchers will be working through the weekend. Detectives informed Lindsey's mother, Melissa Baum about the search, but didn't give her a lot of specifics.
"I'm glad
they're out there, but it's frustrating," said Melissa. "This has been
the longest and most frustrating three months of my life." Melissa is convinced her daughter is still alive has a message for whoever may have taken Lindsey. "Everybody has a soul and how can you live with yourself if you know
something that's keeping a little girl from her family," said Melissa. Melissa's Friday ended with emptiness with no fresh news about her daughter. "I don't let myself think about what's probably going on. I'll deal
with that when she's home. I just need to get her home," said Melissa.
Yet, despite her longing for news, Melissa admits she's
glad forensics officers reported nothing to her Friday. She knows the
type of news those investigators in sterile suits would bring could
only be devastating. Lindsey was walking home June 26
from Michaela Kampen's house when she disappeared. Michaela has started
a new school year surrounded by classmates' questions. "A
lot of kids at school talk to me about Lindsey, saying 'Weren't you
Lindsey's best friend?' and 'Do they have any leads on Lindsey?'" said
Michaela. The family is working with community members to organize a candlelight vigil 8 p.m. Saturday. "If she's home by then, it will be a celebration," said Melissa.

Sheriff's deputies and FBI agents reported no breakthroughs Saturday in
the second day of a search for clues into the mysterious disappearance
of an 11-year-old McCleary girl.

Officials executed search warrants Friday at two rural properties near the small town where
Lindsey Baum vanished June 26 while walking home from a friend's home.
The agents continued their work at both properties on Saturday.

But as Lindsey's mother, Melissa, and other local residents waited eagerly
for any news, there was no indication that the searches had turned up
any evidence that could help find Lindsey or explain her disappearance.

It's been exactly three months since Lindsey went missing - an entire season has passed.

Yet a dark cloud still hangs over the town of McCleary even on a beautiful, warm fall day.

Flyers and posters with her picture on it remain plastered all over town.
Marquee boards at the school still have a reminder that Lindsey is not
forgotten.

And about a mile and a half southwest of McCleary there is now a law enforcement checkpoint, where only residents can get by.

It is down this road that local and federal agents served a search warrant
at a home and a nearby property on Friday, beginning an exhaustive
investigation at both locations.

A team from the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Department, the King County Sheriff's Department and
the FBI has set up a mobile command post, as they comb through the
house, land and even cars for potential evidence.

Officials say tips by citizens - deemed "credible information" - led them to the 11-acre property nestled in the woods.

The owners are said to be cooperating with investigators. But no one's been
arrested, and there's currently no "person of interest."

The renewed police activity this weekend in relation to Lindsey's
disappearance has residents in this small town wondering if answers
will soon emerge.

"I have kids and grandkids myself," says David
Norris, a local resident. "I know it would just tear me up if I had to
wait. I think even though you hate to think of her being out there in
the ground someplace, it would still bring closure."

Lindsey was last seen between 9 and 10 p.m. June 26 when she left her friend's home
on Maple Street, where she had been visiting.

Lindsey was going to walk the four blocks to her home on Mommsen Road, which is roughly a
10-minute walk. But something happened in that short distance - Lindsey
never arrived home.

Next weekend another all-out search is scheduled in the area, with volunteers set to help out Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Investigators have yet to find the “smoking gun” that will lead them to 11-year-old Lindsey Baum, who has
been missing for three months as of Saturday.

The Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office served search warrants on two residences outside the
McCleary city limits Friday and began combing through junk cars and a
number of buildings.

The search on the properties in question intensified Saturday, bumping up the civilian search and rescue experts
and law enforcement personnel from 30 people on Friday to 50 people on
Saturday. Search dogs were also brought.

Chief Criminal Deputy Dave Pimentel said he conducted interviews with a number of people
Friday, but said no suspects or persons of interests have been named
and no arrests have been made.

“So far, we have not found that smoking gun, we have not found anything that would jump out at us, but
without forensic analysis done at the lab, we can’t really say whether
what we’ve found will help our cause or not.”

Three months ago Saturday, Baum disappeared just a few blocks away from her
home near downtown McCleary. Despite two confirmed sightings within
blocks of her house, no trace of her has been found.

Family, friends and community members planned to do a candlelight vigil
Saturday evening at a local church in memory of Baum and the
three-month anniversary of her disappearance.

Pimentel said he couldn’t reveal what led detectives to two isolated locations along
Foreman Road, just outside of McCleary. Deputies were restricting
access to the road and checking licenses to make sure only local
residents could get through a road block. The restrictions are in place
through Sunday.

