INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Kamiyah Mobley, Kidnapped Florida Infant, Found Out She Was Kidnapped Two Years Ago, Friend Says

By Lindsay McCane
Published on: 13:20 PST, Jan 17, 2017

Kamiyah Mobley, the now 18-year-old who was abducted from the hospital when she was a newborn, found out her true identity two years ago, her friend has revealed, according to People magazine.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, Kamiyah Mobley, who was raised under the name Alexis Kelly, was just a few hours old when Gloria Williams, a woman posing as a nurse, kidnapped her from a Jacksonville, Florida, hospital in July 1998. Apparently, Mobley’s biological parents, father Craig Aiken and mother Shanara Mobley, handed their newborn daughter to Williams because they believed she was a nurse, while the hospital staff believed she was a family member.

Kamiyah’s abduction made national news and continued receiving attention until it went cold. With the help of a series of leads from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the police were able to use DNA to positively identify Kamiyah as the abducted infant.

Gloria Williams was arrested and is being charged with first-degree kidnapping and third-degree interference with custody. She currently remains in jail.

As for Kamiyah, her friend Arika Williams told People that she realized she wasn’t actually Alexis Kelly two years ago when she went to apply for a job.

“She was upset about it,” Arika said. “She even stayed home from school the next day.”

Kamiyah had reportedly applied to a job at a local restaurant, which asked her to provide copies of her birth certificate and social security card. She approached Gloria about the documents, but she kept putting off getting them for her. Eventually, Gloria broke down and told her daughter the truth.

“Lexy didn’t have that so she asked Miss Gloria for it and Miss Gloria kept brushing it off,” Arika said. “Lexy kept being hard on her mother, like ‘Momma, where is my stuff? I want to get this job.’ Then Miss Gloria just broke down and told her this is why right here, you can’t do this. I kidnapped you.”

According to Arika, Gloria was pregnant around the time Kamiyah was born, but suffered a miscarriage. After she lost the baby, she went to the Jacksonville hospital and took Mobley.

“Gloria was pregnant at the baby shower and had people there bringing homemade quilts saying Alexis’ name on it,” Arika continued. “Alexis Kelli Manigo was going to be spoiled regardless but I guess she said she lost Alexis Kelli Manigo. She was going to find Alexis Kelli Manigo and went and got Kamiyah.”

Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said they are still trying to piece together what exactly happened 18 years ago.

“We don’t know exactly what she knew,” Williams said about the teenager. “We know that obviously there was conversation about her maybe not being her daughter. Did she confess completely to her, or did she just give her pieces of it? We are not quite sure at this point.”

As for why Gloria decided to kidnap another baby, Williams said they are still working on figuring that out.

“We are still working on that,” he said. “We don’t know the answer to that as to why she did it and we don’t know if she told her. We don’t know how much conversation they had: whether it was over one day or whether it was over multiple days or weeks. We are not sure about that as of yet.”

On Saturday, Craig Aiken and Shanara Mobley came from Jacksonville, Florida, to reunite with their daughter, whom they had not seen in 18 years. The reunion took place at the Walterboro Police Department and lasted approximately 45 minutes. Needless to say, the parents were overjoyed to finally have their daughter back.

[Featured Image by Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office/AP Images]

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