Lindsey Update::Melissa Baum on Issues

Please refresh your memory of missing 11-year-old Lindsey J. Baum by reading past posts about her here.


from CNN
ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL 7:00 PM EST
March 9, 2010 Tuesday

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now we`re going to talk to another mother who`s been through hell.

Melissa Baum`s 10-year-old daughter Lindsey disappeared last June. She`s convinced her daughter is alive. Lindsey vanished walking home from a friend`s house in Washington state. It was only a ten-minute walk -- look at that beautiful child -- through a busy neighborhood.

Recently here on ISSUES, Amber`s mom said she believed her daughter had been swept into a sex trafficking ring and was still alive. Sadly, as we all know now, Amber`s body was found days later.

Melissa Baum, it is a very sad commentary on our society when mothers, their only hope is to hope that their daughters are being held by a sex- trafficking ring. Has it really come to that in America today, Melissa?

MELISSA BAUM, MOTHER OF LINDSEY (via phone): It appears to be the case. You don`t know what else to think. I mean, obviously, we -- we pray that the outcome is not what Mo and Carrie and Chelsea`s families are going through.

I do believe -- I do believe that my daughter is still alive. And law enforcement is very active and working very hard right now, and they`re making some good progress. So at this point, I`m still going with the "no news is good news." I truly believe that my daughter is still alive.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And look at her with that shirt. It says, "Mommy`s - - Mommy`s Little Girl."

BAUM: Mommy`s little troublemaker.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What a beautiful child. We are going to keep your case alive, Melissa. We`re going to keep your daughter`s face out there. We`re not going to let this go. It`s just horrific.


The only other news I can find that mentions Lindsey Baum are pieces reiterating the recently raised reward money ($20,000).

Of course, in the face of stories like this one, out of frustration and desperate fear, one starts to wonder -- could he have abducted her? A 20-year-old former church youth group leader was sentenced to at least 51⁄2 years in prison Monday for sexually exploiting a 5-year-old girl he was babysitting...


In what is some small good news for Lindsey's mother, and a win for fairness:

SEATTLE -- The mother of missing McCleary girl Lindsey Baum will not have to pay back unemployment benefits which she was ordered to do.

KIRO 7 spoke with Melissa Baum after she was given a notice that she was to pay $1,000 for unemployment checks that she was not supposed to receive.

Baum took three months unpaid leave from her job as a call center operator and then filed for unemployment when her employer said she could not return to work part-time. Baum left her job so she could assist in the search for her daughter who has been missing since June 26.

Melissa Baum and her remaining children are relocating --

MCCLEARY, Wash. -- The FBI is searching the home of a missing McCleary girl
one last time before her family moves out.Lindsey Baum’s family is moving to
Rainier and Grays Harbor County Undersheriff Rick Scott said it’s the last
chance to obtain samples of the old house before someone new moves in.

Keep Lindsey's likeness in mind as you are out and about. Keep looking!

No truth to rumors of break in the Lindsey Baum case

There are two updates that I suppose are worth making about the missing child case that I am following -- that of 11 year old Lindsey Baum, who disappeared during a short walk home on 26 June, 2009, in McCleary, Washington.

Neither are earthshattering: one is disappointing, but not unexpected; the other is promising, but late on scene.

Reporter Steven Friederich of The Daily World, which serves the Grays Harbor and Pacific counties area of Washington state, writes today that:

The Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office says rumors of a break in the Lindsey Baum case, involving a missing McCleary girl, are false...

Undersheriff Rick Scott said Friday that he had fielded media calls all day asking him about alleged warrants and arrests.

Scott said someone was contacting media outlets anonymously with bogus tips. Reporters and community members called the Sheriff’s Office all day to ask about the rumors.

“About the only thing true is that I’m burning up the minutes on my cell phone,” Scott said.

Scott said no one has filed any police reports and there is nothing legally the Sheriff’s Office can do about the false reports.

The brown-haired 4-foot-9 girl was wearing a light blue hooded shirt and blue jeans when she went missing. Authorities believe she is the victim of an abduction.

Anyone with any credible information about the whereabouts of Lindsey Baum is encouraged to come forward. Tips can be made by phone at 1-866-915-8299 or e-mail at soadmin@co.grays-harbor.wa.us. They may also be mailed to PO Box 305 McCleary, 98557.

The ChildSeek Network has also put up a Web site about Baum at: http://www.childseeknetwork.com/kids/Baum.htm.


On the up side of the search for Lindsey? She is one of six missing children featured on the cover of People magazine.


The national attention is a ray of hope for Lindsey Baum's mother, Melissa Baum.

The grief-stricken mother is surrounded by pictures of her daughter, posters of well wishes, business cards and fliers.She's hoping for even the smallest of clues that will lead her to her daughter.

"I just want to bring her home," she said. "I want people to see her and look for her."

Everyone in the tiny town of McCleary knows of Melissa Baum's grief. Many of them have helped searchers comb the area for signs of the missing girl.

But when People magazine hits newsstands on Friday, people in every state will know Lindsey Baum's story. Her mother hopes the magazine will help bring new evidence to light.

"I didn't know she was going to be on the cover, so I'm really happy about that," she said. "Somebody out there knows something."

Melissa Baum said her maternal instinct tells her her daughter is somewhere nearby.

On a June night long before the sunset, Lindsey Baum left a friend's house and started a seven-block walk home. Since then, thousands of tips have been called in, but not one solid lead has surfaced.

Months have passed without any news from the missing girl, but her mother has faithfully organized search parties every weekend since.

But interest is dwindling. Last weekend, only a few volunteers joined the desperate mother.

Melissa Baum doesn't believe the $10,000 reward being offered in the case is sufficient to motivate a solid tip.

Donations for the reward fund are being collected at all branches of Sterling Saving Bank.

the life of those who love the missing

This is sad news.

Lindsey Baum, the 11-year-old girl from McCleary, Washington, whose case I have followed in this blog since her disappearance last June 26, is still missing.

You would think, then, that her mother had already experienced her lowest point in what was already not an easy life.

Some self-proclaimed internet sleuths and psychic rumormongers have delighted in vilifying Melissa Baum, mostly, it seems, out of frustration at having no real progress to report in the case. That she should be so caddy as to continue to have actual, real problems in her actual, real life as a single mother with an emotionally challenged child... Well, how dare she muck up the romance of the situation?

