TAVARES, Fla.—There has been another twist in the case of missing Mount Dora mom Nicole Baldwin.
Early Friday morning, Mount Dora Police Department and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement executed a search warrant for electronics at the Tavares home of Terri Rogers, the woman who has organized search parties for Baldwin and gathered information in the case.
Rogers’ involvement in the case began about a week after Baldwin went missing, partially because Baldwin’s case is what Rogers calls “eerily similar” to her missing niece’s case. Rogers is the aunt of Tonya Whipp, a woman who has been missing in Polk County since last summer and told Inside Lake she was compelled to get involved in Baldwin’s case. Baldwin, who is from Germany, does not have family in the United States, other than her children and husband, and Rogers said she advocated for Baldwin because she did not have anyone else to do it for her. Soon after Inside Lake published its first article on the case, Rogers reached out to Baldwin’s oldest daughter Alisha to get flyers out and get her face out to the public, she told Inside Lake.
Rogers developed a relationship with Alisha and has spoken to her sporadically and even helped her move some things out of a storage unit. Rogers said Alisha has never told her she is involved in any way or given her any clue as to what may have happened to Baldwin.
Baldwin vanished in early November and was reported missing to MDPD. MDPD has remained tight-lipped throughout its investigation, leaving many questions unanswered. Inside Lake has asked numerous questions about the case but MDPD has revealed very little. The home where Baldwin lived on Strathmore Circle was searched by MDPD, FDLE and Lake County Sheriff’s Office crime scene investigators on Nov. 28 and has been searched several times since.
On Dec. 14, Baldwin’s husband, Brett, was arrested on federal child pornography charges as investigators found child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on a phone that was seized during the investigation. He continues to be held in the Marion County Jail on those charges.
In addition to the four community searches Rogers has organized, she has spent hours each day searching for Baldwin on her own or with a smaller team of two to three people. She has walked miles in wooded areas from Leesburg to Mount Dora looking for any trace of the mom of three.
Rogers provided a copy of the search warrant to Inside Lake and law enforcement apparently believes Baldwin is dead, as the warrant states Rogers’ electronics may be “evidence of or evidence relevant to proving” second degree murder.
Inside Lake asked MDPD why they would execute a search warrant on someone who has seemingly been forthcoming and helpful to its investigation and the city’s spokesperson responded with this text, “Court orders are approved by the State Attorney and the Court of Law. MDPD executed a lawful search warrant to continue the search for missing person Nicole Baldwin. The status of the investigation is ongoing.”
Rogers said an agent with FDLE told her they were confiscating her electronics because they believed she was hiding something and “protecting Alisha.” Rogers said she has been communicating with this agent for months and has always given her any information Rogers believes is pertinent to finding Baldwin. Rogers has screenshots of text messages she said were between her and the agent showing the agent gave her particular areas to search and a message stating Alisha had been “cleared,” she said
Rogers said she thought there was a trusting relationship between her and the agent, but after being surprised with the search warrant, she is upset and angry.
“All they had to do was ask and I would have given them my phone. I’m not hiding anything,” she told Inside Lake. “Hook me up to a lie detector test!”
Just before Christmas 2021, Rogers was the victim of a house fire and lost three dogs to smoke inhalation and the experience was extremely traumatic for Rogers. After the fire she rescued more dogs and purchased indoor cameras so she could keep an eye on them when she left her home.
“They have taken that ability from me; I feel like a prisoner in my own house. I’m not comfortable leaving my home if I can’t check on my rescue dogs,” Rogers told Inside Lake.
This forced Rogers to cancel a community search for Baldwin scheduled for Sunday.
She told Inside Lake her anxiety is off the charts now and she is in fear of law enforcement. Rogers feels she now needs legal counsel and her best friend has started a fundraising campaign to help with legal fees, to donate to the fundraising campaign, click here Missing Person Advocate Unjustly Targeted.
