A teenager who who was stolen from hospital as a newborn by a woman who then raised her as her own child, actually made the shocking discovery two years ago, a friend claims.
Alexis Manigo, 18, claimed she only found out on Friday that her real name was Kamiyah Mobley and that Gloria Williams kidnapped her from a Florida hospital on the day she was born.
But Arika Williams, who long believed she was Mobley's half-sister, insists that she found out she was abducted when she went to apply for a job two years ago.
'She was upset about it,' Williams told People. 'She even stayed home from school the next day.'
Alexis Manigo, 18, claimed she only found out on Friday that her real name was Kamiyah Mobley and that Gloria Williams kidnapped her from a Florida hospital on the day she was born |
Authorities revealed that Kamiyah 'had an inclination' some months ago that she may have been kidnapped but have not revealed why she had those suspicions.
The mystery of Kamiyah Mobley became a national sensation when she was stolen from her mother Shanara Mobley's arms at the University Medical Center in Jacksonville in July 1998.
Williams had suffered a miscarriage about a week before she drove the three hours from South Carolina to Florida and abducted baby Kamiyah, Walterboro Live reports.
It is believed she then passed off Kamiyah as her own daughter to family and friends, who said they never suspected a thing.
Jacksonville police said the teenager found out on Friday morning that the woman who raised her in Walterboro her whole life was not her real mother.
Within hours Manigo was able to reconnect over FaceTime with Shanara and her father Craig Aiken, who both cried 'tears of joy' after a detective told them their baby had been found.
Her family is planning to drive to South Carolina on Saturday to reunite with the daughter they thought they had lost forever.
Kamiyah Mobley, (left) now 18, was found living in South Carolina on Friday living under the name Alexis Manigo. Gloria Williams, 51, (right) has been arrested for kidnapping the girl from Florida |
Meanwhile Williams, who also has two biological children who grew up with Kamiyah, will be extradited back to Florida as soon as possible and is being held without bond, according to Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams.
But Arika says Williams actually told Mobley the truth after she was hired at a local restaurant who asked her to provide a birth certificate and social security information.
'Lexy didn't have that so she asked Miss Gloria for it and Miss Gloria kept brushing it off,' says Arika. '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.'
Kamiyah's mother Shanara Mobley (pictured two days after the abduction) was just 16 years old when her daughter was taken from her arms |
Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said he was aware there was a 'conversation' about Williams not being Mobley's birth mother.
'We don't know exactly what she knew,' he said. '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.'
Arika added that her mother, who had already picked out the name Alexis Manigo, said she'd suffered a miscarriage shortly before she abducted Mobley.
'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.'
Mobley had burst into tears as she said goodbye to Williams, 51, on Saturday as her abductor waived extradition to Jacksonville, where she will face kidnapping charges.
'I love you mom,' she told Williams as the two shared a moment, separated by a mesh screen in the Colleton County Jail in Walterboro, South Carolina.
Williams blew Kamiyah a kiss as the teenager cried out 'Momma' and told her abductor she was 'praying' for her.
Just hours after police revealed that Kamiyah Mobley had been found, Manigo took to Facebook to defend her abductor.
'My mother raised me with everything I needed and most of all everything I wanted,' she wrote. 'My mother is no felon.'
Williams, who was employed as a social worker and attended church every Sunday, where she also led the youth program, could face up to life in prison if convicted.
Via - Dailymail
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