Seldom is the reference to good things when we heave a prim sigh and pronounce that "life must go on..."

Should those on the hovering periphery of tragedy opt for life, then life will demand its way.

(Famously, Edna St. Vincent Millay said: “Life must go on; I forget just why.”)

The mother of missing girl Lindsey Baum has new troubles, as not only has she lost her daughter; now she's lost her home.

"I never thought we'd be homeless, and we are," said Melissa Baum. She and her son can't afford another night in the Tumwater motel they've been staying.

"We have truly lost everything," she said.

Paralyzed by pain, Melissa Baum hasn't worked since her daughter Lindsey disappeared from McCleary while walking home last June.

"You feel like you're being suffocated every waking moment," Melissa Baum said.

She's survived on her son's Social Security, but that wasn't enough to remain in the home they rented before Lindsey vanished.

"What if she gets away and comes home... and we're not there?" Melissa Baum worried. "As hard as it was to walk by bedroom and see police tape and not go in there, she still had a room."

But Baum says her son with special needs could no longer cope in McCleary.

"He has horrible nightmares every night," she said.

Josh expresses guilt over fighting with Lindsey before she disappeared and not walking her home. His behavior problems have escalated and Baum says that prompted a relative who took them in to lock them out.

The Problem Solvers have paid for Baum to stay another two weeks at the motel. The extended stay gives Baum time to send her son back East for the summer to stay with his dad while she looks for work, a place to live, and her missing daughter.

"I would live in a hotel or car the rest of my life if it would bring my daughter home," she said.

Baum is working with the housing authority in Thurston County to find a subsidized apartment but says she's told there's little hope of an opening before July

.















To see all posts relating to Lindsey Baum, click here.

LINDSEY J. BAUM, missing and in danger

Around 9:15 pm on June 26, Lindsey J. Baum, an 11-year old from the tiny town of McCleary, Washington, disappeared while walking from a friend's house to her home, only four short blocks away.

She just had an argument with her brother, but most everyone notes that she wasn't storming off mad. She didn't have the accoutrements you'd think of when thinking of a runaway -- no money, no cell phone, no change of clothes.

Some friends set out with her, so she was accompanied for a while before they peeled off to go to their own homes for dinner, or homework, a bath or shower, whatever.

Two of those four blocks are reported to be somewhat industrial -- though we are talking *rural* small town. One block away is access to a major highway.

As any child would be, Lindsey was troubled by her parents' recent divorce. Her father lives in Tennessee. This detail is the one I have to shrug off -- in my family, similar circumstances played a role in my eldest brother's decision to run away. But he was a savvy teenager, a world traveler; Lindsey just turned 11 (a grand birthday celebration surely awaits her), and only knows McCleary.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN
1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)
McCleary Police Department (Washington) 1-360-533-8765

Family Website with many useful links: LindseyBaum

I learned about her over at Dr. SecretWave101's blog. He notes what many of us have seen in our own communities: How legwork and media savvy are manditory to keep the faces and stories of our stolen children front and center in the public's view.

He notes other stuff, too -- having to do with the privilege of stereotype and the insidious mechanisms by which missing and exploited children receive airplay.

Research Lindsey's story and retell it on your own blog -- or where you will. You're likely more creative than I am -- the point is to disseminate, remind, encourage. Yes, and annoy, I suppose, if that should become necessary. (It's de rigueur here at Marlinspike Hall, deep, deep in the Tête de Hergé!)

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Here is a snapshot of additional information about Lindsey Baum's disappearance, obtained at Scared Monkey's Missing Persons Site:


4-foot 9-inches tall
80 pounds
brown hair
brown eyes

She was last seen wearing a grey pullover hoodie with blue jeans and black shoes.

Melissa Baum, the girl's mother, said Lindsey wasn’t angry [that] Friday night, and left without money, a change of clothes or her cellphone. Police have searched for the girl in the homes of her friends, in case she had been “hiding out.”

“She wouldn’t have run away,” Baum said, her voice hoarse. “If she had been hiding she would have come out by now. She can’t hide that long, she loves to talk.”

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

NAB News recently added this information:

Lindsey Baum just celebrated her 11th birthday but she is still missing, and the investigation is taking a turn for the worst. Gray’s Harbor County cannot afford to continue the search... at the level of investigation it was at when Lindsey first went missing...

Scott Baum, father of Lindsey who flew to Gray’s Harbour last week from Tennessee, where he lives, pleaded on Monday with the public to help bring his little girl home. Scott can only be in Gray’s Harbour for a short time to help in finding Lindsey; scheduled for deployment to Iraq next week, he may be facing the fight to gain peace in Iraq while he suffers no peace in his heart knowing his daughter is missing without a trace back home in the U.S.

The police believe Lindsey’s abduction is from someone she may have known over a stranger just passing by.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

The Seattle Times 7/21/2009:

$6,000 reward for info on missing McCleary girl

Investigators hope a $6,000 reward will prompt someone to come forward with information about the disappearance of an 11-year-old McCleary girl last month.Undersheriff Rick Scott of the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office says the money is being offered by Crimestoppers and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. [Reward total now is $10,000, Oct. 2009; now $20,000, April, 2010]

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Police: Is Tumwater luring linked to McCleary case?

TUMWATER, Wash. - Police are investigating whether the attempted abduction of a girl in Tumwater on Wednesday is linked to last month's highly publicized disappearance of 11-year-old Lindsey Baum in McCleary.

Officials say three men tried to kidnap the 14-year-old girl in broad daylight on Wednesday as she was walking along a busy street, but the girl was able to escape by running away.

The close call left the girl very shaken, and now detectives are comparing the similarities between her experience and Lindsey Baum's unexplained disappearance June 26 in McCleary, about 22 miles away.

"We investigate because child lurings aren't as common as most crimes, and when you have two communities that are so close together and the circumstances where obviously it occurred in public areas. And the girls are approximately the same age," says Detective Jen Kolb of the Tumwater Police Department.

The Tumwater girl, whose name is being withheld, says she was walking along Capitol Boulevard to her mother's place of work when the three men jumped out of a black pickup.

They were yelling, "Hey, pretty lady, how are you?" then came after her, she says.

The girl started running, and the men chased after her. But soon after they gave up the chase, ran back to the pickup and drove off.

