After 30 years and charges that didn’t stick, a little boy’s disappearance remains unsolved

After 30 years, the case of a missing 3-year-old boy from a Shell Point area home remains unsolved.

Paul Baker was reported missing in March of 1987 by his step-mother, Susan Baker, who said he must have left or been taken while she was taking a nap, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office news release. It was discovered through investigation that she was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time.

Susan Baker was convicted of charges of violence against her step-daughter (Paul Baker’s then 6-year-old sister) but no one was ever indicted on charges in connection with the boy’s disappearance.

In 2009, Susan Baker was convicted of several charges in connection with the disappearance of a baby girl in Florida and sentenced to 25 years. The investigation of that case sparked a renewed look at Paul Baker’s case and Susan Baker and James Baker, the boy’s father, were extradited from Florida to South Carolina. In the end, neither Baker was convicted.

The boy was never discovered and his remains have never been found. Susan Baker remains the person of interest in the disappearance of Paul Baker, according to the Sheriff’s Office news release. Paul Baker’s DNA is stored in the National Missing Persons DNA database.

Anyone with information can contact Capt. Bob Bromage at 843-255-3402, 843-816-8013 or robertb@bcgov.net or call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.

This story was originally published June 27, 2017 at 4:51 PM with the headline "After 30 years and charges that didn’t stick, a little boy’s disappearance remains unsolved."