A baby who was kidnapped from a
hospital in Jacksonville couple of hours after she was given birth into this
world has been discovered alive and well, after 18 years, in South Carolina.
The instance of missing child
Kamiyah Mobley spellbound the entire city and attracted attention nationwide in
1998 as a result of her kidnap from University Medical Center, now UF
Health-Jacksonville, only eight hours after she was born.
The suspect was finally
apprehended on Friday by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. The suspect who is
identified as Gloria Williams, 51, in Walterboro, S.C., around four hours north
of Jacksonville. Police say Williams professedly took Kamiyah and raised her as
her own particular girl, however under an alternate name for as long as 18
years. Officers are not discharging her name with a specific end goal to
diminish injury for Kamiyah.
“She was abducted as a newborn
and needs time to process this... we want to respect her privacy and we ask
that you do too," JSO Sheriff, Mike
Williams, said at a question and answer session Friday.
On July 10, 1998, a lady acted
like a medical attendant and went into Kamiyah's mom's hospital room. She lied
to the mother saying, Shanara Mobley, that Kamiyah had a fever and expected to
take her away. The lady left the room and the hospital with the youngster. They
both vanished without any form of trace.
An extraordinary examination was
propelled after Kamiyah vanished. Attendants told experts that they thought the
lady was a relative of Mobley's on the grounds that they saw her associate with
Mobley a few hours before the kidnapping.
Police looked every last bit of
the clinic. The FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) were
likewise called to help.
When they took a glimpse at investigation
video, it demonstrated excessively grainy, making it impossible to distinguish
the hijacker, and the camera in the nursery was broken. Law enforcement circled
an outline of the suspect. There was just the infant photograph of Kamiyah, so
examiners additionally advised the general population to pay special mind to a
child with an umbilical hernia, like a raised midsection catch, and wounding on
her rump.
A bounty of a $250,000 was
offered by the government to discover Kamiyah. The case was likewise
highlighted on America's Most Wanted. JSO said experts likewise had more than
2,500 leads since her vanishing, yet all leads ran dry.
The hospital was later sued by Mobley
who got a $1.5 million settlement.
It wasn't until late 2015 when experts
in the locality got two tips that drove them to South Carolina. JSO Cold Case
criminologists collaborated with the Walterboro Police Department and figured
out how to find a 18-year-old young lady with a similar birth date, yet unique
name. They likewise found fake reports had been utilized to set up the young
lady's personality. Police met a few people in the territory, who made more
doubt that the teenager was Kamiyah.
But JSO said that, in spite of
growing up intuition Williams was her mom, she started to presume months back
that she may have been included for the situation.
"She had a inclination,"
Sheriff Williams said.
JSO figured out how to acquire a
DNA test from the youngster not long ago and submitted it to the FDLE Crime Lab
for testing. They got the outcomes Thursday night and found that it was a match
to Kamiyah's DNA taken soon after she was conceived.
Police captured Gloria Williams
at her Walterboro home Friday morning. They served a court order and JSO Crime
Scene units stayed on the scene for a few hours after her capture. Williams is
confronting hijacking charges, a first-degree lawful offense deserving of life,
and impedance with authority charges.
Williams had a court appearance
in South Carolina late Friday evening, however the judge didn't set a bond.
Police say she will be removed back to Jacksonville where a bond will be set by
a nearby judge.
Kamiyah was likewise in the court
amid Williams' appearance and said to her she was "praying for her"
and that she "loved her."
After the successful arrest, JSO
reached Kamiyah's natural family and close family companions and shared the
news. They said she was healthy and was carrying on a typical 18-year-old life.
"They were elated... they
were overpowered with feeling," Sheriff Williams said.
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