Bail for Elisa Baker, Zahra Baker’s stepmother, was increased by Catawba County District Judge Robert Mullinax . He raised the bonds from $40,000 to $65,000. He said that the allegations against her were disturbing and unsettling and described her as ‘high flight risk’. Also in court were Elisa’s children from earlier marriages. Amber Fairchild, 25, testified against her mother and pleaded with the judge not to release her. She described her mother as being unstable and violent. She had cut of ties with her North Carolina family when she started an online relationship with a man in London. She had also told her daughter that she wanted to leave the state on the day after Zahra was reported missing. Elisa Baker was arrested by the Hickory police on charge of obstruction of justice when she admitted writing a phony ransom note in the case of disappearance of her stepdaughter, Zahra.
Meanwhile, investigators were searching a North Carolina landfill yesterday for evidence that would help them to establish a timeline in the case. They were clear that they did not expect to find the body of little Zahra there but would not elaborate further on the nature of the evidence they were searching for.
The 10 year old Australian girl was reported missing from her Hickory home on October 9th. She is hearing impaired and uses a prosthetic leg. The police are treating this as a homicide case. They have contacted a prosthetic center in Australia for the serial number, material used and other details of the prosthetic leg Zahra used. Her father had moved to Hickory after meeting Elisa online last year. Elisa was described by the neighbors as being an extremely short tempered woman who frequently hit Zahra. Zahra was last seen in public on September 25th. Police are still uncertain as to what happened in the interim period.
There has been a lot of media coverage of the missing girl both in America and Australia. The public in Hickory have held a candle vigil for Zahra.
