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Ground Search Suspended For Missing McCleary Girl

Search Intensifies Into Her Online History

Posted: 6:21 pm PDT July 2, 2009Updated: 3:05 pm PDT July 6, 2009

The ground search for a missing Grays Harbor County girl has been suspended, but the search into her Internet history is intensifying.

Lindsey Baum, 10, disappeared June 26 while walking home from a friend’s house and there has been no sign of her since.

Police are now checking entries in her MySpace page and doing a forensic analysis of her computer looking for new clues.

They found an entry from Lindsey a month ago saying, "I've been getting a lot of nightmares lately and I have this bad feeling that something bads gonna happen.”

“That's why we're having the computer looked at now forensically to see if there's any other information that may have been deleted or in some other file we didn't access," said Rick Scott of Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office.

The initial analysis shows no evidence Lindsey communicated with anyone online that may have been involved in her disappearance.

"This is a really rough day today. It's getting worse every day," said Lindsey’s mother, Melissa Baum.

Lindsey's mom now thinks it's likely she was taken by someone she knew because she would have fought a stranger.

"She would have clawed them. She would have screamed, somebody would have heard something," Melissa Baum said.

Lindsey’s father, Scott Baum, lives in Tennessee and has been trying to come to McCleary, but is getting ready to deploy to Iraq. On Wednesday, he said he feel helpless, but knows the police are doing all they can.

"Right now, I'm just praying that she's found and she's found safe," Lindsey’s father said.

"I'll never give up. I know she'll come home, it's a matter of when and obviously the sooner the better. I know she's gonna come home,” Melissa Baum said.

Police, crews and volunteers have searched landfills, Dumpsters, creeks and conducted numerous ground searches, but have found no sign of Lindsey. The Mason County Sheriff’s Office is also questioning sex offenders about her disappearance.

Meanwhile, volunteers continue to hand out fliers in an effort to generate tips and keep spreading the word.

Police are asking people to get their facts from the police or media and to not flood the tip line after rumors about the case started circulating overnight.

Three billboards went up Thursday across Western Washington asking for the public’s help with this case.

Lindsey is 4 foot-9, 80 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, last seen wearing a light blue hooded pullover shirt and blue jeans.

Anyone with information about Lindsey’s disappearance should call the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office at 1-866-915-8299 or send an e-mail to: soadmin@co.grays-harbor.wa.us.