JACKSONVILLE, FL (WFLA) — A newborn who was kidnapped from a Jacksonville hospital in 1998 has been found living in South Carolina with the woman accused of abducting her.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced on Friday that Kamiyah Mobley is now 18 years old and living in the town of Walterboro, which is located in the South Carolina Lowcountry.
The sheriff’s office said that tips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led them to Gloria Williams, age 51, who is the woman suspected of kidnapping Mobley from her hospital room at University Medical Center, which is now UF Health-Jacksonville.
Authorities said that Mobley was abducted by a woman who was posing as a nurse. The woman entered Mobley’s hospital room and told her mother, Shanara Mobley, that Kamiyah had a fever that needed to be checked. The woman left the room with Kamiyah and then left the hospital.
Surveillance cameras recorded a grainy image of Kamiyah’s abductor. Authorities later released composite images of Kamiyah and her abductor.
After receiving tips that Kamiyah was alive and living in South Carolina, detectives with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office traveled to South Carolina and with police there, arrested Gloria Williams at her home in Walterboro, where she lived with her children. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said that Kamiyah Mobley was not home on Friday morning when the women she knew as her mother was arrested.
The JCSO said that a DNA swab was taken from Kamiyah Mobley when she was born. That DNA matched DNA that was recently taken from Kamiyah Mobley.
The JCSO said that Kamiyah Mobley had a feeling she may have been a kidnapping victim, but did not provide any details.
“I think she had an idea that something occurred,” said Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams at a news conference on Friday.
A victim’s advocate is with Kamiyah helping her with the life-changing news.
“Imagine the gravity of what she’s dealing with,” said Sheriff Williams.
Sheriff Williams said he did not know if Kamiyah planned on reuniting with her biological parents. It is up to her to decide, since she is an adult.
He said it is very early in the investigation and every aspect of this complicated case will be looked into. Detectives are interviewing Kamiyah’s extended family. Her biological family was told that Kamiyah had been found. The sheriff’s office said they are elated.
Gloria Williams was charged with kidnapping and interference with custody.
Mobley – who was raised under her given name, Alexis Manigo – was allowed to spend a few emotional moments with Williams on Friday. She cried “Momma” through the caged window of a security door after Williams waived extradition to Florida, according to the TV station “News4JAX,” which posted a video online (http://bit.ly/2j9vRO5).
A much different scene was described by the young woman’s birth family. They cried “tears of joy” after a detective told them their baby had been found. Within hours Friday, they were able to reconnect over FaceTime.
“She looks just like her daddy,” her paternal grandmother, Velma Aiken of Jacksonville, told The Associated Press after they were able to see each other for the first time. “She act like she been talking to us all the time. She told us she’d be here soon to see us.”Keep checking NBC4i.com for real-time updates on this story. To get alerts for breaking news, grab the free NBC4 News App for iPhone or Android. You can also sign up for email alerts.