The experience left the girl scared, alone and distraught. So she ran to her mother's place of work and breathlessly told her what had happened.

"She was very scared, shaken - didn't know what to think or what to do," says her mother.

The girl now says she believes the men wanted to hurt her.

"In a way, yeah. ... Just the way they were talking to me and trying to come to me," she says.

Kolb said she finds the case "very disturbing" and is struck by the parallels to the disappearance of Lindsey Baum.

Investigators want anyone with information to call the Tumwater Police Department at (360) 754-4200.

-- 7/17/2009

to read all posts relating to lindsey baum, click here. unfortunately, there are few facts to amplify what was written here, back in july 2009.

Update on some details: Lindsey Baum

This is an odd update to make about the case of Lindsey Baum, the 12-year old child from McCleary, Washington, missing since June 26, 2009.  There is, as is so often the case, no hard news about her.  What is heartening is that people continue to tell her story and keep the hope of finding her alive.

Today, Susan Murphy Milano, of HWT Radio fame, wrote about Lindsey in her blog.  Seeing just the title, and not knowing who Susan Murphy Milano from Eve, I was prepared to be incensed:   "The Connection Between Michael Jackson and Lindsey Baum."

I've become used to finding psychics and other less-than-what-I-consider-reliable-sorts on the other end of searches for updates on missing children.  Lindsey Baum, unfortunately, has attracted quite a nutty following.  So I was feeling combattive when I finally landed on this ersatz linking of Baum and The King of Pop.

It was nice to be disappointed for a change.  She has grabbed the attention that Michael Jackson never fails to attract and has connected it with Lindsey's disappearance, the news of which was eclipsed, at the time, by Jackson's death.

I managed to miss some of the details that Ms. Murphy Milano was able to share.  She based them on the profile at the CUE Center for Missing Persons, I believe, and while don't know their sourcing, either, they have my confidence.

Erring on the side of better-late-than-never, these details seem worth airing here:

Lindsey has the following distinguishing physical characteristics: 

Scar above her left eye;
Birth mark dark brown on right wrist;
Colored fillings in her teeth.

At the time of her disappearance, June 26, 2009, Lindsey Baum was wearing:

A long sleeve hooded shirt (not sweatshirt) light bluish/gray;
Jeans with knees cut out;
Black slip on American Eagle shoes with white rubber soles (no socks);
Bathing suit under clothes (a red/white/blue striped/polkadotted top with mismatched floral print bottoms).

If you have any information regarding Lindsey Baum, please call the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office at 866-915-8299 [Tip Hotline].

NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN

1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)

McCleary Police Department (Washington) 1-360-533-8765

Family Website: Lindsey Baum

Lindsey Baum and the Belly of the Beast

It's frustrating to have only rumor and probable coincidence to report about missing 11-year-old Lindsey Baum.

Around 9:15 pm on June 26, Lindsey J. Baum, then a 10-year old from the tiny town of McCleary, Washington, disappeared while walking from a friend's house to her home, only four short blocks away. Two of those four blocks are reported to be somewhat industrial -- though we are talking *rural* small town.

One block away is access to a major highway.

She'd just had an argument with her brother, but most everyone notes that she wasn't storming off mad. She didn't have the accoutrements you'd think of when thinking of a runaway -- no money, no cell phone, no change of clothes.

Some friends set out with her, so she was accompanied for a while before they peeled off to go to their own homes for dinner, or homework, a bath or shower, whatever.

Despite an intensive police search including the FBI and high-tech tools, along with frequent weekend searches conducted with volunteers from her hometown -- the case remains unsolved.

Some housekeeping items:

Family, friends and law enforcement officials hope that raising the amount of the reward for information about Lindsey Baum will encourage tips in the case. Currently, the reward money amounts to $10,000. If you would like to help in this effort, donations for the reward can be mailed directly to Sterlings Savings Bank at the following address:

Lindsey Baum Reward Fund
P.O. Box 600
McCleary, WA 98557

[In a formal and highly scientific study, I compared, via bit.ly statistics, the number of (tweeted) hits that two nearly identical statements about Lindsey received. The difference? One statement mentioned the reward, and the other did not. The remark including the monetary reward received approximately 20% more attention. I've conducted the "experiment" three times now, alternating the order of presentation and attempting to publish each statement quickly, one right after the other.]

Yesterday, a local news station, King5.com, updated an earlier story about what one hopes is a terrible coincidence involving Lindsey Baum's relatives:

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Relatives of Lindsey Baum, the McCleary 10*-year-old girl [*11]who vanished in June, called Olympia police last month to report a stranger in their backyard.

The homeowner said the man was crouching beneath the bedroom window of Baum's two female cousins, who are 9 and 12 years old.

Olympia Police said any connection between the two cases is coincidental, but Grays Harbor County investigators have been in touch with Olympia Detectives about the Nov. 13 incident.

Investigators in the Baum case have not identified any suspects in the girl's disappearance.

"It's scary," said Derric, the father of the girls who did not want his last name published. Derric said he and his wife were already nervous about their kids' safety after what happened to his niece.

"It even makes you more cautious about your own children," said Derric.

Olympia police have released a sketch of the suspect from the case in the backyard break-in. Detectives said the man may be responsible for two attempted luring cases in Olympia in November.

On Nov. 10, about eight blocks from the house where the man was seen, a man approached a 10-year-old girl and asked if she needed a ride. She ran home and police were contacted.

On November 24, about two miles from the home, a 9-year-old girl said a stranger asked her if she could help him load groceries into her car. She said no and ran away.

In both incidents, the man was reportedly driving a silver car.

Detectives said the girls did not think the man in the sketch released by police was the man that approached them, but police said it's possible he could be responsible for all three incidents.

When Derric confronted the man in his backyard , he asked what the man was doing. Derric said the man told him he was a building inspector. Derric said when he asked the man for his I.D., the man walked quickly to his car, and drove off. Derric told police the man was driving a silver Mazda.

[NOTE: The video at King5 TV site includes a sketch of the suspect (and the rather remarkable hole in his right ear lobe!)]


I will spare you the explicit details that the "forensic astrologists" have come up with, as well as the conclusions of a witch living in Japan who has been gifted with dreams containing the name of a suspect (or three). It is disconcerting to note the degree of specificity these folks manage to come up with, and how deftly they incorporate real factoids into their fictions. I have found myself with a racing heart, and hope near at hand, while reading their insights -- forgetting that I'm not dealing with people well-grounded in reality. What? Why, yes, I *do* have a slightly pejorative opinion of the occult arts. How ever did you know?

