Shannon Lea Dedrick: Massive search and rescue underway

November 3, 2009 by Cathy Ribble
Filed under: News

Florida authorities are once again looking for a missing child, this time 7-month-old baby girl Shannon Lea Dedrick. The parents, residents of Chipley, Florida, reported her missing on Saturday morning at 11:23 a.m.

According to Washington County authorities, the parents indicated the baby was in the same room with them, and that she could have been taken between the hours of 3 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Sheriff Bobby Haddock noted that investigators are looking at a “person of suspicion,” but gave no further information.

Neighbors have reported seeing a grey van near the baby’s residence the evening before she was reported missing, as well as numerous times over the past couple of months. It is unknown whether the “person of suspicion” is related to the grey van.

The Washington County Sheriff’s office is being assisted in the investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Search dogs from Chattahoochie State Hospital and Gulf Correctional Institution joined the search initially, and then authorities started a “fingertip-to-fingertip” search of the 500-600 foot wooded area near her home.

Haddock said the adults living at the residence had no police records, but he declined to say if they had been investigated by the Department of Children and Families.

Center for Missing and Exploited Children: Baby Shannon Lea Dedrick