Missing from: Kettering, Ohio
Missing: February 7, 1999
Age at disappearance: 9
Height: 3’ 11”
Weight: 65
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Hazel
Distinguishing Characteristics: Scars, Marks, Tattoos: Caucasian female. Erica has a scar on the inner arch of one of her feet. Her ears are pierced. Erica’s front teeth were crooked at the time of her 1999 disappearance. She has an oval-shaped, tan-colored birthmark, about the size of a dime, on one of her hips.
Circumstances of Disappearance: She was last seen when she left the house to walk her dog between 3 pm and 3:30 pm on February 7, 1999. The dog was later found but Erica has not been seen since. Police found few clues, but they developed a scenario based on sources that Erica had been struck by a car and one or more occupants picked up her body and hid it. Christian Gabriel was found guilty on one count of gross abuse of a corpse and one count of tampering with evidence.
In the search for the girl’s body, Gabriel took investigators to Eastwood Lake, Huffman MetroPark and finally to Caesar Creek State Park. In July 2004 he told Kettering police that he and three others were in a van when they struck Erica in the street. The other three buried her at Huffman MetroPark, he told police.
Four months later, his story changed. He was in the van with just one other person, Jan Franks, and they buried the body in a different location, according to his statement.
Three months later, his story changed again. This time he said he didn’t even own a van at the time of her disappearance. Baker’s body has never been found. A woman who police said was also in the van at the time died before she could tell authorities about the case.
Investigative Agency: Kettering Police Department 937-296-2555
If you have any information on this case, please contact CUE Center for Missing Persons at (910) 343-1131 or call the CUE Center 24-hour tip line at (910) 232-1687. All information submitted to CUE Center for Missing Persons is confidential.