Missing baby ok, found in box under bed

CHIPLEY, Fla. - Authorities say the mother of a missing Florida 7-month-old secretly turned her over to her baby sitter in the middle of the night. The baby was found five days later, in a cedar box under the baby sitter's bed.

Investigators learned that on the night of October 30, 50-year-old Susan Baker and 25-year-old Crystina Lynn Mercer agreed to allow Baker to take permanent custody of the baby. The two arranged to meet at 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 31 at Mercer's home for Mercer to give the child to Baker. Mercer later reported the child missing at 11:23 a.m.

Shannon Dedrick was found safe at 9:55 p.m. Wednesday night at Baker's home on Orange Hill Road in Chipley. She was found after Baker gave investigators permission to search her house. The baby was found in a two-foot by three-foot wooden box, under a bed in Baker's home.

Washington County Sheriff Bobby Haddock brought baby Shannon out like she was his own.

"We are the proud Papa's of a little girl. This is Shannon Lee Dedrick," he said.

After searching for five days for Shannon, investigators weren't sure what they would find when they located her.

"We called our wives early this morning to let them know we had found the child, there was a lot of grown men crying and shedding tears," Haddock added.

Susan Baker's husband, James Baker, was detained Wednesday night but has since been released.

Baker and Mercer were booked into the Washington County Jail. The two women face a laundry list of charges in little Shannon's disappearance.

Baker was the child's babysitter and half-sister to the baby's father. She is charged with:

• Neglect of a child with aggravated circumstances – 2nd degree felony
• Interference with child custody – 3rd degree felony
• Filing a false report regarding a missing child – 1st degree misdemeanor
• Filing a false report of a crime – 1st degree misdemeanor
• Contributing to the delinquency of a child – 1st degree misdemeanor

Mercer, the child's mother, is charged with:

• Interference with child custody – 3rd degree felony
• Desertion of a child – 3rd degree felony
• Filing a false report regarding a missing child – 1st degree misdemeanor
• Filing a false report of a crime – 1st degree misdemeanor
• Contributing to the delinquency of a child – 1st degree misdemeanor

This isn't the first time Susan Baker has been involved in a missing child case.

In 1987, Baker told authorities her three-year-old stepson disappeared from the family's Beaufort, South Carolina home while she was napping. A massive manhunt turned up nothing.

Baker and her husband were extradited to South Carolina in 2000 to be charged in the child's disappearance. However, they were never indicted and the child was never found.

Baker did serve prison time after authorities investigating her stepson's disappearance found a six-year-old girl in the home, badly beaten.

Investigators still don't know why the women did the swap. The baby appears to be healthy and okay.

If the two women are able to post bond, neither one is allowed contact with the baby. Shannon is currently at the hospital and will be turned over to the Department of Children and Families.

Sheriff Haddock thanks the following agencies for their assistance on the investigation: rescue personnel from Liberty, Gulf and Bay County Sheriff's Offices; K-9 teams from Klass Kids, Florida State Hospital, Gulf Correctional, and Southwest TANSAR; law enforcement personnel from Washington County Sheriff's Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, FBI, Team ADAM, an extension of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Office of the State Attorney, 14th Judicial Circuit, Bay, Calhoun, Jackson, Gulf, and Holmes County Sheriff's Offices, Chipley and Graceville Police Departments, Florida Department of Corrections, Bay County Mounted Posse and the Salvation Army.