Teen snatched from a US hospital as a baby by woman posing as a nurse defends the ‘kidnapper’ who raised her for 18 years
Tot was only eight hours old when taken by woman posing as nurse
A NEWBORN baby stolen from a hospital 18-years-ago has been found alive and well, as the woman who raised her is arrested on suspicion of kidnap.
Kamiyah Mobley defended her kidnapper and told a courtroom "my mom's no felon".
Shanara Mobley's baby was taken from a Florida hospital ward in 1998 when she was just eight-hours-old, sparking a huge search.
On Friday Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said DNA analysis identified confirmed an 18-year-old living in South Carolina under the name Alexis Manigo was the kidnapped youngster.
Cops have arrested 51-year-old Gloria Williams of Walterboro, South Carolina, on charges of kidnapping and interference with custody.
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In court Kamiyah shared an emotional goodbye with the woman who raised her saying "I love you mum!"
In a Facebook post she added: "My mother raised me with everything I needed and most of all everything I wanted.
"The ignorant ones won't understand it. My mother is no felon."
Williams, who has two biological children, is accused of posing as a nurse and stealing the baby girl, wrapped in a pink and blue blanket.
She suffered a miscarriage a week before the crime, reports.
In an interview with WJXT at the time of the kidnap Shanara, then 16, said "Please bring my baby back.
"If you were faking a pregnancy or you just can't have no kids, how do you think I feel... That's my first child."
The Sheriff said Kamiyah's biological parents and grandmother are "extremely excited and overwhelmed with emotion".
CASE GIVES McCANNS NEW HOPE
THE case of Kamiyah Mobley has given the parents of Maddie McCann “real hope” their daughter could be found alive, sources told The Sun on Sunday last night.
Kate and Gerry McCann, who are facing the 10th anniversary of Maddie’s disappearance in Portugal’s Praia da Luz in May 2007, were said to have been “buoyed up” after at the Kamiyah news.
A close source to the McCanns told The Sun on Sunday: “This case has given them real hope that one day Madeleine will be found alive and well.
“It proves yet again, like other previous cases, children vanish for many years but are still found.”
At Christmas, ex-GP Kate and heart doctor Gerry, both 48, of Rothley, Leics, appealed to Maddie’s abductor and people close to their tormentor to “do the right thing” and come forward.
Speaking about the teenager's reaction to the news he added said she"had an inclination beginning a couple of months ago" that she may have been abducted.
"She's taking it as well as you can imagine," he added. "She has a lot to process. She has a lot to think about."
Kamiyah's dad, Craig Aiken, told First Coast News Ken Amaro that he could not wait to meet his daughter, described by neighbours as a typical 18-year-old.
Kamiyah has spoken to her biological mother, father and grandmother.
Her grandmother, Velma Aiken, 66, told Associalted Press: "She looks just like her daddy.
"She act like she been talking to us all the time. She told us she'd be here soon to see us."
Neighbours were reportedly shocked to discover Kamiyah's true identity, never having suspected she was not Williams' daughter.
Joseph Jenkins told Associated Press: "She wasn't an abused child or a child who got in trouble. But she grew up with a lie for 18 years."
One year after Kamiyah vanished, police had more than 2,000 leads and offered a $250,000 (£204,000) reward.
The case was even featured on America's Most Wanted, but until now all leads ran dry.
The break came from a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Cops found an 18-year-old with Kamiyah's birth date but a different name - established using fraudulent documents.
A DNA test confirmed that the teenager was Kamiyah.
The Sheriff said she is in "good health";.
Williams could face up to life in prison if convicted.
OTHER KIDS WHO CAME BACK HOME
- JAYCEE Lee Dugard, 11, kidnapped in Meyers, California, 1991. Found aged 29 in 2009. convicted sex offender Phillip Garrido got 431 years jail term and wife Nancy 36 years to life.
- AMANDA Berry kidnapped 2003, aged 17, Gina DeJesus 2004, 14, and Michelle Knight 2002, 21. All found in 2013 in house in Cleveland, Ohio. Ariel Castro got life plus 1,000 years but killed himself in jail.
- NEWBORN Zephany Nurse taken to Cape Town, South Africa, 1997. Found aged 17, 2014. A woman got ten years.
- NEWBORN Carlina White kidnapped in New York, 1987. Found aged 23 in 2010. Annugetta “Ann” Pettway got 12 years jail.
- JULIAN Hernandez, five, kidnapped in Birmingham, Alabama, 2002. Found aged 18 in 2015. Dad Bobby got four years.
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