Kamiyah Mobley (a composite created by police) was kidnapped by a woman pretending to be a nurse (right) 18 years ago. Photo / Jacksonville Sheriff's Office
Kamiyah Mobley (a composite created by police) was kidnapped by a woman pretending to be a nurse (right) 18 years ago. Photo / Jacksonville Sheriff's Office
A newborn baby who was kidnapped from a Florida hospital 18 years ago by a woman pretending to be a nurse has been found alive and well in South Carolina.
The mystery of Kamiyah Mobley became a national sensation when she was taken from her mother's arms at the UniversityMedical Center in Jacksonville in July 1998.
Jacksonville police have since revealed the teen found out on Friday morning that the woman who has raised her in Walterboro is not her mother, reported the Daily Mail.
Gloria Williams, 51, has been arrested and charged with kidnapping and interference with custody.
Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said she will be extradited back to the city.
The sensational news shuts a cold case that accumulated more than 2,500 leads and tips and captivated both the city and the country for a decade.
It was a tip last year that led Jacksonville police to South Carolina, where they found an 18-year-old woman with Kamiyah Mobley's birth date but a different name.
They soon found out that fraudulent documents had been used to establish her identity.
Williams said he did not know if Kamiyah planned to return to her biological family, who he said was 'elated' with the news.
'They were extremely excited, as you can imagine,' he said. 'Overwhelmed with emotion.'
It was just after 3pm on July 10, 1998 when a woman wearing a blue floral smock and green scrub pants took eight-hour-old Kamiyah in a white blanket and disappeared.
Authorities said the woman had roamed the halls of the University Medical Center, now UF Health Jacksonville, for 14 hours, according to The Florida Times-Union.
She had spent five hours with Kamiyah and her mother Shanara Mobley. But nurses thought she was a member of their family.
It was Kamiyah's grandmother Velma Aiken who became suspicious when she saw the woman leave with a pocketbook slung over her shoulder as she carried Kamiyah away.
'I just feel like if I would have reacted on my feelings...I could have done something,' Aiken said. 'I could have taken that lady out with my bare hands.'
But by the time hospital staff were notified, it was too late.
Every floor and room of the hospital was searched. Police called the bus and train stations and airport to look out for baby Kamiyah. The FBI became involved.
There were no pictures of Kamiyah and only grainy footage from the hospital surveillance camera.
Authorities made a composite to try and illustrate what the newborn looked like. Sketches were released of the mysterious woman who posed as a nurse.
A $250,000 reward was offer and Kamiyah's story was told on CNN and America's Most Wanted.
