Lory Beth Snyder says she does not want any other parent to go through what she did.
Her infant, Lorelai, had been admitted to the hospital, and after finally getting the baby to rest, she decided to take a nap herself.
When she awoke, Lorelai was not in the room. Snyder explains on Facebook:
“The most terrifying thing happened to my family two days ago. As many of you know Lorelai had been admitted to NEA Baptist Hospital in Jonesboro, during our stay there my baby girl was abducted.
At the time of the incident I was the only one with Lorelai. Neither of us had slept in quite a while, with all the chaos of a hospital, exams, blood work and other testing to find out what was wrong with her. So when I finally got her to rest, I myself laid down as well.
I awoke a little over an hour later to find that Lorelai was missing.
When I found her she was in another woman’s hospital room, in that woman’s arms, with a room full of six or seven nurses just laughing and playing with her and Lorelai. I didn’t know this lady. She was not a nurse or a doctor. Just another hospital patient.
I proceed to take Lorelai out of her arms. Even though she persisted that I return to my room, without Lorelai, she stated repeatedly that I needed to just go rest. I told her, no that I was fine and I would be taking my daughter back now.
I removed Lorelai from her arms, and the nurses who had been standing around gathered up her things, because along with taking Lorelai she also took my diaper bag( which had been emptied around her room), iv pole, and crib Lorelai was in sleeping in.
We then returned to our room. Three nurses followed me. They all trying to assure me that my child was in no danger, that they new the patient, and she meant no harm.
It was then that I looked up and saw that Ms Harris (the woman, patient, whom had taken Lorelai) had also followed us back to our room. She once again persisted that I return Lorelai to her, and that I rest. I told her no thank you, that we were fine.
It was then that the nurses had to remove her from our room.
After what felt like an eternity, the nurses returned to transfer us to ICU, so we were in a secure unit, that had security. While I honestly don’t know if Ms Harris intentions were intend noble, since she claims to of just been trying to care for Lorelai.
I don’t know what she herself was ill with, something that could make my daughter sick. I don’t know anything! I don’t know what her actual intent with my child was. What she did with her. Or even how long she actually had her.
I contacted the police. Jonesboro PD stated that no crime was committed because Harris didn’t “intend” to rape or molest my child.
Apparently anyone can take any child any where, and its not kidnapping as long as you don’t intend to harm the child. So says the law according to the Jonesboro PD.
Whether or not the intent of harm was or was not there a child should never be taken in the way in which my daughter was.
Thank the gods that make baby is safe. We were lucky. Many parents do not get as lucky as we have. Child Abduction isn’t something that should be so easily dismissed.”
Eventually, Snyder and Lorelai were moved to another room in the hospital. Local news station KAIT spoke with Brad Parsons, the CEO of the hospital, who says that “inpatient safety is our utmost responsibility” and as such, the hospital’s risk management department and the local police department are investigating the incident.
According to KAIT, a police report indicated that officers had spoken to the other woman, who was adamant that she had no intentions to harm Lorelai.
The police report also noted that Lorelai was not harmed in the incident and that no criminal charges would be brought against the woman.
The hospital released the following statement regarding the case:
“An incident occurred in one of our patient care units (not labor and delivery) on Friday involving two patients, one of them a pediatric patient. While we cannot go into details because of patient privacy laws, two of our nurses acted immediately, followed all protocols, and rapidly brought the situation under control. Because of their quick work, all patients remained safe.
Our nurses quickly secured the pediatric patient and mother and fully cooperated with police, who declined to take action against anyone. We are grateful that everyone is safe, and we wish everyone the best and continued good health.”
Snyder is thankful that her daughter is safe, but notes that not every parent is so lucky.
Between 1983 and June 2016, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 306 infants were abducted. One hundred thirty-eight of those infants — almost half — were abducted from healthcare facilities, many of them being taken right from the mother’s room.