If the belly of the beast interests you, or if you just want to "learn how forensic astrology works and gathers critical details and key actions pertaining to crimes," visit the mentalists at Websleuths. If you are a practitioner, please leave a blank comment to help me understand...

The self-described "Eclectic Wiccan Pagan - Former U.S. Goth - Japanese Language Speaker," goes by the Twitter name of "ren1999 ." S/he also goes by Kira3696 on other sites. S/he coyly announced, back on 16 July: "I am a psychic detective working on the case of Lindsey Baum. No really. Did you know that about me?"

Ren1999 has deleted this tweet from 3 October, in which a suspect is identified. Soon thereafter, I believe, something was said about a vehicle, but I failed to copy that communication.

D*le Allen Walt*rs G*lder. His online nickname may be "Alice Waters" and possibly indicates he posted to missing Lindsey Baum's website.

Ren/Kira frequents the Wicca Online Community, where he has his own page with a profile name of "Jon Tomas." There, Ren/Kira has the assistance of one "Lady Ella HPS" and sidekicks "Catt" and "Pat P 53" -- who join in discussions about Lindsey in one of their forums.

I am not sure how {whistle::whistle}, but investigators are well aware of this individual. Of course, it is barbaric, the pain this sort of thing is causing for Lindsey's parents, family, and friends, not to mention the amount of time law enforcement has to waste in investigating these "findings" -- and their "finders." Because, of course, one's initial impulse is to wonder if these psychic sleuthes might not include the actual kidnapper, who is enjoying a bit of Twisted Sport.

Lady Ella, on 15 July:
MM A ten year old girl has been missing for over two weeks in McCleary Washington. I have gotten some visons about the situation, and they are being acknowleged, however we all got together for Purple Owl and had great results. Everyones help is needed desparately. do you think that we could put our differences aside amd do a spell to help find her, this has Nothing to do with me, but a child. Please soften your hearts and help find her ..............Blessed BE, The Lady Ella

Catt answers: Do they have anything to go on? Did anyone see anything. The more information I have the better. We could do a spell very like the one we did for Purple Owl. Does everyone remember what we did? You can go look at the discussion called Bring a Rapist to Justice. We just need to change the who and it will work the same. Do you think she is still alive? Do you think she was kidnapped or is she lost? I'll be happy to help.

Lady Ella ramps things up with: MM Appearently she left her friends house sometime after 9 pm and had to walk 4 blocks to her home, alone......She never made it home..........In my visions I saw an older model white van, the type with the doors on the back,,,,,,,,,,I saw woods and then I saw a body of water with a bridge spaning it.......Here's the best part, I saw a white male in his 30's, his head was shaved and he had a goatee. The shirt that he was wearing had the sleeves cut off. I can see his face a clear as day and could pick him out of a line-up or photo. Sadly, I don't think that the little girl is still alive. I also feel that this monster is known by the family...............This is all that I have gotten so far but I'll let you know if more should come to me. Thank You very much . Blessed Be, The Lady Ella

Anyway, it goes on. And on.

Ren/Kira fuels the fire, and soon the visions and suspects are, blessed be, practically climbing out of the woodwork. I confess to being especially defensive about ren1999's invocation of "Alice Waters," as I am a longtime fan of the lady, and her food!

In fact, let us pause in the abundance of our lives, and dégustons today's menu at Chez Panisse:

Saturday, December 12
An apéritif
Warm spiny lobster salad with cardoons and artichokes
Monterey Bay squid ragout pasta with zinfandel and leeks
Grilled rack, loin, and leg of James Ranch lamb in zinfandel sauce with roasted vegetables
and braised endives and greens
Meyer lemon soufflé

There is much more nonsense out there than I can stomach, and to have it be associated with the task of finding missing children makes it especially odious. Each time I post an "update," I make myself revisit these urchins, and sometimes find new visionaries and charlatans, all the while wondering if Lindsey Baum could even begin to fathom herself as the lead topic in the "Crones and Elders" section of an online Wiccan Community, Please note, I've nothing against wicca. I'm sure to have mentioned at some point that The Fredster is a druid, no?

Still? Seeing just some of the weirdness out there, I worry about an important but small detail escaping notice.

What kind of monster took Lindsey? And do I have the right to denigrate anyone who is working against him? I need to go back and leave my overly-developed ego at the door.

New Search Warrant Served: Lindsey Baum UPDATE

I don't know whether this means progress in the case of missing child Lindsey Baum, but it is heartening to find such a good article at this point in time, after months of silence about her.  Just renewing the information is a positive event -- Someone who has not yet heard the details may now have their memory jogged, may know something.

Thank you, Sky Valley Chronicle, for the update and the comprehensive summation.

If you have any information regarding Lindsey Baum,

please call the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office

at 866-915-8299 [Tip Hotline].

NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN

1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)

McCleary Police Department (Washington) 1-360-533-8765

Or simply call 911.

NEW SEARCH WARRANT SERVED IN BAFFLING CASE OF MISSING McCLEARY GIRL October 19, 2011

(McCLEARY, WA) -- FBI officers along with Grays Harbor County sheriff's deputies served a search warrant Tuesday on a McCleary, Washington jewelry store in the continuing search for missing Lindsay Baum.

Detectives searched Hartman's Jewelry and Repair located at 133 South 4th Street in McCleary – the same street in McCleary where then 10-year old Lindsay mysteriously vanished on June 26, 2009. while walking home from a friend’s house.

It was a route just a few blocks from home she had taken many times before.

Detectives also searched the store owners' residence, which is located outside of McCleary.

This latest search is one of many that officials have conducted in the ongoing investigation. 


In June of 2010, one year after Lindsay vanished, sheriff's deputies and FBI agents spent several hours searching a McCleary home in the 100 block of Fir street and an Easy Storage locker in the same community as part of the ongoing investigation.

It has not been disclosed what, if anything, investigators found at either location that might pertain to the missing girl.

The Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s office sought and obtained search warrants to go through both locations during June 2010, which are connected they said, to a person of interest in the investigation.

Local television broadcast reports at that time said the person of interest in the searches was a 47-year-old man who lives at the home that was searched and who shares the storage unit with the home's owners.

