Duval County

4 YEARS AGO: Kamiyah Mobley found alive in South Carolina

Alexis Manigo and Gloria Williams Alexis Manigo, who was given the name Kamiyah Mobley at birth, and Gloria Williams, who's accused of abducting her from a Jacksonville hospital.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It’s hard to believe that it’s been four years since Kamiyah Mobley was found safe in South Carolina after being kidnapped as a newborn in 1998.

More than 2,500 tips were given to officials that led to the arrest of 51-year-old Gloria Williams.

Pretending to be a nurse, Williams kidnapped Kamiyah just hours after the little girl’s birth at University Hospital, which is now known as UF Health Jacksonville.

The only picture of Kamiyah was a composite because she was abducted just hours after being born. Police were able to compile a few sketches of Williams.

This composite image provided by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office in Jacksonville, Fla., shows a photo of Kamiyah Mobley, an infant girl who was kidnapped by a woman, seen in separate sketches provided by police in 1998 during the initial search.

On Jan. 13, 2017, police tracked down Kamiyah, who was going under the name Alexis Manigo, in Walterboro, South Carolina.

Police in Walterboro matched up the birthday of the missing girl with a different name and fraudulent documents. DNA tests confirmed that the girl was the missing newborn.

The fake birth certificate listed that Kamiyah was born at Trident Medical Center in Charleston.

Kamiyah was reunited with her biological mother and father just days after being found.

Williams was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the first charge of kidnapping and five years for the second charge of interfering with custody. The sentences run concurrently and Williams gets credit for 511 days of time served.

The story got national coverage and was made into a Lifetime movie, “Stolen by My Mother: The Kamiyah Mobley Story.” The family told Action News Jax that they did not have a big part in helping with the film. The movie premiered in January 2020.

In 2019, Kamiyah Mobley’s biological father said that Kamiyah was moving with him in Jacksonville.

RELATED STORIES:

1998 missing Jacksonville newborn found in South Carolina; 51-year-old woman arrested

READ: Kamiyah Mobley’s fake birth certificate

Teen abducted from Jacksonville hospital at birth reunited with parents

Kamiyah Mobley’s dad on Lifetime movie about daughter’s kidnapping: ‘This is not us. This is not our life.’

Woman who kidnapped Jacksonville newborn Kamiyah Mobley in 1998 won’t have sentence reduced

Gloria Williams sentencing hearing: Kamiyah Mobley’s mom testifies, says ‘I am your mother Kamiyah’




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