HICKORY -- Several hundred people gathered at a local church for a candlelight vigil for 10-year-old Zahra Baker on Wednesday night, as police expanded their search for the missing girl and drained a pond near the tree-trimming company where her father has worked.
People sang and prayed for Zahra outside the East Hickory Baptist Church, their children playing on swings and a jungle gym nearby.
"We just want to lift up little Zahra as we think about the tragedies in her life," deacon David King told the crowd.
Early Wednesday, Zahra's stepmother Elisa Baker made her first appearance in court on obstruction of justice charges after investigators said she admitted she wrote a phony ransom note found at the family's home on Saturday.
Police say the note was designed to throw off investigators in their search for answers in the girl's disappearance, a case they're now calling a homicide.
At the vigil, Lindsey Parker told the crowd that family members had reported suspected abuse of Zahra to the Department of Social Services on three occasions. She said she was speaking on behalf of Brittany Starbuck, one of Elisa Baker's three children from a previous marriage.
"DSS was called three times," Parker said of the family. "They tried. They really tried."
DSS officials in Caldwell County, where the family recently lived, have not responded to requests for information.
Elisa Baker, 42, dressed in a pink jumpsuit and shackled at her wrists and legs, quietly answered "yes" as Judge Gregory Hayes asked if she understood the charge against her. She's being held on a $40,000 bond.
The case has drawn nationwide attention to this community at the foot of the N.C. mountains. Reports of possible mistreatment of Zahra have raised questions about what should have been done to protect the little girl.
Zahra, who is hearing impaired and has a prosthetic leg, was reported missing Saturday. But police say they cannot confirm that anyone outside the household has seen her in the past month.
"She's a beautiful child," Milly Humphrey, a family friend said of Zahra at the vigil. "We don't know anything. We just hope she's found - and found safe."
Elisa Baker's attorney, Scott Reilly of Newton, said his client was "scared to death" and extremely upset about being held in jail.
He would not answer questions about whether Baker had discussed her stepdaughter.
The FBI has been called in to assist local police with the search and conduct any needed lab work.
Authorities worked late into Wednesday night to drain a pond near property owned by Real Tree Services, where Adam Baker, Zahra's father, is employed. The property includes large piles of wood chips and heavy equipment, and is surrounded by woods.
Lt. Becky Weatherman of the Burke County Sheriff's Office said the lack of specifics on where to look was making the search more difficult.
"It's very hard," she said. "Especially if [someone is] buried underground or you don't know where exactly to look."
In Hickory, police again visited the Bakers' house on 21st Avenue N.W. Officers and search dogs didn't turn up anything, although investigators removed a restaurant dumpster near the house to search it for evidence.
No one answered the Bakers' door Wednesday afternoon. Next-door neighbor Charles Bost said he hasn't seen Adam Baker in at least two days as news of his daughter's disappearance spread.
Adam Baker, 33, hasn't been charged in connection with the case and has remained largely out of the public eye except for a Monday appearance on "Good Morning America," where he acknowledged it was possible his wife might have been involved in Zahra's disappearance.
Douglas Proctor, who identified himself as Elisa Baker's son, contacted the Charlotte Observer on Wednesday to request privacy for his family and express gratitude to the dozens of people offering to help search for Zahra. He declined to discuss the case, but said finding Zahra is the family's top priority.
"Everyone has hope we'll find her," he said. "We're just trying to focus our attention on Zahra and trying to bring her home safe."
On Tuesday, Hickory police called off an Amber Alert seeking help in finding Zahra alive and declared the case a homicide after cadaver search dogs detected possible human remains in the Bakers' vehicles parked outside their home, according to a search warrant.
Police were first called to the Bakers' home about 5 a.m. Saturday in response to a yard fire.
While they were there, police found a ransom note on the Bakers' SUV, demanding $1 million from "Mr. Coffey," who has been identified as Adam Baker's boss. The note suggested kidnappers had taken Mark Coffey's daughter, but when police checked they found the family was fine.
Zahra Baker was born in the southeast Australian town of Wagga Wagga, according to the Australian Daily Record. She lost her left leg below the knee to bone cancer when she was 5, and the disease also left her hearing impaired.
She moved to the United States last year with her father after he struck up an online romance with Elisa Baker.
Charlotte Observer staff writer Steve Lyttle, researcher Maria David and news partner WCNC-TV contributed to this report.