Detectives combed an abandoned home and an adjoining shed or barn from morning
until night on Friday. The property is on about 11 acres of land,
Pimentel said. On Saturday, Pimentel said detectives brought in search
dogs and search and rescue experts to help comb the surrounding brush,
trees and grasslands.

At a second site, detectives set up a mobile command unit from the King County Sheriff’s Office near dozens
of junk cars and debris at a second residence along Foreman Road. The
property owners were told to leave the area.

Investigators have been wearing white protective gear during their search of the
buildings. Pimentel says that’s typical when gathering evidence,
although many people link the clothing to potential drug lab
investigations. Pimentel says there was no fear either location housed
a drug or meth lab.

Pimentel noted that although the search warrants are getting a lot of attention, the Sheriff’s Office has
“served dozens of search warrants” during the course of the three-month
investigation.

“This is just one tip we’ve received that we decided to follow up on out of thousands, literally, thousands of
tips,” Pimentel said. “The people we talked to yesterday were among the
hundreds and hundreds of people we’ve talked to, as well.”

Pimentel said the next step is sending the dozens of boxes and bags of evidence
on to the state’s crime lab for forensic analysis.

Melissa Baum, Lindsey’s mother, told KING-TV on Friday that she was glad there was no
fresh news coming to her from the forensic analysis team. She said
that she knows the type of news investigators in sterile suits would
bring could only be devastating.

“I don’t let myself think about what’s probably going on,” the mother told KING. “I’ll deal with
that when she’s home. I just need to get her home.”

McCleary Mayor Wallace Bentley remembers the night Lindsey disappeared like it
was yesterday. The little girl’s route home would have taken her right
past his house. In fact, a confirmed sighting of Lindsey has her
disappearing right outside his home on Maple Street, within view of his
windows.

“I’ve been bending my brain around what happened ever
since,” Bentley said. “I returned home from a retirement party for a
city employee. I was there. I know I saw kids on the street. But did I
see her? I don’t know. I wish I could say I did, but I just don’t know.”

Across the street, William Self, 79, says he was home, too. But he didn’t see
anything either. He says an FBI agent looked through his home and in
his backyard for Lindsey, like they did for practically every neighbor
up and down the six or seven blocks it would have taken Lindsey to go
from her friend’s house back home.

“Kids used to ride their bikes up and down this street all the time,” Self said. “But not so much anymore.”

Bentley noticed that, too.

“I think parents, and really everybody, is being more watchful,” the mayor
said. “I don’t think we’re suspicious, but more observant and careful.
... We’re always looking for news. We just want her to be found.”

Bentley, who has been mayor for three terms and is retiring from his elected
position at the end of the year, says McCleary is a place where
families have felt safe for years. He was a school teacher here before
he retired more than 10 years ago.

Self, who grew up in McCleary and worked at the nearby mill and also as a pastor, said he
used to leave his doors unlocked. Not anymore.

“You can’t risk it,” Self said, watching as neighbors stopped by during a garage sale
his family was doing Saturday. “It’s sad. I wish we could go back to
the way it was.”

Like Lindsey’s friends and loved ones, community members who never even knew her are on pins and needles
waiting to find out where she is.

Bridgett Smith was at McCleary Park Saturday, keeping a close eye on two of her young
children playing on playground equipment. She noted there was a fence
around the playground equipment and only one way in and out. She sat
there — just in case. She has five children, who range in age from 1
years old to 15. Her 15-year-old daughter Brianna Drab sat next to her.

“I don’t think my daughter understood why I was always cautious with her,
why I always wanted her to call whenever she got places before the
disappearance of Lindsey,” Smith said. “Now she does.”

Drab said she and friends were talking about Lindsey during the first few
days of school. She says friends and acquaintances are being monitored
more by their parents than they were before the disappearance.

Other neighborhood kids say Lindsey still dominates the conversation. Because
her disappearance was on the television news again, the youth will
likely be talking about it again on Monday, they said.

“There are a lot of creeps out there,” Drab said. “A lot of parents have become more protective.”

“She asked me once if she disappeared like Lindsey, would I ever stop
looking for her?” Smith said. “I told her I would never give up. Never.
... I can only imagine what’s happening to Lindsey’s mother. I just
hope she gets an answer someday. This is a parent’s worst nightmare.

“When it boils down to it, I go to bed every night without kissing my daughter goodnight and that’s all I want to do.”

