Indiana
Family of missing Indiana pregnant woman Emma Baum reveals suspicions about disappearance
An Indiana woman was nine months pregnant when she disappeared over three months ago, and her family has suspicions about her last whereabouts.
Mother of three Emma Baum, 25, went missing Oct. 10 in Gary, Indiana, and she was about to give birth to her fourth child.
Baum was last seen being dropped off at her boyfriend’s house, her sister Hailey Baum-Waddell told Fox News Digital.
“Looking for Emma has been a very struggling thing for everybody, mentally and physically and emotionally … but we’re not going to stop looking for her,” Baum-Waddell said. “I think if people keep going on and chanting that something needs to be done and chanting her name … just get the word out because a lot of people know, but not everybody knows.”
Authorities received a missing persons report for Baum from her family Oct. 28, Gary Police Cmdr. Jack Hamady told Fox News Digital.
“A couple of days went by. … We all started, like, messaging each other, ‘Hey, have you heard from Emma? Anybody seen her? Can you message one of her friends to get a hold of her boyfriend?’ And it was kind of just a ring around with everybody and everyone’s just trying to figure it out,” Baum-Waddell said.
“Then we’re like, ‘OK, well, 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.”
Officers with the Gary Police Department have used K-9s on several searches in the area, and the Lake County Sheriff’s Department has assisted in a few of the searches, Hamady said.
“We have searched a house, apartment, recreational vehicles and one other property,” he added.
In addition to the police investigation, Baum-Waddell said she and other relatives of Baum have been organizing a widespread search after a social media post of hers drew hundreds of willing participants.
“There’s been a lot of people who have offered to come out and look for her,” she said. “We’ve talked it over with other search groups. I made a post online just saying, you know, ‘Hands of 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.
Baum-Waddell said her sister didn’t have a working phone when she disappeared and that although her sister may have “gone off and done her own thing” for several days at a time, she would never disappear for such a long period of time.
“That day, she was supposed to go with her boyfriend … to the phone store and get it activated, and she never got the phone activated,” she said. “She’s been completely silent on everything, and now that’s not like her.”
Baum-Waddell also mentioned her sister’s devotion as a mother and the close relationship she has with her oldest son.
“They have a freaking crazy, unbreakable bond,” she shared. “For her not to be here to see him on Christmas or Thanksgiving or … New Year’s. It’s unreal. There’s no way she would do that to him.”
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.
“We have not charged anyone with the disappearance of Emma Baum, and she has not been located yet,” Hamady said. “We continue to search and interview individuals that are or maybe associated with this case.”
Baum’s boyfriend, who was originally in custody in an unrelated case, was released from Lake County Jail and is awaiting his court date for the separate charges, Hamady added.
Baum is approximately 5 feet, 3 inches tall, weighs around 136 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes. She has several scars and tattoos, and she often wears colorful wigs.
“Emma gave everybody her all, gave them all the love that she could,” Baum-Waddell emotionally said about her sister. “She has these big brown eyes, and she always just wanted to make everybody, you know, laugh or feel good about themselves or have them feel included.
“It’s very difficult because now it’s not just her that’s missing. It’s her baby. And you don’t want to think, you know, the worst because who would want to, you know, hurt a girl and her baby?” she added. “We’re just hoping to find her safe.”
Anyone with information on Baum’s disappearance is asked to contact the Gary Police Department at (219) 881-1209.
Women of 250 honors women past, present and future, including C.J. Walker
This video spotlights the initiative and includes a look at Madam C.J. Walker’s enduring influence while encouraging viewers to nominate women who have made a difference today.
As dozens of people and music filled Indiana Avenue, Sampson Levingston gestured to the scene around him as evidence of a return to the area’s history as a hub of Black life and music.
“This is what Indiana Avenue is supposed to be. Black people having a good time on a Saturday in the summer,” Levingston said. “That’s our history. That’s our story.”
The fifth annual Legacy Fest, organized by the Madam Walker Legacy Center, honored that story on June 19 and 20. A block party with food trucks, vendors selling one-of-a-kind jeweled hats and patchwork denim, jewelry, and live musical performances capped off the Juneteenth weekend. The day before, Grammy-winning producer Teddy Riley performed in the Walker Theatre.
The block circles the Walker Building, a triangular African Art Deco theater topped with a red sign easily spotted in Indianapolis’ skyline. The 1927 building is the last building still operating in its original state on a street once filled with Black-owned businesses but now dominated by fences and parking lots.
After being forced by a former downtown Indianapolis theater to pay a “Black tax,” Walker promised to build a theater without discrimination. The building was home to Walker Manufacturing Company and a 1500-seat theater, the only theater without race-based discrimination in the city at the time. The theater still regularly puts on shows and holds the Madam Walker Legacy Center non-profit responsible for and supported by the Legacy Fest.
“There’s a lot of BS going on in the world and the country. You can get sad about it and pout,” Levingston said. “Madam Walker addressed the issue.”
