‘My heart sank at the news’- Belinda Powell, Adam Baird’s sister
TOP PHOTO: Belinda Powell holds a photo of her brother Adam Baird, whose remains were found last month.
By Jim Freeman
LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- News of the discovery of the remains of Adam Baird hit hard when his sister Belinda Powell got the call at lunch on Monday. “My glimmer of hope he’d come home, that’s gone,” Powell said in an exclusive interview with WLAF.
Baird went missing seven and a half years ago on March 31, 2019. Baird’s abandoned car was located on Big Four Road in the Stinking Creek Community. However, he was nowhere to be found, and until Monday, Powell was holding out hope.
“He was a wonderful person who got mixed up in the wrong things and with the wrong people,” Powell said in an earlier interview.
Hunters found the remains and called it in on Oct. 24. “That was over toward Jellico across the mountain from Big Four; on the other side of Pine Mountain though I call it Jellico Mountain. That’s a long way from Big Four,” said Powell.
It was initially thought that the remains might be of Baird’s. DNA and an autopsy confirmed those thoughts.
The investigation is ongoing, and once Baird’s remains are returned to the family, Walters Funeral Home will handle the arrangements. “We’ll bury him surrounded by his grandparents, aunts and uncles-n-cousins at Halls Cemetery off Stinking Creek Road,” said Powell.
“The hope of hearing him talk, see him smile and laugh was dashed with that one phone call. Even though he won’t be walking back through my front door, I do have closure,” said Powell. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-11/11/2026-6AM-PHOTOS SUBMITTED)
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This marks the 20th story WLAF has published on Baird. Search Adam Baird for the other 19 stories on 1450wlaf.com.
