Vanished! Lindsey Baum Disappears Just Minutes From Her Home
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Police need leads quickly if the 10-year-old girl is to be found alive.
Mystery, Misery in a Small Town
McCleary is a small logging and agricultural community of 1,500 people in west central Washington state. Among the benefits frequently cited by small town residents is a low crime rate; the McCleary Police Department has only three officers, including the police chief.
Yet McCleary is now the locus of a national news story, a deeply troubling one. A young girl was walking home from a friend’s house when she simply vanished. The local police department is getting help from citizens, the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Department, the FBI and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Yet Lindsey Baum has now been missing for more than a week, and the hope for her safe return decreases with each passing day.
Oddly, Lindsey Baum had recently written in My Space that she had a feeling that something bad was about to happen. CNN.com/Nancy Grace, 7/3/09.
Something Wicked Would Befall Baum with Lightning Swiftness
June 26, 2009 was a typical, early summer Friday for Lindsey Baum. She walked the short distance to the house of friend Michaela Kampen. Her older brother Josh, 12, went along, but after a sibling spat he returned home. Lindsey had hoped her friend could spend the night at the Baum house; when she found out Kampen could not, Lindsey began the 10 minute walk home in plenty of time to meet her 10 PM curfew. Fox News.com, 7/1/09. Lindsey Baum had made this little trek many times. It seemed safe enough, as most of it is on Maple Street, which is densely populated. ABC News, 6/30/09.
Baum was last seen at about 9:15 PM by a woman on her way to work; she was about half-way home. Yet her route would have taken her past a gas station, and Baum’s image does not appear on its surveillance video. When Lindsey failed to make it home by curfew, mother Melissa first went looking for her. Lindsey had a cell phone, but it was home on its charger on this awful night. Melissa Baum, having failed to find her daughter, phoned the police at about 10:45 PM.
Police Eliminate the More Hopeful Possibilities
Investigators thought Lindsey might have run away from home, but that was never more than an ephemeral possibility. She had never done so before, and though she was known to be distraught about her parents’ divorce, she had packed no bag, had little if any money, and no means to support herself.
Children are occasionally taken by non-custodial parents, so Lindsey’s father, now living in Tennessee was vetted by the authorities. He is not considered a suspect.
Were this an abduction for ransom, the abductor would have an incentive to keep the child alive, yet there is no evidence that this case is about money.
The remaining possibility is that Lindsey Baum was taken by a pedophile. Grays Harbor County Under sheriff Rick Scott said “this may be a worst case scenario criminal investigation involving a predator or predatory behavior.“ 13Fox.com, 7/1/09. That would be very bad news because, once sated, a pedophile’s victim becomes a liability, a witness that could put her abductor away for life. They may draw their last breath on the same day they are abducted, as in the open Michigan case of Nevaeh Buchanan. See my article: “A Child Abductor and Killer is on the Loose in Southeast Michigan,” Newsflavor.com.
Experts Think Lindsey Baum Knew Her Abductor
Lindsey did not just disappear quickly, but quietly, on a small town residential street. Had there been a struggle or screams the neighbors would have been alerted. Only five minutes from home, why would she accept a ride, anyway?
Henry Schmidt of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children concludes that, if abducted, it was by someone she knew. “From what knowledge we have and the information I have, that it’s someone she possibly knows, somebody that’s in the area.” Examiner.com, 7/3/09.
Parenthetically, Melissa Baum voluntarily took a polygraph exam and passed. So did the father of Scott Williams, another of Lindsey Baum’s closest friends.
The Search Intensifies
Scores of locals have joined in the search for any evidence that Lindsey is still in the McCleary area, including people on horseback. A dive team was also called in to search nearby streams. Fox News.com, 7/1/09. Also involved were scent dogs, ATVs and helicopters. ABC News 6/30/09. Scott wants to talk to anyone in McCleary who might have seen something suspicious between the hours of 8:30 and 10 PM on May 26. He also wants people to be on the lookout for any behavioral changes in a person since that day that might send up a ‘red flag.’
Scott specifically mentioned the following: 1) altered personal appearance; 2) anxiousness to get rid of a vehicle; 3) unexplained cuts or bruises; and 4) changes in mood.
Officer, Mother Cling to Hope
“We’re not ready to give up hope,” Scott told ABC News. Neither is mother Melissa Baum, though she believes Lindsey is no longer in McCleary. Certainly older brother Josh hopes for her safe return, since he has suffered feelings of guilt that he left her that evening. Josh, it’s not your fault.
9 Comments
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Excellent article. Tthe more we get the info on these missing kids out there the better chance of finding them. thanks for your effort on behalf of this little girl.
