Baby Stolen From Mother at Hospital Is Found Safe

A newborn boy kidnapped from his mother’s hospital room was found apparently unharmed Wednesday night, and police said the woman who took the baby had faked a pregnancy.

Police Chief Benny Napoleon said a 20-year-old woman and a man in his mid-20s were arrested shortly after the baby, Moses Champion, was found at the home of the woman’s mother.

Police withheld the names of the suspects.

The infant appeared to be in good shape, the chief said. He was being examined at Hutzel Hospital, where he had been kidnapped Tuesday.

Napoleon said the baby’s mother was notified of the recovery.

The police chief said the suspect had told acquaintances she was pregnant and stole the baby because relatives thought she was due to give birth.

The chief called it “a strange story” that even included a baby shower in honor of the kidnapper.

“She was carrying on this charade for an extended period of time,” Napoleon said.

He said witnesses who saw the child’s picture on television told police where he could be found.

Moses was born with five fingers and a thumb on each hand and authorities hoped that that would make the baby easier to locate.

FBI agent Stuart Carlisle said the abductor befriended Moses’ mother in the hospital, convinced her they had been classmates, then fled with the child when the mother went into the bathroom of the maternity ward.

“She was distracted for maybe a minute, and the baby and the abductor were gone,” Carlisle said.

About 6,000 babies are born each year at Hutzel, where a 5-day-old infant was kidnapped from the maternity ward in 1982.

That infant was found unharmed a few days later. Hutzel spokeswoman Teri DeMatas said hospital procedures will be reviewed to see if there are ways to improve security.