Small town baffled, alarmed at 10-year-old girl's disappearance
Story Published: Jun 27, 2009 at 12:16 PM PDT
Story Updated: Jun 27, 2009 at 9:52 PM PDT
By Ray Lane and KOMO News Web Staff
MCCLEARY, Wash. - A wide-ranging search is under way for a 10-year-old girl who vanished Friday evening while walking home from a friend's house in this small town set amid forested hills west of Olympia. And now the entire town is worried.
Lindsey J. Baum was last seen at 9:15 p.m. Friday when she left her friend's home on Maple Street, where she had been visiting, said Dave Pimentel of the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office.
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.
"She hasn't been seen or heard from since," Pimentel said.
Her mother reported her missing at 10:50 p.m. And as the hours drag by with no sign of her, the girl's family fears she may have been taken by a stranger.
Search teams have been out looking for the girl, using bloodhounds. Sheriff's deputies, meanwhile, are calling people who live in the neighborhood and also are going door to door to see if anyone heard or saw anything.
Other searchers are combing the nearby woods on ATVs. Everyone is anxious for any sign of the missing girl.
Pimentel said Lindsey has never been a runaway. "We don't suspect that at this time," he said.
The girl's disappearance has shocked many residents of McCleary, population 1,550, where the biggest employer is a lumber mill that manufactures doors and people know their neighbors.
"We don't know what happened to her yet. All we know is she's missing, and we're taking every effort we can to try and locate her," he added.
Police say it appears Lindsey walked at least part of the way with home with friends, who didn't see anything unusual.
Melissa McCann, a family friend, said, "This is a small town. These things don't happen. And yet here they are. She comes from her friend's (house) a lot, so it doesn't make sense that she didn't show up at home. We're just baffled."
Pimentel said it's strange that nobody saw anything unusual.
"Such a small community like this - you can't do much in a town this size without everybody knowing about it," he said. "Everybody in town knows she's unaccounted for."
Lindsey's mother admits the 10-year old had been fighting with her brother in the moments before she was last seen, and that Lindsey is still upset about her parent's recent divorce.
But with every passing hour, there are mounting worries that the friendly girl who will talk with anybody is in serious trouble.
Lindsey was last seen wearing a gray hooded pullover sweatshirt, with blue jeans and black shoes. She stands about 4-feet-10-inches and weighs about 85 pounds.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Grays Harbor 911 Center at (800) 281-6944 or the McCleary Police Department at (360) 495-3107.
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/49343017.html
By Callie White
The Daily World
Saturday, June 27, 2009 4:57 PM PDT
MCCLEARY — Police are asking the public’s assistance in locating a 10-year-old McCleary girl who did not return home Friday night from a visit with a friend.
Lindsey Baum, who was wearing a hooded sweatshirt that was either gray or blue, jeans and black sneakers, was walking from her friend’s house on Maple Street to her own home on Mommsen Road, a four-block distance, and was last seen at about 9:15 p.m., said Sgt. Ed Patrick with the Grays Harbor Sheriffs Office.
Baum’s mother called the McCleary Police Department at 10:50 p.m., having waited in case her daughter had run into friends or otherwise dawdled, Patrick said.
McCleary Police set up the initial search, but called in the Sheriffs Office at 4 a.m., Patrick said. Thurston County sheriffs deputies are assisting.
Baum is four feet, nine inches tall and weighs about 80 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with any information is urged to contact the Grays Harbor Emergency 911 Center at 360-533-8765 or the McCleary Police Department at 360-495-3107.