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Police Have 'Person of Interest' in Florida Baby's Disappearance, but Still No Sign of Infant

By Fox News
Published | Updated

Police have identified a "person of interest" in the case of a missing Florida baby girl, but a frantic search has so far turned up no sign of the 7-month-old infant.

Shannon Lea Dedrick was last seen at her parents' mobile home in the rural Florida Panhandle town of Chipley when her mother and father went to bed about 3 a.m. Saturday.

Authorities believe the baby disappeared sometime before 8 a.m. Saturday. Her parents reported her missing at 11:23 a.m., the Washington County Sheriff's Office said. It wasn't clear why it apparently took more than three hours to alert police about the child's disappearance.

The mystery of Shannon's whereabouts intensified throughout the day Monday. Washington County Sheriff Bobby Haddock revealed that investigators did have a "person of interest" in mind — whom he declined to name — but added that there had been no sign of a kidnapping, NWFDailyNews.com reported.

The baby girl's parents also were not identified and were not speaking to the media. Haddock told reporters they hadn't had any substantial encounters with police in the past, according to the Web site.

Authorities did an exhaustive search for the baby over the weekend and on Monday. They were continuing their efforts Tuesday.

"We’re not leaving any stone unturned,” Haddock said Monday afternoon, according to NWFDailyNews.com.

Searchers combed through Dumpsters, residential garbage cans, bags of trash and ditches, according to Haddock.

“The child couldn’t walk away; the child couldn’t crawl away," he said.

The Florida Department of Children and Families is assisting in the investigation.

“We don’t know where the baby could be,” said agency spokeswoman Barbara Ash, according to NWFDailyNews.com. “It’s heartbreaking. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed that they find her.”

Baby Shannon is described as being 2 feet long and 11 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the Washington County Sheriff's Office at (850) 638-6111.

More coverage from NWFDailyNews.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.