ATTENTION GRAYS HARBOR/McCLEARY RESIDENTS: DISCUSSION FOR THE DAY: DID YOU KNOW THAT WAYNE SCOTT WATNE NOT ONLY LIVES RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER FROM MELISSA BAUM, BUT RATHER REMAINED UNKNOWN WHEN DNA/DESKTOP PUBLISHING AIRWAVES CALLED HIS MISSIONARY CHURCH, ALSO LOCATED (1) BLOCK AWAY FROM HIS RESIDENCE? Did you also know that Lindsay Baum attended his ‘Phantom Church? WAYNE SCOTT WATNE, Your being Profiled in Connection with the Abduction of Lindsey Baum. TAKE NOTICE; DNA is now contracted to BPU/BEHAVIORAL PROFILING UNIT. BPU Profiles Serial Killers, Missing Persons, Specializing in Missing Children. When BPU, with over (15) years of ‘Serial Killer Tracking Experience, is Forced to Invoke their “Due Process right under the Fourteenth Amendment to make a Citizen’s Arrest, if it takes BPU 4 Seconds to Detain you, they took 3 Seconds to long, Thanks to the Training of the U.S. Military. DNA can be contacted at (253) 831-8429-polymarkerdqa1@yahoo.com
They say statistically its relatively rare for a child to be abducted. Well, its no longer rare when it happens to you. I cannot imagine the nightmare of what Lindsey and her family are going through. I can only offer my prayers that Lindsey is found safe and well. God, please bring this child home.
I heard Wayne Watne refused to take a polygraph test to clear his name.Why?
Justice: He probably has consulted a lawyer; lawyers rarely counsel their clients to take a polygraph because they are not reliable and may render false positives. Watne may also be hiding somethng. See CPU comment above.
ATTENTION MCCLEARY RESIDENTS: OPERATION FLUSHOUT LINDSEY BAUM’S ABDUCTOR HAS NOW COMMENCED. BPU/BEHAVIORAL PROFILING UNIT HAS DISPATCHEDTHEIR CCS/COLD CASE SQUAD TO MCCLEARY WITH A SPECIAL INTEREST IN WAYNE SCOTT WATNE. Did you know that the new Private Search of LINDSEY BAUM’S Scent took the Search to N.E. BECK RD? Considering that a South Wind was Present, & if you put a Straitedge on that Sight, Quess what? It Intersects with WAYNE SCOTT WATNES Home & Church! CCS has Contacted the LE in McCleary to get a ‘Probable Cause Search Warrent to-gether on WAYNE SCOTT WATNE, & Commence “OPERATION FLUSHOUT.” Contact CCS at (253) 831-8429-polymarkerdqa1@yahoo.com-www.greenriverkillerinductivestudy.com-5303 Pacific Hwy E. #159 Fife, WA 98424 [OPERATION FLUSHOUT ON WAYNE SCOTT WATNE HAS NOW COMMENCED BY CCS/COLD CASE SQUAD]: Just how Cold is this Case Squad? When CCS is Forced to Detain a ‘Preditor, they are soooooo Cold.
ATTENTION MCCLEARY RESIDENTS: Thought for today, Innocent Persons could care less if they had to take a Polygraph Test! In 1982, Gary Leon Ridgway was Arrestion for the Solicitation of Prostitution. Soon thereafter, he was Administered a Polygraph & Passed. The Polygraph Administrator Failed to ask Ridgway about his Involvement with 1 Murder Victim & 1 Attempted Murder Victim. Because the Polygraph Administrator Retained his Poly License from a Cracker Jax Box, Countless Women went on & Subsequently Died. I Believe that in 1984, 1 year before CCS/COLD CASE SQUAD Operating then as Investigations-R-Us., began Tracking Ridgway, he too Refused to Poly. Case in Point; Ridgway was a Killing Machine: CCS Recently Contacted Ridgway at the St. Penn., & Informed him that the Reeson he Prayed on Troubled Girls & Prostitutes, is Because he was never Enough of a Man to Pick on Someone his own Size. Had Ridgway ever Picked on the Owner of CCS when Actively Tracking him, if it took CCS’S Owner 4 Seconds to Introduce Ridgway to Mr. Dirt, the Owner took 3 Seconds to long. WAYNE SCOTT WATNE Did Refuse to Poly, & Quess what? WATNE Red Flagged CCS’S new Cyber-Computor Again. Another “HIT” was Generated on WATNE!! [OPERATION FLUSHOUT WAYNE SCOTT WATNE] is now Commencing, & If you have any Vacation time built up WATNE, now would be a good time to take a Couple of Weeks off. When CCS Officialy hits McCleary & Beck Road, “WATCH OUT.” Do you feel like getting out of Dodge for (2) weeks Watne? Well Do you???????
MCCLEARY RESIDENTS:
POST: STRONGHOLD:
SUBJECT: DALE GOLDER OF MOX & FOREMAN RD:
MISSION STATEMENT: PSALM 149/150:
[S]tronghold’s the Dog Running the Pack now that his Superior Officer, ‘Strongtower has been Reassinged to the El Paso Can of Worms.
[S]tronghold read the Search Warrent Report’s/Result’s/ Receipt’s on the Tena/Clifford/ Adam & DG/Dale Golder Propertie’s. Oh My My! By the Way, Contact Clifford Golder for Detailed Info on DG’s Attempted Rape in 2000.
[D]ale Golder’s a “loaded Cannon on Deck.” What’s this Business about DG working at a “Youth Group” somewhere in the Olympia Area? ‘Stronghold’s looking at a Possible Connection with DG & the Attempted Abduction of the 14 year-old Girl in Olympia. Also, Rebecca Martinson went missing from Olympia.
[S]tronghold read DG’s My Space page! What a Joke!! This Cat doesn’t know what side of the bread his butter’s on!!! Contact ‘Stronghold @strongtowerlee@aol.com