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Kidnapped baby found 17 Years Later? An astonishing coincidence has led to the discovery of Zephany Nurse – stolen from her mother’s arms in Groote Schuur Hospital as a newborn 17 years ago.
Zephany Nurse was found after her biological sister joined her Cape Town secondary school and pupils there noticed the striking similarity between the girls.
Cassidy Nurse, 14, told her parents, Morné and Celeste, about the older girl and they invited her to their home for tea after school.
On meeting her, they contacted the police, who confirmed the girl’s identity through DNA tests.
[fwdevp preset_id=”8″ video_path=”RGG1EbcFpxw”]A 50-year-old woman, who is believed to have changed Zephany’s name and raised her as her own, has been arrested and charged with kidnapping and fraud.
Police said the woman was married but had no other children, and was living just a few miles away.
The baby’s disappearance in April 1997 was covered widely by both South African and international media.
Her parents have issued regular appeals over the years to anyone who might know her whereabouts.
They had two more girls and a boy but never forgot their first child and celebrated her birthday each year with a cake and candles.
Their younger children were all told about their older sibling who was kidnapped.
Speaking in 2011, Mrs Nurse said not a day went by without her thinking about her missing daughter.
Her husband added: ‘I’ll never, ever give up hope.’
Zephany’s aunt Chantelle Nurse said the first meeting had been deeply emotional for her birth mother.
‘She was just crying and she knew that this was her child,’ she said.
The family are now looking forward to celebrating her birthday in April with her for the first time.
‘We’re going to have a big bash for her,’ she said.
Agencies/Canadajournal
