Abbie Humphries was just three hours old when she was snatched from her cot at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham in 1994, sparking a frantic manhunt
Abbie Humphries was kidnapped from her cot at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham in 1994 just three hours post-birth, prompting a massive manhunt.
Some 16 days later, the baby was found unharmed, all thanks to the observation made by the kidnapper’s neighbours.
Abbie stumbled upon the details of her own abduction at the age of ten, after finding press cuttings while her family was gearing up for a move abroad. She went on to become a champion swimmer and tied the knot with her childhood sweetheart Karl Sundgren.
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Tragically, Abbie faced a gruelling battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumour, and last Sunday, Karl shared the gut-wrenching news of her passing on Facebook: “Our beautiful Abbie peacefully passed away yesterday, surrounded by loved ones. She fought so hard with some much strength and grace for over four years and can finally rest.”
Meanwhile, the woman who once pinched her by posing as a medical professional turned out to be dental nurse Julie Kelley, who was 22 at the time.
After the agonising 16-day search, Roger and Karen finally had their baby Abbie returned to them, all thanks to the sharp eyes of a neighbour in Wollaton, Notts. Glenis Smith noticed baby clothes drying on the line and realised something was amiss, especially since the news that Julie had welcomed a girl as she had been expecting a boy, reports the Mirror.
It was claimed Julie had faked her pregnancy to stop her boyfriend from leaving. Her then partner, Leigh Gilbert, a car mechanic, said: “I knew nothing about any abduction. I loved that child like it was my own.”
He added: “I have been duped by someone who was very clever. I believed that little baby was my daughter and now she has gone away and I may never see her again.”
Kelley’s solicitor, Michael Morris, later relayed her sorrow over the ordeal caused to Abbie’s family and insisted to Nottingham magistrates’ court that her client cared for the baby as best she could.
She got off with three years’ probation coupled with a stint at a mental health facility.
Fast forward, and Julie seems to be doing well, laying down new roots with a family of her own in a Midlands village.
Leigh Gilbert’s solicitor, Digby Johnson, has claimed his client, who was let off without charge and broke up with Kelley following his arrest, is also a victim in the shocking saga. “He truly believed she was pregnant and had good reason to,” Johnson stated, revealing the extent of Gilbert’s turmoil.
“He is a complete mess – he is distraught. The first time he realised the truth was when the police arrived in the early hours of Saturday.”