The reports said the man is someone investigators spoke to in the days following Baum's disappearance and that he lives one block off the route she would have been walking to get to her house.

Lindsay was just a few weeks shy of her eleventh birthday on July 7th, when she disappeared in the daylight June 26, 2009 while walking a few blocks from a friend’s house to her own home.

By February of 2010 investigators said they had received more than 1,200 tips in the case but at that time had no solid leads. Numerous searches for the girl in a variety of locations turned up nothing.

In late June of 2010 the FBI released a new video (SEE THE VIDEO BELOW) in hopes it might result in new leads in the investigation.

The video clips are from a Shell-Mart gas station in McCleary. They were recorded at approximately 9:30 p.m. on June 26, 2009 — right about the time Lindsay went missing.

The footage shows a man dressed in a brown shirt, black shorts and a Mariners cap, accompanied by a young boy, walking into the gas station and later leaving. It also shows the newer-model white Honda Ridgeline truck the man was driving. 

Both the man and the boy could be important witnesses regarding the disappearance because they were in the vicinity when Lindsay went missing.

The FBI says the man and boy may not be from McCleary. They could have simply been passing through on that evening. If you believe you recognize the man shown — or if you are this individual — you are asked to contact your nearest FBI office as soon as possible.

The FBI, along with the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Department and other local and state law enforcement partners, continues to work all existing and new leads in this case. If you have any information about the disappearance of Lindsey Baum, please contact your local FBI office.

ANOTHER VIDEO

On June 3, 2010, also in the hope it might generate some new clues and tips to Lindsay’s disappearance, police investigators in McCleary released the video below of Lindsay Baum that was filmed about eight months before she vanished.



The video was provided to the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Department by a neighborhood family whose child, the young boy, is seen in the video with Lindsey.

In the video the kids are seen play-acting a skit they created and was videotaped by the parent.

The video was made on or about November of 2008 and shows what Lindsey looked like about eight months before her disappearance.

The purpose of the video is to show Lindsey’s likeness in full motion, her movements, mannerisms and voice, so that anyone who sees Lindsey may be able to more easily identify who she is.

There is a website dedicated to finding Lindsay Baum: http://www.findlindseybaum.com/

Simple, Brilliant Innovation: Still Looking for Lindsey Baum

KIROtv.com published this article two days ago,  and in the very simplicity of the project lies its brilliance.  It seems like a wonderful idea to be taken nationwide, worldwide, in the search for missing persons.

PACIFIC, Wash. — On Wednesday, aged-progressed posters of missing child Lindsey Baum will be added to Gordon Trucking trailers as part of the Washington State Patrol's Homeward Bound Program.
Baum was last seen on June 26, 2009, in McCleary.   She was 10 when she disappeared.

Posters of Baum have been traveling around the country on 10 Gordon Trucking trailers since 2010.
Members of Lindsey Baum’s family will be at the event at Gordon Trucking.

An age-progressed photo of Baum was created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children last summer.

Anyone with information about the disappearance of Lindsey Baum should call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tip line at 1-800-THE-LOST.

More information about the Homeward Bound program can be found here  and a gallery of Washington State's Missing Children can be found at this link.

*Possible* Lead in the Lindsey Baum Case

Lindsey Baum, 2009

An Aberdeen, Washington, man who worked for a non-profit that assisted children, “The Gregorian Group," has been arrested "on suspicion of multiple child rapes and molestations."

Gregory Brian Johnson will also be investigated for any ties to the disappearance of Lindsey Baum, last seen in nearby McCleary in June 2009.  She would now be sixteen. Gregory Johnson lived in McCleary at the time Lindsey went missing.

The following information comes from KIROTV.com:

MONTESANO, Wash. — Gregory Brian Johnson, 48, who heads an Aberdeen nonprofit organization that works with children, has been arrested on suspicion of multiple child rapes and molestations.
On Tuesday, the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office told KIRO 7 it will investigate whether Johnson could have had anything to do with the 2009 disappearance of Lindsey Baum, who lived in nearby McCleary.
A department spokesman said that’s standard practice whenever someone in Grays Harbor County is suspected of abusing young girls.
Johnson was arrested on Halloween after a now-23-year-old woman told Aberdeen police that Johnson had repeatedly raped and molested her from the time she was 9 years old.  Sgt. Art Laur said the woman agreed to wear a recording device and got Johnson to admit “to some of the statements she told us about what happened to her.”
The woman's 11-year-old half-brother also told police Johnson molested him from the time he was 4.
While the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office investigates a possible connection to the Baum case, Aberdeen police are investigating whether Johnson may have abused any of the children he came in contact with through his nonprofit organization.  “The Gregorian Group” operated out of a downtown Aberdeen office building and offered young people a place to hang out, and coordinated hiking and camping outings, according to its Facebook page.  That office is now closed.
Johnson remains behind bars at the Grays Harbor County Jail in Montesano.

Although I've not posted about Lindsey lately, I check every week for reliable news on her case, and there has been nothing but the various odd psychic insights and the heartrending prayers for her not to be forgotten.  This is the first solid bit of information in years, and even this is a stretch.  Yet, the feeling has always been that the perpetrator would turn out to be a "local," and a serial violator.

Way back in July 2009, the first post on this blog about missing child Lindsey gave these details, and there has been precious little to add in the five years since:

Around 9:15 pm on June 26, Lindsey J. Baum, an 11-year old from the tiny town of McCleary, Washington, disappeared while walking from a friend's house to her home, only four short blocks away.
She just had an argument with her brother, but most everyone notes that she wasn't storming off mad. She didn't have the accoutrements you'd think of when thinking of a runaway -- no money, no cell phone, no change of clothes.
Some friends set out with her, so she was accompanied for a while before they peeled off to go to their own homes for dinner, or homework, a bath or shower, whatever.
Two of those four blocks are reported to be somewhat industrial -- though we are talking *rural* small town. One block away is access to a major highway.
As any child would be, Lindsey was troubled by her parents' recent divorce. Her father lives in Tennessee... [He served a tour in Iraq shortly after her abduction, and I'm not sure where he lives now.  Lindsey's mother and brother have relocated but remain near McCleary.]

Lindsey, as depicted through "age progression" technology

To read all posts concerning Lindsey Baum published on this blog, click HERE.



