Chilling CCTV captures 'nurse' kidnapping newborn from hospital
Shocking CCTV has captured the moment a fake nurse accused of stealing a newborn baby emerges from a hospital lift with the infant stuffed under her clothing.
The hospital security footage shows the woman wearing a nurse's uniform exiting a lift, apparently with the baby hidden under her top. She can then be seen leaving the hospital with the baby in her arms. The kidnapping was so professionally done that police are investigating whether insiders at the hospital could have been involved.
The incident took place at the Mother and Child Dr Oscar Alende Hospital in the Lomas de Zamora district of the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires on December 14. A suspect named as Erika Castano, 27, was arrested at a train station and the baby was brought to safety in the town of Luis Guillon, in Buenos Aires Province.
An unnamed clerk at the station told local media she found the encounter with the woman "weird".
"She came with the little girl and had a ticket to travel tomorrow, but she wanted to change it for tonight," the clerk said. "When I asked her for the baby's document, she replied that she did not have the papers yet. I thought it was weird."
The baby's grandmother, who has been named only as Maria, said she thinks hospital staff might have been involved in the abduction. "This was a delivery. It didn't come out of nowhere," she said.
She added that the suspect entered room 107, where Nicole Sandoval, the baby's mother, was at 9:30am on the day of the kidnapping and asked to take the newborn to perform a check-up in the neonatology ward.
David, the baby's father, said the woman looked like she was familiar with the hospital.
"She took her to the bathroom, changed her and just like that took her away," he said. "She had studied everything."
Shortly after the birth, and before her ordeal, Nicole had posted on social media about her daughter's arrival. "Welcome, Aylin Isabella. After so many scares, here you are. May God always bless you," she wrote.
Nicole was originally set to give birth at the Penna Hospital in the City of Buenos Aires, but due to the intensity of the contractions, she went to the Alende hospital, which was closest to her house.
Local media reported that the investigation into the abduction, which is still ongoing, is currently focusing on the hospital's security personnel.
David said the suspect "moved as if nothing had happened and left through the front door".
Local media quote the family as saying that security had been very strict around them, with only the dad able to see the newborn baby after it was born, but somehow, the fake nurse was able to go wherever she wanted unhindered.
The family told local media the child had since been reunited with her mother.
“They brought her [Aylin] to her mother. She is shocked, but happy. They are doing medical checks on the baby and, supposedly, she is fine. She is already in the hospital."
The investigation for "abduction of a newborn minor" is ongoing.
- Newsflash/Australscope
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