Authorities in NORTH Carolina have discovered a bone that they suspect may belong to missing Australian girl Zahra Baker. Meanwhile, her US stepmother has reportedly admitted in a letter from jail that a “horrifying” event occurred involving the 10-year-old.
The discovery of the bone coincided with US authorities revisiting a bushland area and draining a pond, where Zahra’s prosthetic leg had been found just a week prior.
This site is known for hunters disposing of deer carcasses, yet police considered the bone important enough to send to North Carolina’s Medical Examiner’s Office for identification.
In a strange turn of events, Eric Gein, who owns a US website that has previously communicated with prison inmates, has released what he claims to be letters penned by Zahra’s stepmother, Elisa Baker, from behind bars.
Hickory police have stated that the letters appear to match Elisa’s handwriting, but they have not yet confirmed their authenticity publicly.
Within the letters, the author insists on her innocence while accusing Zahra’s biological father, Adam Baker, of being involved in the disappearance of the young girl who survived bone cancer, stating: “He knows what’s happened to Zahra.”
The handwritten note reveals: “We really didn’t kill her but what he did after the fact is kinda horrifying. Makes me scared of him.”
At one point, the letter again implicates Adam Baker: “The cops know where she is and what he has done. That’s right. What he has done.”
Throughout both letters, there is no expressed concern for Zahra, who had undergone amputation of her lower left leg five years prior due to bone cancer.
The letter’s author also voices fears for her safety and laments, saying “98 per cent of the media stuff is lies. That’s why everyone wants me dead.”
Elisa Baker faces charges for composing a false ransom note related to Zahra’s disappearance on October 9 from their rental home in Hickory.
Since October 10, the 42-year-old self-identified pagan and gothic individual, who met Adam Baker online, has been incarcerated without the possibility of bail.
Last week, Adam Baker was arrested on separate charges unrelated to Zahra’s case, including assault with a deadly weapon and issuing worthless cheques.
Several days later, he was granted bail.
The landlord of the Bakers’ rental property had shown them the door.
When Adam Baker, along with his mother and brother who had arrived from Australia to support him, arrived at the house to collect their belongings, they faced heckling from locals.
“I’m putting him out on the street,” stated the landlord.
Adam Baker’s lawyer, Mark Killian, expressed that his client, who left the residence with his head down and a suitcase in hand, was struggling to cope.
“It’s just real tough for him, obviously,” he remarked to reporters.
Adam met Elisa, wed in Queensland, and relocated with Zahra to Elisa’s home state of North Carolina two years back.
