Small key unlocks mystery over body
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Two years ago, Paula Baker stunned the legal world when she pleaded guilty to stealing more than $2 million from the now-defunct law firm of Bogle & Gates.
Last year, the 48-year-old computer expert was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison and five years of community supervision. Baker's lawyers tried to convince the court that she suffered from compulsive-obsessive disorder and depression.
She was sent to a federal penitentiary in Dublin, Calif., but recently returned to Seattle to complete her sentence at a halfway house downtown.
When a woman's body with no identification was pulled from Elliott Bay near Pier 57 on Tuesday, no one connected it to Baker.
It took a small key, and an inquisitive mind to discover the identity.
Arleigh Marquis found a locksmith's stamp on the key and called the owner, who provided him with a list of clients.
Marquis, a King County medical examiner's investigator, took a photo of the body to all the clients, but no one recognized her.
Meanwhile, Baker went missing last week from Pioneer Fellowship House in Seattle, where federal inmates often complete their sentences.
Federal marshals issued a warrant, on escape charges, for Baker.
Her son in Everett was contacted for any information he might have about his mother's whereabouts.
"We told everyone she was severely depressed," said her son, who asked not to be identified.
"If anybody didn't know she was depressed or see it, they were a fool."
The Medical Examiner's Office finally received a call yesterday from the locksmith, who thought the key might be to the Pioneer Fellowship House.
Marquis took a photo of the woman to the house, and she was immediately identified as Paula Baker.
The news came yesterday to Baker's son.
"We just talked about how she has a great opportunity to start over again," he said.
"She knew a lot about technology. She was a great teacher. And, she was young."
His mother taught GED classes while serving her time in prison. He said she was taking medications for her compulsive-obsessive disorder but still had a strong desire to help people.
"If she took up your cause, she couldn't stop," said her son.
"It was part of her problem."
Although Baker's family was saddened to learn of her death, her son praised the investigator for his tenacity.
"My mother was extremely close to her family, and it would have been hard not to know what happened to her," he said.
"My praises go to the guy who solved this."