A woman pretending to be a medical worker snatched a three-day-old baby from a hospital early Saturday morning, according to the police. Mychael Darthard was last seen at 1:20 a.m. at Covenant Lakeside Hospital. The suspect, described as a woman wearing blue and flower-print hospital scrubs and a gray hooded jacket, took the baby and fled in a pickup truck. Surveillance footage showed the suspect walking through the hospital lobby with her head covered by the jacket hood, carrying a purse.
Lt. Scott Hudgens mentioned that the baby was jaundiced but did not provide additional details about her medical condition. It is believed that the woman may have had a male accomplice. Lt. Hudgens stated that there is currently no reason to believe that the suspect was known to the family. Gwen Stafford, senior vice president of Covenant Health System, shared that the suspect had entered the mother’s room multiple times prior to the abduction, claiming that the baby needed treatment.
The newborn was wearing a monitoring device, but it remains unclear if it included a global positioning system beacon. Stafford assured that the hospital has a robust security system in place. The mother is distressed and is praying for the safe return of her baby girl.
Although the situation is alarming, it is worth noting that abducted babies are typically found and reunited with their biological parents within five days. A 2003 study conducted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported that out of 217 nonfamily infant abductions between 1983 and 2002, the majority of the babies were safely retrieved within a 25-mile radius of the abduction location. Roughly three-quarters of the kidnapped infants were recovered in less than five days.
Despite this promising statistic, we empathize with the mother’s unimaginable ordeal and hope that someone will come forward with information to apprehend the suspect.
