1 week Ago
GARY — The family of a 25-year-old pregnant woman who went missing in early October said she has likely given birth—and the Gary police missing person's detective on the case has supposedly offered little help. Loved ones of Emma Baum, 25, said she was nine months pregnant when she was last seen Oct. 10 at her boyfriend's house in the 2500 block of Connecticut Street in Gary.
Her family and friends appealed to the public for help at a press conference Friday morning near her last known location. They were accompanied by Case Files Chicago producer Lisette Guillen, crisis responder Andrew Holmes and Circle of Love co-founder Sylvia Galvan for support. "Without anyone's actual help, we cannot provide any answers for her children," Baum's sister Abigale Smith said.
"If you're willing to help us, you will be rewarded." Baum is 5 feet, 3 inches tall and weighs approximately 136 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes.
There are several scars on her arms and she has multiple tattoos. She is known to wear hairpieces and wigs in different styles and colors. Smith and Emma's mother Jamie Baum said they have combed the city searching for her after they received what they said is an insufficient response from Gary Police Detective Mark Salazar.
"We have put our lives at risk [to search for her,]" Smith said. "Went into abandoned houses, dug in dirt piles, done everything we possibly we can to bring her home." Jamie Baum said the family has heard from Salazar once since they reported Emma Baum missing Oct.
28. When he first called her, she said, she and a few others were tromping through the woods searching for Emma and were reprimanded for it by the detective. "He was acting like we shouldn't be searching for my daughter," Jamie Baum said.
"We have to because they're not." Gary Police Cmdr. Jack Hamady told reporters police have done searches in areas where they believe she was last seen and looked at footage from security cameras and license plate reader cameras.
He said they have interviewed her boyfriend, his close associates and several others who were last seen with her. "Anyone who was last seen with her is a person of interest," he said. He said the case was also passed to the Lake County Prosecutor's Homicide Task Force to be investigated as a homicide jointly with the Missing Person's division.
The Times will not name Emma Baum's boyfriend as he has not been charged with a crime in connection with her disappearance. Jamie Baum said her daughter often stayed with her in Portage. She has three children, ages 6, 3 and 2.
Her eldest son appeared with the family at the press conference. Her newborn child would make her a mother of four. "Her family needs her," Jamie Baum said.
Anyone with information on the disappearance can contact Homicide Detective Daryl Gordon at 219-755-3855 or Missing Person's Detective Mark Salazar at 219-881-1209..
