Mother of Zahra Baker speaks out

The mother of Australian girl Zahra Baker says she fears her daughter, who has been
missing from her US home for nearly a month, is dead.
Emily Dietrich, of Wagga Wagga in southwestern NSW, has spoken publicly for the
first time since her daughter's disappearance in North Carolina on October 9.
Local police believe she has been murdered, and her Australian father Adam Baker and
his American wife Elisa Baker have not been ruled out as suspects.
"I don't feel it," she told the Seven Network when asked if she thought Zahra was
still alive.
"I think having any hope in me makes it hurts more, with what their finding and the
way they're saying she was treated."
Ms Dietrich had postnatal depression after Zahra was born and Adam Baker was given
custody, but she said she had been fighting for her share of custody of Zahra for
nine years.
She had used the internet to track down her daughter in the US three days before she
went missing.
"I never got to say goodbye, I never got to say hello," a distressed Ms Dietrich said.
"Why would it happen that I would find her and three days later this would happen."
Police believe Zahra, who lost a leg to cancer, may have met with foul play weeks
before she was reported missing on October 9.
Elisa Baker, 42, who met Adam Baker on the internet, is in custody for allegedly
writing a bogus ransom note several hours before police were alerted that the child
was missing
Police have also found Zahra's prosthetic leg near where her stepmother once lived.
"I don't want them to find more because it will tell the story I don't want to hear
but I want them to find more so we can out an end," Ms Dietrich said.
"I can't explain the anger, the hurt.
"He made no right to do any of it, to keep her from me."
Investigators are continuing to check wooded areas and illegal dump areas for Zahra.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This email is intended for the use of the addressee only. If you receive this email
in error, please delete it immediately. This email may contain information which is
confidential and/or legally privileged. You must not use or disclose the contents of
this email, or add the sender's email address to any database, list or mailing list
unless you are expressly authorised to do so. The statements or views expressed in
this email are those of the individual sender and are not those of Australian
Associated Press Pty Ltd (AAP). These statements are not binding on AAP, except
where the sender expressly and with authority, states them to be. AAP is unable to
review the contents of all the email on its system. To the extent permitted by law,
AAP disclaims all liability for any loss or damage caused by the contents of this
email. www.aap.com.au