NEW SEARCH PLANNED FOR KETTERING’S ERICA BAKER
EquuSearch, Kettering Police to ‘revisit a few places’ on Saturday.
A Kettering girl reported missing for more than 20 years ago is the focus of an upcoming search with local police, authorities said Monday.
A search for Erica Baker is set to be conducted Saturday by EquuSearch Midwest with the help of the Kettering Police Department. The search will be in and around Huffman Dam in Greene County, a site previously examined, the search organization said.
Baker was 9 years old when she went missing Feb. 7, 1999 and there are no new developments in the case, police and EquuSearch officials said.
But the branch of Texas EquuSearch is hoping to find answers. The search will start at 8 a.m. and include about a dozen EquuSearch crews, as well as two Kettering detectives — one current and one retired — most closely associated with the case.
“There’s some spots that it’s been brought to our attention that we think that really need to be addressed,” said Dave Rader, director of EquuSearch Midwest.
“And right now we wanted to hit it hard when the vegetation was down and not fully in bloom because that makes it a little more difficult for us,” he added.
Rader said “things were done 22 years ago” and the area in question has evolved since.
“And we’re just trying to revisit a few places that may not have been searched as thoroughly as they wanted back then,” he said.
Kettering police Public Information Officer Joe Ferrell said to his knowledge, the Baker case has never been considered closed.
“Anytime a lead would come in, we would follow up on it. In this instance, it’s not a lead,” Ferrell said. “They’re searching an area
where they know they’ve searched in the past based on the leads that they’ve had.”
Baker left home on a rainy night to walk the family dog near the Kettering Recreation
Complex. The dog was found, but Baker never returned.
There have been tips, multiple searches and the conviction, sentencing and release of a man who said he drove the van that struck and killed Baker.
Christian Gabriel served six years in prison for gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence after confessing to driving the van that struck the girl near the intersection of Glengarry Drive and Powhattan Place in Kettering.
Rader said “we’re just hoping that this is the spot where she is so we can give closure not only to the family, but also the community.
“The community – since Day 1 – has been involved in this… We’d love to give the family, first and foremost, what they so desire,” he added.