© 2013 L. Ryan

Vanished With Beth Holloway: Lindsey Baum

In the final show of its first season, Vanished With Beth Holloway will feature the case of missing child Lindsey Baum.  Episode 10, "Baum; Hill" airs tomorrow night, Monday, July 25, 2001 on LIFE at 11 pm

Sadly, the TV Guide synopsis manages to accurately sum up all we know about Lindsey's disappearance, despite two years of searches, interviews, and thorough investigation:   [She is] a girl who disappeared while returning home from a friend's house.

Lindsey Baum turned 13 on July 7.  It's important to keep in mind the considerable changes in appearance that can happen, not just in the course of any two years, but in the course of these years, in particular.  Lindsey was just 10 when she disappeared on her way home from a friend's house on June 26, 2009 in the small and seemingly untroubled town of McCleary, Washington.

A $35,000.00 reward continues to be offered for information leading to her return.

At a gathering marking her birthday, Grays Harbor County Sheriff Mike Wheelan said: "We still have full time people devoted to it, the FBI still has full time people devoted to it. We have not given up, and this case has not gone cold, and we're going to continue working it."

Grays Harbor County Information Hot-line (Tip line) (866) 915-8299

CUE Center For Missing Persons -24 Hour Tip Line ( 910) 232-1687

You may leave a confidential tip HERE, at Help Find Lindsey Baum.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN

1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)

McCleary Police Department (Washington) 1-360-533-8765
Or simply call 911.

To read all posts from this blog relating to Lindsey Baum, click HERE.

Another Person of Interest

Any news about missing child Lindsey Baum's case seems important, but it is worth noting that the Grays Harbor Sheriff's Office is downplaying this recent development reported by ABC News below, and reported on local King5 News, above:

Investigators Looking for Lindsey Baum
Search Man's House, Storage Unit

Inconsistencies Spur New Search, but Still No Suspects

Authorities have conducted two new searches related to the disappearance of Lindsey Baum, who was 10 years old when she vanished June 26, 2009, while walking home from a friend's house in McCleary, Wash.

Investigators with the Grays Harbor Sheriff's Office and the FBI grew suspicious after they found inconsistencies in information provided a year ago by a 47-year-old man, whose name they will not release.

Some of the man's account failed to match other information the investigators had obtained independently, Grays Harbor Undersherriff Rick Scott told ABCNews.com.

"We found that what we were being told and what we now believed to be true were two different things," Scott said. "Those inconsistencies gave birth to some concerns that we needed to explore further."

The Sheriff's Office obtained search warrants and carried out searches on the man's residence and a shared storage unit Tuesday, seizing some items and speaking to the man at length.

Investigators planned to search his car this morning.

Scott downplayed the new search, emphasizing that this man was one of many persons of interest in the case and has not become a suspect.

"A lot of what we were concerned about has been somewhat explained," Scott said.

"We found nothing yesterday that clearly links him to Lindsey's disappearance.

"We've looked at over 4,000 leads so far," Scott said. "Even if it eliminates someone from further scrutiny, it's a step in the right direction."

Investigators will submit the items they seized from the man's residence and storage unit for forensic testing, but Scott said it may be some time before they learn anything.... [cont.]

June 26, 2010 marked the one-year anniversary of the disappearance of 12-year-old Lindsey J. Baum from her hometown of McCleary, Washington -- and another birthday. To read all posts from this blog about Lindsey, click here.

If you have any information regarding Lindsey Baum, please call the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office at 866-915-8299 [Tip Hotline].

NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN
1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)
McCleary Police Department (Washington) 1-360-533-8765
Family Website: Lindsey Baum

Lindsey J. Baum: Watching, Looking, Waiting

Nothing new about Lindsey J. Baum.

You can access an FBI flyer here.

KOMONews published this story on 12 September 2009:

VOLUNTEERS WON'T GIVE UP ON LINDSEY BAUM
Sep 12, 2009
By Joel Moreno

MCCLEARY, Wash. - Months of disappointments haven't sapped the strength of a search effort for a missing McCleary girl.

Lindsay Baum disappeared 11 weeks ago - and despite a lack of clues, volunteers won't stop looking.

It's slow going, poking through the brush - but volunteers say it's worth any effort to find a clue to Lindsey's disappearance.

"Well, we're looking for anything that's, well, perhaps out of the ordinary," says volunteer Dick Hall. That could be a scrap of clothing, a bit of trash - or anything - to show whether someone has been in a given area.

In 2 1/2 months of searching, nothing has turned up that ties back to the missing girl. But that doesn't stop volunteers from trying.

They were back out again on Saturday, combing through the thick brush.

"This morning we had people standing in line just to register," says Lindsey's mother, Melissa Baum.

She is coordinating this latest effort, with help from the biker club "Guardians of the Children" and a second group called "Helping Heroes Productions."

"I truly believe my daughter's alive and that we're going to bring her home," Melissa says. "I just hope whoever has her would just let her go, let her come home where she's loved and where she's wanted."

Lindsey disappeared on the evening of June 26 while walking home from a friend's house.

Police are stumped.

McCleary is a small town, but there is a lot of open ground and wooded areas for searchers to cover. Volunteers though, say there is strength in numbers.

"Maybe with as many eyes as we have, we'll discover something," says Hall.

Searchers are looking for a miracle - and stories like the California woman who resurfaced 18 years after being kidnapped gives them a reason to go on.

"It gives me hope because it's saying after 18 years, surely probably mostly everybody had given up," says Hall.

Adds Melissa Baum: "It scares me because I just can't imagine the next months - let alone years - of not knowing where my daughter is."

The search resumes Sunday - and people are encouraged to help.

A reward of $10,000 has been offered in this case. You can check for the latest updates on Lindsey at this website.

Searching for Lindsey Baum: New Eyes

Again, there is no new hard news in the search to find missing Lindsey Baum, now 12, who disappeared from her hometown of McCleary, Washington, on June 26, 2009.

Efforts at searching the local area continue, however, and now that effort will be augmented by hunters and other "outdoors folk."

The Center for Missing Persons, a subset of Community United Effort (CUE), is an organization headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina.

