Kamiyah Mobley, the newborn who was stolen hours after her birth in a Jacksonville hospital 18 years ago, was found alive in South Carolina, officials said Friday.

  • Kamiyah Mobley stolen hours after birth in 1998 in Jacksonville
  • Found alive in South Carolina with another family
  • Gloria Williams, 51, arrested and charged with kidnapping

DNA analysis identified the woman, who now knows her birth name, Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said Friday at a news conference. Mobley is in good health, but understandably overwhelmed, the sheriff said. 

"She's taking it as well as you can imagine. She has a lot to process," the sheriff said. "I can't even begin to comprehend it."

Authorities arrested Gloria Williams, 51, of Walterboro, South Carolina, at the home Mobley was living in. Williams is charged with kidnapping and interference with custody.

Mobley was only eight hours old when she was taken by a woman posing as a nurse from her young mother at University Medical Center in 1998. A massive search ensued, with helicopters circling the hospital and the city on high alert.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said investigators followed up on more than 2,500 tips over the years. Authorities apparently had no clue where she was.

Meanwhile, Mobley was being raised under a different name in Walterboro. A few months ago, the young woman "had an inclination" that she may have been kidnapped, the sheriff said at the news conference.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reached out to the cold case detectives at the Sheriff's Office, and Mobley provided a swab of her cheek for DNA analysis that proved the match, the sheriff said.

The woman has been provided with counseling. Her birth family was notified Friday and "they are elated," the Sheriff's Office said.

The Associated Press reported at about 2:30 p.m. that Mobley was able to meet her birth family in a video call via FaceTime.

Velma Aiken said Mobley, which is her granddaughter, acted like they had been in communication throughout the years and said she would soon meet them in person.

The Mobleys never forgot.

Her mother, Shanara Mobley, told the Florida Times-Union newspaper on the 10th Anniversary of the kidnapping that on every one of Kamiyah's birthdays, she wrapped a piece of birthday cake in foil.

"It's stressful to wake up every day, knowing that your child is out there and you have no way to reach her or talk to her," Mobley told the paper in 2008.

The sheriff said he doesn't know when Kamiyah will reach out to her birth family. 

"She's 18, an adult and clearly a victim in this case," the sheriff said. "A case like we have not seen in this country for a long time."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.