Lubbock, Texas – A newborn kidnapped from a Lubbock hospital by a woman wearing hospital scrubs was found safe Sunday in New Mexico and returned to her mother.
Four-day-old Mychael Darthard-Dawodu was found in a home in Clovis, N.M., by police following up on tips, a day after she was taken from Covenant Lakeside Hospital.
Rayshaun Parson, 21, of Clovis was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and jailed in Curry County, N.M., where she had been interviewed by Lubbock and FBI investigators, authorities said. Federal charges also could be pursued, Lubbock police Lt. Scott Hudgens said.
Before being flown back to Texas and her parents, Caisha Darthard and Michael Dawodu, Mychael was checked at Plains Regional Medical Center in Clovis and found to be in good condition, Clovis police Lt. James Schoeffel said.
The infant was kidnapped early Saturday by a woman posing as a medical worker who walked out of Covenant Lakeside with the 5-pound baby hidden in her purse, police said.
The abductor allegedly had gone into Mychael’s mother’s room several times before the baby was taken, telling her the baby needed tests.
Susanne Moore, a former Covenant nurse who had a baby Friday at the same hospital, told reporters that the hospital put an electronic band on her newborn’s ankle. She said she was told that if the baby were taken too close to a door or elevator, a sensor would cause the door to lock or the elevator to shut down.
Moore said she also was told that if the band were cut off before it was deactivated, the hospital would be locked down.
