Celeste Nurse seen
with Zephany before she was abducted from Groote Schuur hospital. Photo credit:
Patrick Louw
A
baby stolen from her sleeping
mother's arms shortly after birth has been found by the family through
an
astonishing coincidence 17 years later, South African police say. A
50-year-old woman has been arrested and charged with kidnapping after
pupils
noticed a remarkable likeness between the 17-year-old and her younger
biological sister, who started attending the same school this year. DNA
tests have confirmed that the older girl is the daughter of Celeste and
Morne Nurse, who was snatched from Groote Schuur hospital as a
three-day-old
baby named Zephany in April 1997, local media reported.
The
parents, who later had three
more children, have celebrated Zephany's birthday every year since she
was
kidnapped, never giving up hope that their first-born child would come
back to
them some day, the Cape Argus said. Zephany grew up with a different
name, and a
different family, never knowing she was not their real daughter. But
last month, her biological sister, Cassidy Nurse, started high school at
the
same school as Zephany, and fellow pupils noticed a startling
resemblance she
bore to a final-year student.
When Cassidy told her parents about the girl, they invited her home for a cup of coffee. When they saw the striking resemblance between the girls, they contacted the police. Police spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Andr Traut confirmed that a woman had been arrested. She and her husband, who is also in his fifties, have no other children.
"The suspect is being charged with kidnapping, fraud and contravening sections ... of the Children's Act, in that she fraudulently pretended that she was the biological mother of a child," Lieutenant-Colonel Traut said. "The kidnapped girl has since been placed in the care of the Department of Social Services of the Western Cape government."
Coincidentally, the Nurse family had been living within a couple of kilometres of their kidnapped daughter.
When Cassidy told her parents about the girl, they invited her home for a cup of coffee. When they saw the striking resemblance between the girls, they contacted the police. Police spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Andr Traut confirmed that a woman had been arrested. She and her husband, who is also in his fifties, have no other children.
"The suspect is being charged with kidnapping, fraud and contravening sections ... of the Children's Act, in that she fraudulently pretended that she was the biological mother of a child," Lieutenant-Colonel Traut said. "The kidnapped girl has since been placed in the care of the Department of Social Services of the Western Cape government."
Coincidentally, the Nurse family had been living within a couple of kilometres of their kidnapped daughter.
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