Kidnapped Newborn Saved Thanks to Facebook

Melissa McMahon got baby girl back within 3 hours
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 28, 2014 12:58 AM CDT
Facebook Helps Reunite Mom With Kidnapped Newborn
Police released this photo of the fake nurse after the newborn was kidnapped.   (Quebec Police)

The mother of a day-old infant kidnapped from a Quebec hospital by a fake nurse got her baby back within three hours thanks to four young people who spotted an alert on Facebook. One of the group recognized the suspect's photo and guided police to her home, where they knocked down the door and retrieved the unharmed baby girl, the AP reports. "Every click, every share made the difference," relieved mother Melissa McMahon says. "Four marvelous people, whom we had the chance to meet, identified this woman thanks to Facebook ... We felt a huge amount of support from the public."

Police say the suspect, who is in her early 20s, snatched the infant after walking into the maternity ward dressed in scrubs and telling the mother she needed to weigh the baby. She has been hospitalized and is expected to be charged with crimes including kidnapping. McMahon says that after the "worst moment of our lives," she "didn't even dare imagine such a perfect ending," CTV reports. She has a message for new mothers in the hospital: "Don't ever be fooled by a uniform." She says people should always check the badges of hospital staff. "I know it can seem insignificant, but all of this could have been avoided if I had been on guard," she says. "It's your kid, don't let it out of your eyesight." (More kidnapping stories.)

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