After two days of intense searching at a home and property outside
McCleary, investigators said it appears they found no significant
evidence that will help find 11-year-old Lindsey Baum.The owner
of the property has
contacted a lawyer about suing the police and the media saying they had
no right to put the family through the search.Baum’s mother said
she is disappointed that her nothing was found relating to her daughter
who has been missing for three months."I was obviously really hoping something would come from the search," said Melissa Baum.
Law enforcement sources says among the evidence collected during
the search were condoms, pornographic magazines and a car was also
seized and will undergo further forensic testing.The homeowner
at the property said his family has been unfairly targeted in the
search, "They didn't find anything here because we didn't do anything
to that little girl." Relatives confirm a man at the residence
was the focus of the investigation and search. One of his relatives
said, "The only reason they were doing this search is he gave a wrong
answer to a question by a detective on the telephone."
Detectives insisted Monday that they were acting on credible evidence
when they got the search warrant for the property on Friday. Lindsey's mother said she understands the family's frustration, but her daughter's life is at stake."If they end up being completely innocent I'm sorry, but at the same time my daughter is missing," she said.Lindsey disappeared June 26 while walking home from a friend’s house.

Frustration is boiling over in this small Western Washington town where
a weekend search for Lindsay Baum failed to turn up a break in the
case. And a local family says their son, who has received death
threats, has unfairly become the town's scapegoat.

Three months have passed since Lindsay Baum disappeared. The search conducted
last weekend kindled new hope, but also sparked a sense of vigilante
justice.

For two days, sheriff's detectives and FBI agents
swarmed over the 11-acre property of an extended local family just
south of town. Deputies said the search did not turn up any key
evidence linking the place with the girl's disappearance.

"They didn't find a smoking gun. There's nothing to say they didn't find
clues," said Melissa Baum, the missing girl's mother. "I'm hoping they
did find or at least gather some information that may help us find her."

The search may not have turned up any key evidence, but the owners of the
searched property say they're still paying the price. They say the
search left a cloud over their reputation, and has even prompted death
threats against the family's 23-year-old son.

"I didn't even know who they were until Saturday," Melissa Baum said.

The young man was working at the Bee Hive Retirement
Center at the time of the 11-year-old girl's disappearance. The girl
was last seen in front of the center.

The man's family members and his next-door neighbor say he was at home when the girl vanished.

"That's terrible. That's how rumors start. That's how small towns are, though,"
said McCleary resident Mike Stoney. "You can get into a big area and
you probably wouldn't hear anything like you're hearing now. Small
towns are terrible for rumors."

Feeding the rumor mill are blog sites where local residents have engaged in non-stop chatter and
speculations about Lindsay Baum's disappearance.

"I'm sure there's a small percentage in this community that are frustrated, that
want this thing taken care of now and stop all of the melee, so to
speak. But I think for a lot of us in the area here, too, we're just
holding steadfast and hoping for the best," said Steve Saylor, another
McCleary resident.

The sheriff's office will unseal the search
warrants later this week, at which time the contents found during last
week's search will be made public.

As she marked three months since her daughter vanished,
Melissa Baum of McCleary got a disturbing letter from the
state.
She was informed her ex-husband would no longer be required
to pay child support for eleven year old Lindsey, because
her child hadn't been home for three months.
"I still have to maintain a house for her, I still have to
maintain a life for her. This is not a normal case. She is a
child that has been abducted, she's missing." Baum said on
Tuesday.

State child support spokesman Adolpho Capenstany says the
letter sent to Melissa Baum was a form letter that routinely
goes out after 90-days of a child being out of the home and
he admits it should not have been sent in this case. "It's
not a procedure that we would instigate in the manner it
was, and it's also insensitive to a very difficult situation
regarding a missing child." Capenstany said.

Person of interest in girl's disappearance

Investigators now call the man whose home was searched over the weekend in the Lindsey Baum case a person of interest.
Steve Shumate with the Grays Harbor Sheriff's Office says they are not calling the man a suspect, "There were a number of things, I think in general terms, it was just some inconsistencies with respect to what he had said."
Shumate says evidence gathered at his home still needs to be analyzed. The man was interviewed by police and then released.
The man has now threatened suit against law enforcement for being wrongfully targeted.
A vigil on Saturday marked three months since Lindsey Baum, 11, vanished while walking home from a friend's house.

- A McCleary homeowner angry over a
search for evidence in a missing girl case has posted a list of items
police took from the home.Police acknowledged that the search
that began Friday found no evidence that will help find 11-year-old
Lindsey Baum, who disappeared June 26 while walking home from a
friend's house.
The homeowner posted the documents on a forum, detailing what police removed from the house and explaining where each item came from.The
documents show police took clothes, film, computer equipment, condoms
and a "bag with green vegetation" that the homeowner described as
"weed."The homeowner said that "they didn't find anything here because we didn't
do anything to that little girl."A relative of the man who was
the focus of the search said that "the only reason they were doing this
search is, he gave a wrong answer to a question by a detective on the
telephone."The homeowner has contacted a lawyer and is considering a lawsuit.

