Zahra Baker's Mother Hoping Father Wasn't Involved in Her Death
Adam Baker is facing unrelated charges; girl's stepmother led police to remains.
Nov. 14, 2010— -- The mother of 10-year-old Zahra Baker, the disabled girl whose remains were found last week after a month-long search, said today she is trying to believe the girl's father was not involved in her death.
"I have to take a step back and think of the possibility that maybe Adam [Baker] wasn't involved and maybe he is hurting as well," Emily Dietrich told the Australia-based Seven Network.
Dietrich, who lives in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, had given Baker custody of Zahra when she suffered post-natal depression. She told the television station she hadn't seen her daughter since the girl was 8 months old and didn't now that Baker had taken her to the United States until days before she was reported missing, Oct. 9.
"I can't explain the anger, the hurt," she said. "He had no right to do any of it, to keep her from me."
Baker, 33, is free on bail after being arrested on charges unrelated to Zahra's disappearance.
His American wife, Elisa Baker, is in jail on a charge of obstruction of justice in the case. Police said she led them to the area where they eventually found Zahra's remains last week.
Police said they definitely believed the body was Zahra.
"It is with great regret that I stand before you today," Hickory, N.C., Police Chief Tom Adkins said Friday before pausing and taking a breath to continue. "I've been dreading this moment [since] early on in this investigation. As investigators we are trained to follow leads, but never give up the hope the evidence may take us in the wrong direction and the outcome may be different...
"We have recovered enough physical evidence to believe we have found Zahra," he said.
The disabled girl's remains were discovered during a search in Caldwell County, N.C., where the Baker family previously lived. Police had looked through the area earlier while accompanied by Zahra's stepmother, Elisa Baker.
Dietrich flew to North Carolina from her home in Australia Thursday before the announcement. She visited the Hickory, N.C., house where Zahra had been living with Baker and her stepmother.
Related Stories
ABC News Live