A woman from Indiana was nine months pregnant when she disappeared more than three months ago, and her family doubts where she has been.
Mother of three Emma Baum, 25, went missing on October 10 in Gary, Indiana, and was about to give birth to her fourth child.
Baum was last seen being driven to her boyfriend’s home, her sister Hailey Baum-Waddell told Fox News Digital.
“The search for Emma has been a very harrowing thing for everyone, mentally, physically and emotionally … but we will not stop looking for her,” Baum-Waddell said. “I think if people keep chanting that something has to be done and chanting her name … just get the word out because a lot of people know, but not everyone knows.”
Emma Baum, 25, went missing on October 10. She was nine months pregnant when she was reported missing. (Facebook/Missing people in America)
Authorities received a missing persons report for Baum from her family on Oct. 28, Gary Police Cmdr. Jack Hamady he told Fox News Digital.
“It’s been a few days. … We all started, like, texting each other, ‘Hey, have you heard from Emma? Has anyone seen her? Can you text one of her friends to find her boyfriend?’ And it’s just been a circle with everybody and everybody’s just trying to figure it out,” Baum-Waddell said.
“Then we say, ‘OK, this is not normal.’ … That’s when my mom really started to panic,” she added. “Then my mom ended up going to the police station.”
Emma Baum was nine months pregnant when she disappeared in October. (Hailey Baum-Waddell)
Officials with Gary Police Department they used K-9s in several searches in the area, and the Lake County Sheriff’s Department assisted in several searches, Hamady said.
“We searched the house, apartment, passenger vehicles and another property,” he added.
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In addition to the police investigation, Baum-Waddell said she and Baum’s other relatives organized an extensive search after her social media post drew hundreds of willing participants.
“There were a lot of people who offered to come out and look for her,” she said. “We talked about it with other search groups. I made a post online just saying, you know, ‘How many people would be willing to come out,’ and I posted it in multiple groups.”
Baum lived in Portage, Indiana, but was visiting her boyfriend in Gary when she was last seen.
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Emma Baum’s family said she was last seen being driven to her boyfriend’s home in Gary, Ind. (Hailey Baum-Waddell)
Baum-Waddell said her sister didn’t have a working phone when she disappeared, and that while her sister may have “gone off and done her thing” for a few days at a time, she would never have been missing for that long.
“That day she was supposed to go with her boyfriend … to the phone store and activate it, but she never activated the phone,” she said. – She was completely silent about everything, and now she doesn’t like it.
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Baum-Waddell also mentioned her sister’s devotion as a mother and the close relationship she has with her oldest son.
“They have a crazy, unbreakable bond,” she shared. “For her not to be here to see him on Christmas or Thanksgiving or… New Years. It’s unreal. There’s no way she would do that to him.”
Emma Baum was about to give birth to her fourth child when she disappeared. (Hailey Baum-Waddell)
Baum-Waddell believes her sister’s boyfriend is “hiding something,” she told Fox News Digital, and Baum’s mother believes the boyfriend had something to do with her disappearance, WGN9 reported.
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“We have not accused anyone of the disappearance of Emma Baumand she has not yet been located,” Hamady said. “We are continuing to search and interview individuals who are or may be connected to this case.”
Bauma’s boyfriend, who was originally in custody in an unrelated case, has been released from the Lake County Jail and is awaiting a trial date on separate charges, Hamady added.
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Emma Baum, who was nine months pregnant at the time, disappeared in October and has not been seen or heard from since. (Hailey Baum-Waddell)
Baum is approximately 5 feet, 3 inches tall, weighs approximately 136 pounds, and has brown hair and brown eyes. He has several scars and tattoos, and often wears colorful wigs.
“Emma gave everybody her best, she gave them all the love she could,” Baum-Waddell said emotionally of her sister. “She has these big brown eyes and she always just wanted everyone to, you know, laugh or feel good about themselves or feel included.
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“It’s very difficult because now it’s not just her who’s missing. Her child is also missing. And you don’t want to think, you know, the worst because who would want to, you know, hurt a girl and her child?” she added. “We just hope we find her safe.”
Anyone with information about Baum’s disappearance is asked to contact the Gary Police Department at (219) 881-1209.