The non profit, all volunteer group is asking for area hunters to adopt a piece of land and or property that they are familiar with or hunt on regularly to search for missing Lindsey Baum; registration will begin on January 10, 2011 and run throughout the month. Hunters may call in directly to the center at (910) 232-1687 anytime or visit CUE on the web at http://www.ncmissingpersons.org and click on “The Hunt” where they can enter and submit information (registration form below); during the effort a map will go up coloring in areas that have been adopted. “We are also extending invitations to forestry,hunting clubs and park personnel as well as land owners in the concerned areas of focus”.



Areas this effort will concentrate on will be the McCleary town itself and 15 miles radius of each direction leaving the place Lindsey was last seen. These areas consist of the following:


McCleary Focus Area


• North – The National Olympic Forest


• South – Malone-Porter


• South East – The Capitol Forest


• East – Shelton


• West – Elma & Grays Harbor County

There is a $30,000.00 dollar reward for Lindsey safe return and further details can be located about the case and the reward at her official web sites created for her where tipsters can remain anonymous at www.findlindseybaum.com or helpfindlindseybaum.com.


If anyone has information on the direct location or concerning this missing child case please contact the Grays Harbor County Information Hot-line (Tip line) (866) 915-8299...

If you have any information regarding Lindsey Baum, please call the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office at 866-915-8299 [Tip Hotline].

NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN

1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)

McCleary Police Department (Washington) 1-360-533-8765

Family Website: Lindsey Baum

To print Lindsey Missing Poster, go HERE.
To print The Hunt For Lindsey Baum CUE Poster, go HERE.

Lindsey Baum: One Year Missing

Last July 20, I wrote my first blog post about missing 11-year old Lindsey Baum:

Around 9:15 pm on June 26, Lindsey J. Baum, an 11-year old from the tiny town of McCleary, Washington, disappeared while walking from a friend's house to her home, only four short blocks away.

She just had an argument with her brother, but most everyone notes that she wasn't storming off mad. She didn't have the accoutrements you'd think of when thinking of a runaway -- no money, no cell phone, no change of clothes.

Some friends set out with her, so she was accompanied for a while before they peeled off to go to their own homes for dinner, or homework, a bath or shower, whatever.

Two of those four blocks are reported to be somewhat industrial -- though we are talking *rural* small town. One block away is access to a major highway.

As any child would be, Lindsey was troubled by her parents' recent divorce. Her father lives in Tennessee. This detail is the one I have to shrug off -- in my family, similar circumstances played a role in my eldest brother's decision to run away. But he was a savvy teenager, a world traveler; Lindsey just turned 11 (a grand birthday celebration surely awaits her), and only knows McCleary.

Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of her disappearance. There have been no sightings, no productive new information, and in this age of information and its technology, that is almost unheard of. Indeed, I would have thought it impossible that in the span of a year, there are no leads to proffer, no tantalizing tidbits to ponder and inspect.

I have wondered, even, what the significance might be of such a complete absence of clues. Unfortunately, to follow that path means to go crazy with notions of vast conspiracy. Fortunately, there is no lack of volunteers willing to go nuts by noting such things as the disturbing habit of such-and-such Youth Minister to be surrounded by... youth. (It only gets worse. A local park ranger, who was identified, not from some actual association with Lindsey, but by a psychic who dreamed his initials had the gall to own a supremely suspicious... boat.

I do not imply that nothing has been done -- not at all. Far from it.

There have been frequent searches, interviews and re-interviews (and amateur sleuthes have had a field day inventing all sorts of suspicious people). A substantial reward has been offered. The FBI is on the case, Interpol has been alerted, and the local Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office has worked long and hard, and will continue to do so.

Rather than mark tomorrow's anniversary by failure and lack, Lindsey's mother Melissa has helped organize an event called a Day of Hope:

McCLEARY, Wash. (CBS/AP) A "day of hope" will be observed Saturday in an Olympia park on the one-year anniversary of Lindsey Baum's disappearance.

Police are still looking for possible leads in the case and hope that they will one day be able to determine what happened to Lindsey, who was 10-years-old when she went missing on June 26, 2009 while walking home from a friend's house in McCleary, Wash.,west of Olympia.

During the observance, called "Lindsey's Day of Hope and Awareness for the Missing," balloons will be released for Lindsey and all of the other missing persons of Washington state, reports The News Tribune. It will take place from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Olympia's Heritage Park.

Previously, police have enlisted the help of the FBI, bloodhounds, and searchers on horseback, but there have been no signs of the missing 4-foot-9-inch, 80 pound girl.

Melissa Baum, Lindsey's mother, says that her daughter was upset by the recent divorce of her parents, but says Lindsey did not have enough money to run away, nor had she ever tried to run away in the past.

After nearly a year of searching, her mother fears the worst.

The search for Lindsey continues, and authorities are offering a $25,000 reward for information regarding the young girl's whereabouts, as well as information leading to the arrest of and charges against the person or people responsible for her disappearance.

If you have any information regarding Missing Child Lindsey Baum, please call the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office at 866-915-8299.

I finished my first post about Lindsey by explaining how I'd heard of her. SecretWave101 was bothered, early on, by the scant attention being paid this dear child. Full of vim and vinegar, I vowed to follow the case, and publicize it here. I stand by that promise, even knowing now how little help this actually is.

I learned about her over at Dr. SecretWave101's blog. He notes what many of us have seen in our own communities: How legwork and media savvy are manditory to keep the faces and stories of our stolen children front and center in the public's view.

He notes other stuff, too -- having to do with the privilege of stereotype and the insidious mechanisms by which missing and exploited children receive airplay.

Research Lindsey's story and retell it on your own blog -- or where you will. You're likely more creative than I am -- the point is to disseminate, remind, encourage. Yes, and annoy, I suppose, if that should become necessary. (It's de rigueur here at Marlinspike Hall, deep, deep in the Tête de Hergé!)

To see all posts about Lindsey, click here.

Have You Seen Lindsey Baum?

All previous blog posts about missing child Lindsey Baum

There is no news about missing child Lindsey Baum but I've been remiss at keeping her name and face fresh here... The following is taken from the initial page of the Official Website for Missing Child Lindsey Baum.

At *this* moment, it has been 1290 Days, 16 Hours, 36 Minutes, and 31 Seconds since her abduction.


