A baby girl was kidnapped from a Jacksonville hospital 18 years ago when she was only eight hours old. A woman posing as a nurse just walked out of the hospital with the newborn. The missing baby has been found and is now an adult. She has been living in South Carolina the entire time about four hours away from where she was abducted.
The missing baby
The case of missing baby Kamiyah Mobley made headlines on July 10, 1998. A woman posed as a nurse and entered Kamiyah's mother's hospital room and told Shanara Mobley that the baby had a fever and she needed to be taken away.
The woman and the child disappeared into thin air, but police did not give up on the case. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office confirmed that Gloria Williams was arrested on Friday, January 13, 2017, in Walterboro, South Carolina. The 51-year-old woman has been charged with kidnapping Kamiyah and raising her as her own daughter.
After the abduction
After the abduction, significant changes for the safety of babies were made in all hospitals around the country. There was a $250,000 reward to find Kamiyah. The case was also featured on America's Most Wanted. Officials estimated there were more than 2,500 leads, but none of them led them to find the baby or her kidnapper. Mobley sued the hospital and was awarded a $1.5 million settlement.
Local authorities received two tips in 2015 that led them to South Carolina. They discovered fake documents had been used to establish the girl's identity. A DNA sample from the teen was a perfect match to the one on file from the baby. That was proof enough that the teen is indeed the same person who was kidnapped 18 years ago.
Police said Kamiyah plans to stay in South Carolina for the time being. It is not known if she plans to meet her biological family anytime soon. Her biological father, Craig Aiken, said they did video chat shortly after they heard the News, but there are no plans for them to meet in person even though he wants to do so.
No doubt the 18-year-old has a lot to think about and process.
The only mother she has ever known is in jail facing kidnapping charges and interference with custody charges. Kidnapping is a first-degree felony, and Williams could get a life sentence for it. A bond will be set by a local judge after she has been extradited back to Jacksonville.
