• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Nature, Environment, History & Politics

The Valley Citizen

  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About
  • RSS Icon

Homeless: Who is Mary Baca?

October 7, 2015 By Eric Caine Leave a Comment

Mary Baca
Mary Baca

After over a month on the streets, Mary Baca still has her nice watch and amethyst ring. That’s probably because she was lucky enough to wander into a park where Phil Ham and his long-time homeless friends often spend their days.

At sixty-two years old, Ham likes to joke that Mary, fifty-four, is too old for him. “I don’t go out with women over thirty,” he says. Nonetheless, when Mary wandered into the park, Ham invited her to share his food and cigarettes, and she’s been with him ever since. Sort of.

“She wanders off,” says Ham. “Sometimes she crosses McHenry Avenue with traffic coming both ways.”

Mary also has a tendency to roam at night, an especially disturbing problem for someone like Ham, who spends his nights in a permitted location.

“It’s hard for people with gear to go chasing around at night,” says one of Ham’s homeless friends. “You can’t leave your stuff because someone might take it.”

When Mary showed up in the park wearing clean clothes, a nice watch, and good jewelry, it was easy to see she was only recently on the streets. She told people in the park that she had been living in a new Nissan Versa which she’d recently paid off, but that a man named John Cassares had “hacked” her steering wheel and stolen the car.

From the beginning, Mary’s stories about a conspiracy to steal her identity and control her movements were bizarre even among the homeless population, where mental illness is common.

She says there are devices in her ears which enable her “controllers” to hear what she hears. “They can see through my eyes and make me go anywhere they want,” she adds.

For a while Mary used a small pair of needle-nose pliers to probe at her ears. Mercifully, the pliers went missing and she seems to have forgotten about them.

watch tunedNonetheless, she still tells stories about the men who have stolen her identity and never forgets to include the implants in her ears and eyes. In addition to their command of electronic surveillance and control, Mary claims her tormentors are expert pickpockets and routinely rob her of cigarettes and what little money she gets from handouts.

“Lately she’s been getting worse, and I don’t know what to do,” says Ham. “She probably needs medication and has forgotten all about it. A couple of days ago, a guy passing through offered her drugs for sex. We can’t follow her everywhere.”

Mary has consistently claimed that she worked for Safeway. Sometimes she says she worked for thirty years, other times the figure is seventeen years. “I worked graveyard but when I came home John Cassares made me leave so that’s why I started sleeping in my car,” she explains.

Mary says she was born in Scenic General Hospital in Modesto in 1961 and has relatives in Valley Home. She thinks her car is still parked near the park she frequents, but her homeless guardians believe the car was towed long ago.

One of Ham’s friends has also tried to help Mary, but soon realized she needs professional assistance. “She’s getting worse and worse all the time and I’m at my wit’s end,” he says.

Phil Ham also doesn’t know what to do with a very sick woman who almost certainly has family or friends nearby. “It’s wrong that she’s out here,” he says. “It’s just wrong.”

If you recognize Mary or know where she can be helped, email us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

 

Filed Under: Featured, History Tagged With: Modesto homeless, Stanislaus County homelessness

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

A Farmer’s Quest to Beat California’s Waves of Drought and Deluge
A Farmer’s Quest to Beat California’s Waves of Drought and Deluge
Don Cameron went all in on a trickle-down survival tactic. It could help save America’s agricultural heartland—even if he doesn’t survive the new water war.
www.wired.com
Ten Ways Billionaires Avoid Taxes On An Epic Scale
Ten Ways Billionaires Avoid Taxes On An Epic Scale
This article first appeared at ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative…
talkingpointsmemo.com
A South Texan?s Wild, Life-affirming Quest to Break a National Birding Record
A South Texan’s Wild, Life-affirming Quest to Break a National Birding Record
When she began her year-long bird-spotting adventure, Tiffany Kersten was lost and lonely. She ended up achieving a major milestone and finding her way.
www.texasmonthly.com
Ron Johnson tried to hand fake elector info to Mike Pence on Jan. 6, panel reveals
Ron Johnson tried to hand fake elector info to Mike Pence on Jan. 6, panel reveals
A top aide said the Wisconsin Republican senator wanted to give Pence the list of pro-Trump electors as he prepared to certify the 2020 election.
www.politico.com
Raffensperger says he wishes Fox News carried every Jan. 6 hearing
Raffensperger says he wishes Fox News carried every Jan. 6 hearing
“I think it would have helped our party heal, given [people] more facts.”
www.axios.com
'Not safe anymore': Portland confronts the limits of its support for homeless services
‘Not safe anymore’: Portland confronts the limits of its support for homeless services
Homeless encampments now spill well beyond Portland’s downtown core, dividing a city that has invested liberally in support services.
www.latimes.com
Republicans Will Do It Again
Republicans Will Do It Again
They have not been chastened by the revelations of the January 6 committee.
nymag.com
Birdman
Birdman
Bird Brother: A Falconer’s Journey and the Healing Power of Wildlife
www.earthisland.org
The Potato Roll Empire Bankrolling Christian Nationalist Doug Mastriano
The Potato Roll Empire Bankrolling Christian Nationalist Doug Mastriano
The Martins were bit players in politics, until they put Doug Mastriano one step away from becoming Pennsylvania’s next governor.
nymag.com
Roger Stone and Michael Flynn under fire over rallies ‘distorting Christianity’
Roger Stone and Michael Flynn under fire over rallies ‘distorting Christianity’
Prominent Christian leaders accuse Trump allies of spreading misinformation about election and Covid, while distorting Christian teachings at ReAwaken America events
www.theguardian.com
Major water cutbacks loom as shrinking Colorado River nears 'moment of reckoning'
Major water cutbacks loom as shrinking Colorado River nears ‘moment of reckoning’
As the Colorado River water shortage worsens, major cutbacks are needed to reduce most perilous risks, a federal official tells senators.
www.latimes.com
Trump Scammed Supporters Out of $250 Million for Nonexistent Fraud Fund
Trump Scammed Supporters Out of $250 Million for Nonexistent Fraud Fund
Supporters who thought they were donating to “election integrity” instead saw some of their money funneled to Trump hotels
www.rollingstone.com
Police Arrested 31 White Supremacists Crammed Into a U-Haul With a Detailed Riot Plan
Police Arrested 31 White Supremacists Crammed Into a U-Haul With a Detailed Riot Plan
Members of the Patriot Front were allegedly planning to disrupt a pride parade in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
www.vice.com

Find us on Facebook

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design