Lindsey Jo Baum 

Missing Since: 06/26/09
Missing From: McCleary, WA
Classification: Endangered Missing
Age at Disappearance: 10
Date Of Birth: 07/07/98
Height: 4’10
Weight: 90 lbs
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown/Dark Blonde
Colored fillings in her teeth
Clothing: long sleeve hooded shirt (not sweatshirt) light bluish/gray, jeans with knees cut out, black slip on american eagle shoes with white rubber soles, no socks. bathing suit under clothes red/white/blue in color for both pieces but mismatched bottoms a floral print, top stripes and polka dots.

Details of Disappearance:

Lindsey disappeared on June 26,2009 while walking home [from a friend's home] in McCleary, WA at about 9:30 in the evening. This was one of the longest days of the year and didn’t get dark until around 10:30 that night. It was still daylight out as she left for the short 5-10 minute walk home.

She never made it home that night.

Who to Contact with Information:
Grays Harbor County Information Hot-line (Tip line) (866) 915-8299, Email: soadmin@co.grays-harbor.wa.us or you may submit a tip via the contact us link on Lindsey’s Official website and the information will be passed on to the Law Enforcement officials working Lindsey’s case.
[OR DIAL 911]

LINDSEY BAUM: december update

There is no hard news to report on missing child Lindsey Baum, who disappeared June 26, 2009, from her small hometown of McCleary, Washington. She is now twelve years old. 

Local law enforcement, volunteers, the FBI, and Interpol -- all continue to publicize her case, and to search.  There is a $30,000 award being offered to information leading to her recovery.

Shonya Kay (username shonyakay at YouTube) is doing a marvelous job turning out well made videos that both move and keep the various stories alive, without sacrificing the factual evidence that will be what ultimately solves these cases. Drop by her YouTube channel and see the magnificent work she has done.

You can read everything that has appeared on this blog about Lindsey J. Baum, by clicking HERE.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Lindsey's Mom, Dad, and brother -- as well as to all who are searching and working for her return home. 

If you have any information regarding Lindsey Baum, please call the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office at 866-915-8299 [Tip Hotline].

NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN

1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)

McCleary Police Department (Washington) 1-360-533-8765

Family Website: Lindsey Baum

Update on Missing Child: Lindsey Baum

As is usual, I come away confused by the latest articles, posts, and messages about Lindsey Baum, the 11 year old girl missing from McCleary, Washington, since June 26, 2009 -- abducted, it appears, on her short walk home in what was then a peaceful, naive, and quiet town.

In what I *think* is a typographical error, one news source announced that the reward grew to $120,000. The last I heard, just a few weeks ago, it was $20,000.

Now... $120,000 sounds grand, and let's just run with it! [I haven't yet blogged about my opinion of someone driven by monetary gain in this matter, have I?]

Lindsey J. Baum's case was featured on Nightline Tuesday night. The emphasis was on the techniques employed by the FBI's Child Abduction Rapid Deployment (CARD) team -- from interviewing residents and developing profiles to investigating the whereabouts and activities of area sex offenders. The associated ABC News article can be found here.

I recently declared that I would not contribute to the burgeoning use of expressions employing the word "disconnect" as a noun.

There is a real disconnect between what the ABC News show and articles put forward, in terms of the FBI's activity in McCleary, Washington, and the information more locally sourced.

Even so, I will dutifully report that in the wake of this coverage, 12 people have become persons of interest in the case, 2 of whom are apparently of considerable interest.

The best summation of what appears to be a stalled investigation, despite the FBI's special team antics?

"Somebody saw something and somebody suspects something," said Melissa Baum [Lindsey's mother]. "Somebody knows something and they're not coming forward. I think that's my greatest frustration through this all is, I know there's somebody out there and for whatever reason, they're not sharing whatever information that they have."

Once upon a time, not so long ago, I would never have believed that someone could withhold information about a missing child. Of course, I never thought anyone would reach my blog by typing this into their search engine, either:

I know what happened to Lindsey Baum...

Earlier posts about Lindsey on this blog can be found here.

Lindsey Baum, This Friday

Okay, so the beans were delicious.  The fish was also good, though I surprised myself by doing an olive oil poach.  Robotic cooking.

It's been bugging me that I no longer do weekly updates about Lindsey Baum.  I think of her every day.  Most days.  Often.

I thought it would be over by now.  I have been ready to move on.

Fridays are for clean-up in my world.  The house, the blog, occasionally the heart.  I dutifully plug in "Lindsey Baum" and instruct my search engine to give me the latest news, maybe even just what's been written in the last 24 hours.

[There are days when I suddenly get a whole bunch of hits about Lindsey and I rush to the news outlets, knowing that she's been found... only to find that the sudden spike in interest is as inexplicable as anything else.]

This evening I found something resonant, out of Olympia, Washington, from Sarah's Blog, maintained at OlyBlog.net * (We are the media...).

First you hear the choppers (Where is Lindsey Baum?)
Mon, 02/21/2011 - 1:34pm — Sarah

First you hear the choppers. They don't sound right, they don't sound like the usual medevac to and from the local hospital. You figure out you are hearing at least one circling helicopter and you step outside.


This is loud. They, there is more than one, are flying low. Looks like media. Something is happening.


Have they found Lindsey? This is what you think. It has been days, months, over a year now since she went missing and maybe they found her. Maybe there is a search warrant being served. Maybe an arrest. Or maybe it is something else. But no, this is probably about Lindsey.


Now it is time for info share. Phone calls, web forums checked, information shared. Rumors fly and you work to mine flakes of possible truth from all the mud.

Next time, next chopper, next buzz of electricity flying through the town. You start walking and find yourself across the street as a search warrant is processed, watching the authorities and the media and the townspeople just like you watching everything and each other.

TV news wants to talk with you, with anyone, and hey! you recognize the guy from channel whatever news. But you decline. While watching a guy who is out on his lawn chair watching the scene. Maybe next time you will bring a lawn chair. Not that any of us are relaxed about this. It's just that some of us can't physically stand and watch without quickly becoming exhausted. Which is a great metaphor or something because really.............we can't stand this. We can't handle this. This is so utterly entirely wrong that Lindsey Baum is gone.  [Read the rest HERE.]

* OlyBlog.net is a community collaboration:
"OlyBlog is devoted to citizen journalism, including hyperlocal news and discussion specifically about Olympia, Washington. If you care about this community and are tired of corporate media, then this is the place for you."

To read the various entries from elle est belle la seine la seine elle est belle about Lindsey, click HERE.