MCCLEARY, Wash. -- A man's conflicting stories to acquaintances were among the factors that led to the issuance of a search warrant in the Lindsey Baum case, according to an affidavit in support of the warrant obtained by KOMO News.

The court documents identify as a person of interest a man connected to the properties searched last week.

Writing in the affidavit filed in Grays Harbor County Superior Court, a detective said he believed Lindsey had been kidnapped and that evidence would be found at the properties.

Lindsey disappeared the evening of June 26 while walking home from a friend's house in the small mill town of McCleary.

According to the affidavit, a person contacted investigators more than a month after the girl disappeared with information that led detectives to identify the man as a person of interest.

The tipster said the man always drove a distinctive car with a loud exhaust, and found it suspicious that the man stopped driving the vehicle after Lindsey disappeared.

Another person told detectives that they saw the vehicle near where Lindsey was last seen the night she vanished.

One person told police the man acted strangely after the night of Lindsey's disappearance and seemed to disappear himself.

"(The person said) that his behavior had changed since the day of the disappearance. He had not come around as much," said Sgt. Steve Shumate with the Grays Harbor Sheriff's Office.

But what really sparked the detective's interest is what the young man allegedly told his girlfriend the day after Lindsey disappeared.

"(He) told her he could not believe that a girl had been taken and cut up and dismembered," according to the search warrant.

At that point, however, even detectives didn't believe Lindsey had been a victim of a crime.

"The media and investigators did not believe that Baum was a victim of a crime until the week following her disappearance," the document said.

"For somebody to make a statement of that nature the following day of this disappearance, it is very unusual," Shumate said.

Detectives have not found any evidence to indicate the missing girl is no longer alive.

According to the court document, detectives have received multiple conflicting statements about where the person of interest was on the night of June 26.

Investigators wrote that the man told them he was working a second job at the time, but the business told detectives he hadn't
been there in weeks.

KOMO News is not naming the man since he has not been arrested.

The search warrants were served Sept. 25 at several properties in the McCleary area.

At one site, FBI investigators in protective clothing were probing an area near an old, abandoned house and large shed about one mile southwest of McCleary.

Among the Items seized were two sex toys, several used condoms, a bag of children's clothing, computers, bed sheets, blankets, and a newspaper with a story about Lindsey.

Anxious mother, searchers not giving up hope

Back at search headquarters, waiting is torture for Lindsey's mother, Melissa Baum. But on Friday, Melissa was hopeful after learning police have a person of interest.

"I'm hoping they'll find her and give her back," she said.

Three months and one week after her 11-year-old daughter vanished on her walk home, locals are determined not to let up on the hunt for clues.

"It could happen to anyone, and (I) hope they'd be there for me, too," said Rebecca Watts.

Volunteers from all over the region, from Packwood to Seattle have joined in the search. Jen Page is a mother who drove 90 miles to help look for Lindsey.

"I can easily imagine how how hard it is, and this is the least I can do," she said.

Searchers plan to continue looking for the missing girl throughout the weekend.

Some staff members of "The Oprah Show" met with Melissa Baum on Friday, but it is not yet known for certain whether the case will receive national coverage.

A McCleary
family claims they're unfairly targeted and harassed by police officers
connected to the case of missing Lindsey Baum. Friday, a
tearful mother and an angry father defended their son who was the
subject of a search warrant at their rural McCleary home, related to
the disappearance of 11-year-old Lindsey Baum. Court documents released Friday relate why detectives believed the son could be Baum's kidnapper. Witnesses told detectives that the man obsessed about Baum's
disappearance and expressed his belief that a girl had been
"dismembered."
Officers, however, found nothing to back that up. According to court papers, witnesses also reportedly told officers they
saw the man's car near where Baum disappeared on June 26 in McCleary. A month later, officers pulled over the same man for following the mother of the missing girl around town. While officers executed these search warrants last week, Melissa Baum
continued to hope for a break in the case. "There's hope. I know she's alive and she'll come home," she said. According to court documents, the man also gave detectives several
different stories about his whereabouts when Baum disappeared. The man's parents said their son got confused because
detectives interviewed him more than a month after Baum vanished.
Therefore, he apparently could not remember many specific details that
far back.
Court
documents show detectives seized property from the man's home last
weekend, including computers, paperwork, drug paraphernalia and a sex
toy. Detectives say they now have no suspect or
person-of-interest, but they do have a lot of leads and a girl who
seemingly vanished without a trace. The affidavit for the
search warrant also says that the man was a former suspect in the
attempted rape of a child when he was 14, but he was not given a formal
decision in the case.