A NEWBORN baby abducted from the Hospital Padre Américo in Penafiel, in the north of Portugal, has been found alive and well by police.
The 18-hour-old baby boy who had been taken by a woman claiming to be a nurse, was tracked down by the police less than 20kms from where he was taken.
The child was immediately returned to his mother.
The abductor initially claimed to be the child’s biological mother but it has since been revealed that she had, in fact, pretended to be pregnant to her family, friends and even her partner, who believed the child was his when she returned home.
It is understood that over the past nine months, the 21-year-old simulated morning sickness, bought baby clothes and had decided on the sex of the baby that she would kidnap.
On the day of the abduction, police say the woman dressed as a nurse and took the child, claiming he needed urgent medical attention. CCTV cameras confirm she left the hospital with him via the morgue. An anonymous phone call to the GNR led police officers to act quickly. She is now awaiting trial under house arrest.
The kidnap occurred two years after an identical abduction from the same hospital. Then, it was a three-day-old girl who was taken. She was not found until a year later.
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