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Remains might be of missing Catawba teen
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Published: June 25, 2009
A 46-year-old man has been arrested in Florida and is charged in the murder of Travis Baker, a 19-year-old Catawba County man whose disappearance more than two years ago has been the subject of numerous searches.
And authorities might have found Baker's remains.
Searchers, looking in a wooded area near the town of Catawba, found skeletal remains Wednesday afternoon. The medical examiner's office is studying the remains, to determine of they are of Travis Baker.
The Catawba County Sheriff's Office has called a news conference for 2 p.m. today in Newton.
The man arrested Wednesday night was John Mitchell Jr. He was taken into custody by police on Orange County, Fla., near Orlando.
NewsChannel 36, the Observer's news partner, said a search warrant taken out by the Catawba County Sheriff's Office alleges that Mitchell told a police informant that he killed Baker and buried his body in a wooded area off Eulalia Lane, south of Catawba.
Baker was last seen April 16, 2007, when he was at a convenience store near Catawba. He was headed to work but never arrived.
NewsChannel 36 says the search warrant this week alleges that drug activity was involved in Baker's death.
Baker and the red Camaro he was driving have been the subject of numerous ground and air searches over the past 26 months. The sheriff's office in Catawba County has questioned a number of people during that time, and friends and family members offered reward for information leading to a solution of the case.
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