Feb. 7, 1999:
3:45 p.m.:
Erica is spotted walking her dog by a couple who is out walking their dog.
4:06 p.m.:
The couple finds Erica's dog huddled near a house on Glengarry Drive.
5:15 p.m.:
The Baker family begins a frantic search for Erica when she doesn't return from her walk.
8:05 p.m.:
The Baker family calls police. A massive search is initiated that ultimately involves hundreds of volunteers and the establishment of the Erica Baker Recovery Cent
er
July 1999: Detectives first identify Christian Gabriel of Springfield and Jan Franks as possible suspects in Erica's disappearance.
Dec. 30, 2001: Jan Franks dies of a drug overdose. Her public defender, Beth Lewis, is later ordered to testify before a Montgomery County grand jury. Prosecutors prevailed after invoking a rare exception under state law to the attorney/client privilege: a deceased client's spouse can waive the privilege.
June 2002:
The Erica Baker Recovery Center is closed.
Dec. 10, 2004: Christian Gabriel contacts Kettering detectives and three days later, according to lead detective Bob Green, he confessed to striking Erica with his van and burying the body.
Feb. 4, 2005:
A grand jury declined to indict Gabriel on charges related to causing Baker's death, but did indict him on charges of of gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence three days before the statute of limitations would have expired on those offenses.
October, 2005:
Christian Gabriel is convicted of gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence and is sentenced to six years in prison.
January, 2007:
Gabriel's attorney filed an appeal of his conviction, claiming Gabriel was denied a fair trial because his own statements provided the only evidence against him.
June 14, 2011:
Gabriel was released from prison, but handed over to the Mercer County Sheriff's Office on an old domestic violence conviction. He was granted his release from jail June 23. Erica's grandmother, Pam Schmidt, picks Gabriel up from jail in the hope of learning more information.
Sept. 27, 2013:
Police called in a dive team to conduct a grid search of a pond at a trailer park on private property located just west of Eastwood Lake. The police were acting on a tip that Erica's remains might be in the pond because Christian Gabriel and Jan Franks reportedly lived at the trailer park at the time of Erica's disappearance. Investigators found three vehicles and a boat in the water, but nothing indicating Erica Baker's remains were in the pond.
