Teen abducted as newborn says accused kidnapper "will always be my mom"
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- An 18-year-old woman abducted as a newborn from a hospital in Jacksonville, Fla., says she still loves the only mother she has known.
Kamiyah Mobley told ABC’s “Good Morning America” in an interview broadcast Wednesday that the woman charged in her abduction, 51-year-old Gloria Williams, “will always be mom.”
Mobley met with her birth parents, Craig Aiken and Shanara Mobley, last weekend in Walterboro, South Carolina, where she was found earlier this month.
“I feel like I do owe them that, to give them a chance, you know, get to know them,” Mobley said.
She realizes her life would have been different had she not been kidnapped, Mobley said.
“When you find out you’ve got another family, it gives you more love,” she said.
Williams was booked into the Duval County jail in Florida Tuesday afternoon, records show.
“It did hurt that they had her in cuffs,” Mobley said of an earlier court appearance in Walterboro. “She’s a gentle woman.”
Williams’ arrest came after DNA tests helped authorities identify the 18-year-old woman who had been living with Williams in South Carolina as Kamiyah Mobley. A woman dressed as a nurse took Mobley as an infant in 1998 from University Medical Center in Jacksonville.
Some months ago, the young woman “had an inclination” that she may have been kidnapped, Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said last week. CBS affiliate WJAX reported she learned her birth documents were fake in recent months when she tried to apply for jobs.
Mobley says she’s forgiven Williams.
“From that one mistake, I was given the best life,” she said.
Mobley said she is worried about what will happen to Williams in court.
“I understand that was she did was wrong, but just don’t lock her up and throw away the key like everything she did was just awful,” Mobley said. “She loved me for 18 years. She cared for me for 18 years.”
Mobley says she still talks to Williams daily but is not sure when she can see her again. “I will always love her,” she said.
