DaytonDailyNews.com

ENON, Clark County — A day-long dig with shovels, a backhoe and cadaver dogs near Enon Beach in western Clark County on Wednesday, Nov. 19, yielded nothing in the search for Erica Baker, the girl who disappeared from a park in Kettering in 1999.

Kettering police and the Clark County Sheriff's Office finished their search of the southwest corner of the area for the day, "with negative results," Kettering police spokesman Officer Bill Torok said.

Torok said police will not be returning to the site.

"We gave it a thorough forensic investigation," he said.

A few small items will be sent out to labs for further analysis to make sure that no evidence was found, he said.

Acting on a tip, Kettering police used dogs trained to find human remains, and a backhoe looking for Erica's remains. Authorities moved equipment to the area sometime Tuesday night, and they were moving brush and preparing to dig at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.

News organizations from Springfield, Dayton, Columbus and Cincinnati camped out across the lake from the search site.

Investigators packed up and left about 4:30 p.m. without comment.

"It's a lead, no more than the ones we follow up on regularly," Torok earlier in the day on Wednesday.

The police department fields "several leads" a year, including calls from psychics, anonymous informants and people who say they've had dreams and heard from God about the girl who went missing at age 9, Torok said.

"We give every one of them due diligence. There's always the possibility someone knows something and they're just using a cover story about a dream," he said.

This particular tip came in during the weekend from an anonymous informant, Torok said.

This latest search received more attention than previous ones because it took place out in the open instead of a wooded area, he said.

Erica's grandmother, contacted Wednesday after reporters were able to confirm word of the search, said the renewed search for her granddaughter's body has produced a mix of sorrow and hope.

"The pain of losing her is brand new again. That's the downside," said Pamela Schmidt. But with the Christmas holiday approaching, "wouldn't it be joyous if we could experience the miracle of bringing her home this year."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2437 or jdebrosse@DaytonDailyNews.com.