Newborn kidnapped from Florida hospital found safe 18 years later

CTV National News: Woman reunited with family A mix of heartache and happiness after the woman abducted as a newborn finally met her biological family 18 years later in North Carolina.

An 18-year-old woman kidnapped as a newborn from a Florida hospital and found living under another name in South Carolina had an inkling she may have been abducted, say investigators.

The teen grew up believing the woman now charged with her kidnapping was her biological mother, said Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams at a press conference Friday. But in the last couple of months she had an “inclination beginning probably a couple of months ago that she may have been involved in this in some way,” said Williams.

The woman who raised her, 51-year-old Gloria Williams, was arrested at her home in Walterboro, South Carolina and charged with kidnapping and interference with custody.

Mike Williams described the victim as a “normal 18-year-old woman” who is in good health and that “she is taking it as well as you can imagine. She has a lot to process. She has a lot to think about.”

Investigators are not naming the victim and the sheriff urged the media and the public to give the teen privacy while she grapples with the news.

In Jacksonville, the young woman's birth family cried "tears of joy" after a detective told them their baby had been found. Within hours Friday, they were able to reconnect by video chat.

"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, via FaceTime.

"She acts like she been talking to us all the time. She told us she'd be here soon to see us."

More than 2,500 leads and tips have been investigated since the kidnapping, said Mike Williams. But leads that came in to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children last year unlocked the mystery and led police to Walterboro.

Investigators discovered the 18-year-old had the same birth date as the abducted baby, who was named Kamiyah Mobley. DNA taken from the victim this week was confirmed Thursday night to be a match with the kidnapped newborn.

“This is what we strive for; justice for our victims, no matter how long it takes,” said the sheriff.

In July, 1998, a woman posing as a healthcare worker approached the mother, took the hours-old baby and disappeared from the hospital. That triggered an intense manhunt.

Even after all this time, the family never forgot the little girl ripped from her mother's arms that day.

Her mother, Shanara Mobley, told the Florida Times-Union newspaper on the 10th anniversary of the kidnapping that, on every one of Kamiyah's birthdays, she wrapped a piece of birthday cake in foil, and stuck it in her freezer.

"It's stressful to wake up every day, knowing that your child is out there and you have no way to reach her or talk to her," Mobley told the paper in 2008.

Aiken said she prayed to live long enough to see her granddaughter.

“My prayer was answered.”

With files from The Associated Press