Search Continues For Missing Chipley Baby
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Updated: 8:54 PM Nov 2, 2009
Search Continues For Missing Chipley Baby
Authorities are continuing their search for a missing Chipley girl. 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick disappeared from her parents home on Brown Street on Saturday morning. Several agencies have joined in the search efforts, which has continued around-the-clock.
Posted: 6:43 PM Nov 2, 2009
Reporter: Vanessa Nguyen
Email Address: vanessa.nguyen@wjhg.com
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Authorities are continuing their search for a missing Chipley girl.
7-month-old Shannon Dedrick disappeared from her parents home on Brown Street on Saturday morning.
Several agencies have joined in the search efforts, which has continued around-the-clock.
Authorities are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.

Search and rescue teams scoured several areas near the Dedricks home on Brown Street, checking abandoned homes, wooded areas and trash bins on Tuesday.
"The ground search is the primary, we have dumpster dove every dumpster in the city limits of Chipley, we have turned over every garbage can and taken it apart in that area and any leads we might get that lead us in the city limits of Chipley and Washington County we're following up on," says Washington County Sheriff Bobby Haddock.
Authorities say 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick disappeared between the hours of 3am to 11am on Saturday morning.
They say she was last seen in the custody of her parents at their Brown Street home in Chipley.
Lisa Blaylock and Tanya Wilt live next to the Dedricks and recall how Shannon's mother first approached them about her disappearance.
"She's like 'have you guys seen anybody pull in our driveway today?'"
"We're like, 'no, why?'"
"Cause my baby's missing...at first we thought it was a joke but just as plain as I'm saying it to you, just 'my baby's missing.'"
Both women say Shannon's father was very upset about her disappearance but the mother didn't seem to be.
"Very happy baby, never cried, they've lived there two months, we've never heard the baby cry on time. It's just very sad, very, very sad."
There are reports that the mother allegedly confessed to killing the baby and burying her in the woods near a landfill.
But authorities won't confirm those stories.
"We're not going to go into specifics about what she may or may not have said or not said but we're not doing any digging at the old landfill. The old landfill now is being a staging area for the ground teams."
Authorities say they do have a person of suspicion but would not elaborate on any details or if Shannon was abducted.
"We're not ruling that out but at this time, we don't have that indicator that we have an abduction. But we can't say that we're positive that's not happened."
Haddock also refused to comment on whether or not he believed Shannon was still alive, only saying they are hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.
And so are her neighbors.
"I just hope she's alive."
"That's our only hope. Before it was for the parents' comfort, now we just hope the baby's ok."

Shannon Dedrick is about 24 inches tall and weighs about 11 pounds.
If you have any information about this case, please contact the Washington County Sheriff's Office at (850)-638-6111.


Latest Comments

Posted by: jb TRruth Location: pc on Nov 5, 2009 at 06:44 AM

Everybody's life is precious. Doesnt matter how old or young you are, nobody's life is more important than the next. A life is a life is a life.
Posted by: kaydee Location: Jesup on Nov 4, 2009 at 09:50 AM

This child's head appears very large for its body and I think I heard on Nancy Grace show it had had heart surgery. Weight and height is certainly failure to thrive syndrome. This can be caused by health problems or neglect on parents part. How was the mother coping with a child with health problems. Baby certainly needed checking on more often than normal babies.
Posted by: Devoted Mom Location: Marianna on Nov 3, 2009 at 09:39 PM

I hope the mother or father were not involved! Being a Mother of 4 (now grown, I had stressful moments. Never once would I have thought of hurting them. Think about it, Too many people in this world would love to have a child. If the mother hurt the child in any way There is NO excuse! One would think they would want to just walk away than hurt an inocent child!
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