Volunteers won't give up on Lindsey Baum

Summary

Months of disappointments haven't sapped the strength of a search effort for a missing McCleary girl. It's slow going, poking through the brush - but volunteers say it's worth any effort to find a clue to Lindsey's disappearance.

Story Published: Sep 12, 2009 at 7:01 PM PDT

Story Updated: Sep 12, 2009 at 7:04 PM PDT

Volunteers won't give up on Lindsey Baum

A searcher pokes through the brush, looking for any clue to Lindsey Baum's disappearance.

MCCLEARY, Wash. - Months of disappointments haven't sapped the strength of a search effort for a missing McCleary girl.

Lindsay Baum disappeared 11 weeks ago - and despite a lack of clues, volunteers won't stop looking.

It's slow going, poking through the brush - but volunteers say it's worth any effort to find a clue to Lindsey's disappearance.


 Lindsey Baum
"Well, we're looking for anything that's, well, perhaps out of the ordinary," says volunteer Dick Hall. That could be a scrap of clothing, a bit of trash - or anything - to show whether someone has been in a given area.

In 2 1/2 months of searching, nothing has turned up that ties back to the missing girl. But that doesn't stop volunteers from trying.

They were back out again on Saturday, combing through the thick brush.

"This morning we had people standing in line just to register," says Lindsey's mother, Melissa Baum.

She is coordinating this latest effort, with help from the biker club "Guardians of the Children" and a second group called "Helping Heroes Productions."

"I truly believe my daughter's alive and that we're going to bring her home," Melissa says. "I just hope whoever has her would just let her go, let her come home where she's loved and where she's wanted."

Lindsey disappeared on the evening of June 26 while walking home from a friend's house.

Police are stumped.

McCleary is a small town, but there is a lot of open ground and wooded areas for searchers to cover. Volunteers though, say there is strength in numbers.

"Maybe with as many eyes as we have, we'll discover something," says Hall.

Searchers are looking for a miracle - and stories like the California woman who resurfaced 18 years after being kidnapped gives them a reason to go on.

"It gives me hope because it's saying after 18 years, surely probably mostly everybody had given up," says Hall.

Adds Melissa Baum: "It scares me because I just can't imagine the next months - let alone years - of not knowing where my daughter is."

The search resumes Sunday - and people are encouraged to help.

Donations of cash and office supplies are also being accepted to keep the volunteer effort going.