Levingston runs Walk & Talk, historic walking tours allowing participants to literally step into Indianapolis’ Black history. On June 20 he led a group away from the music and crowd of Legacy fest and around the block, stopping at historic centers of the community such as Lockefield Gardens and the former Second Christian Church. On the tour, Levingston spoke about the impact of redlining and zoning restrictions on reducing the neighborhood’s density and businesses. In the Green Book, a travel guide listing businesses safe for Black Americans, most Indianapolis stores listed are on Indiana Avenue. Now the block is mostly residential. A closed convivence store is vacant and the Second Christian Church is a single-family home.
“Imagine if they won’t let people borrow for decades and decades how much wealth that drips out of a community,” Levingston said. “That’s why when you walk around you just see parking lots.”
Julia A. Royston, a Legacy Fest block party vendor, has been publishing books for 18 years. Many of the books she publishes are centered on increasing representation and putting out voices other than traditional publishing houses.
“No matter what season of the world we’re in, there’s still an opportunity for us to tell our story our way,” Royston said.
Lucy Tobier is the politics reporting intern for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at lucy.tobier@indystar.com or on X at @TobierLucy
Bloomington South’s Ellie Barada discusses state title win in 800m
Bloomington South senior Ellie Barada secured her second consecutive state title in the 800 meters at the IHSAA girls state track and field meet.
The USATF U20 Championships took place on June 18-19, while Nike Outdoor Nationals ran June 18-22 in Eugene, Oregon.
Some of the top high school track and field athletes, including recent graduates, fared excellent when the lights were the brightest.
Here are the top results from Eugene last week.
Ellie Barada
Barada, a Bloomington South graduate, qualified for U20 Worlds with a second-place finish (2:02.72) in the women’s 800 meter run. She won gold in the mile (4:34.25) at Nike Outdoor Nationals. The North Carolina recruit also ran anchor leg for the winning 4000-meter state distance medley relay team, which combined for a time of 11:36.99.
Noah Bontrager
Bontrager, a Westview graduate and Notre Dame recruit, won the U20 men’s 3000-meter run (8:32.53).
Collin Bumgardner
Bumgardner, an Indiana State recruit and Danville state champion, placed 12th in the boys 200 finals (21.49) and 16th (10.71) in the 100 finals at Nike Outdoor Nationals.
Ellie Cooley
Cooley represented Carmel with a sixth-place finish (129-08) in the girls discus Emerging Elite event at Nike Outdoor Nationals.
Rylan Hainje
Hainje placed first in the prelims of the 110 hurdles (13.44) before he placed third (13.36) in the finals of Nike Outdoor. The Franklin Central grad and Marian recruit suffered a false start in the 110 hurdles of the U20 prelims.
Konrad Hayden
Hayden placed 11th in the boys high jump at Nike Outdoor Nationals. The Fishers graduate recorded a leap of 6 feet, 8.75 inches.
Kallen Hoeft
Hoeft was a member of the mixed 4×400 relay team that finished as runner-up at Nike Outdoor Nationals. The Hamilton Southeastern quartet of Hoeft, Anissa Lammie, Jaxson Wanza and Chloe Senefeld ran a time of 3:30.01.
Lexi Kollbaum
Kollbaum was a member of the winning state distance medley relay team. The Bloomington South junior placed 36th in the 800 and 40th in the mile at Nike Outdoor.
Anissa Lammie
Lammie placed sixth (54.54) in the 400-meter dash at Nike Outdoor Nationals. She was also a part of the mixed 4×400 team that placed second with a time of 3:30.01. The Hamilton Southeastern junior ran the 800 leg for the winning state distance medley relay team.
Kaitlyn Oshimura
Oshimura, a Carmel graduate, placed fourth in the 1 Mile Emerging Elite race with a time of 4:55.64. She also placed 39th in the 800-meter run at Nike Outdoor Nationals.
Jordan Randall
Randall, a two-time high school state champion for Warsaw, placed fourth in the high jump at both U20 (7-01.75) in the men’s event and Nike Outdoor Nationals (7-00.50) in the boys event.
Chloe Senefeld
Senefeld ran the 400 leg for the winning state distance medley relay team in the state category at Nike Outdoor Nationals. The Indiana quartet of Senefeld, Barada, Kollbaum and Lammie took home gold with a time of 11:36.99. She was also a member of the second-place mixed 4×400 team. The Iowa recruit was a national runner-up (59.27) in the 400-meter hurdles. She placed sixth (58.54) in same event at U20.
Kira Smith
Smith was a runner-up in the girls high jump at Nike Outdoor Nationals. She recorded a jump of 5-feet, 10.75 inches.
Jaxson Wanza
Wanza helped Southeastern earn a runner-up finish in the mixed 4×400 relay at Nike Outdoor Nationals.
Marc Ray is a high school sports reporter at the IndyStar. He can be reached at marc.ray@indystar.com , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.
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