A teenage girl who was tracked down after being taken as a baby from a hospital 18 years ago has told the alleged kidnapper who raised her: "I love you mom."

Kaimiyah Mobley grew up with the name Alexis Manigo, believing Gloria Williams was her biological mother.

But detectives have confirmed she was the infant whose abduction at just eight hours old in 1998 sparked a huge search.

Investigators say a DNA test shows the teenager was the newborn taken by a woman posing as a hospital nurse in Jacksonville, Florida.

Image: Williams appearing at a bail hearing

Williams was arrested at her home in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Friday and is charged with kidnapping.


The pair had an emotional meeting during a hearing on Friday when Williams blew a kiss to the young woman.

A sobbing Miss Mobley then walked up to her, crying "momma" and telling the 51-year-old through a caged door she loved her, Fox reports.

Miss Mobley, 18, went on Facebook to defend her, saying: "My mother is no felon."

She also said: "My mother raised me with everything I needed and most of all everything I wanted. The ignorant ones won't understand it."

Image: Ms Mobley spent a few emotional moments with the defendant

Referring to both Williams and her biological mother, she added: "I am going to give my mom a real chance but the bashing of my mother will not be taken lightly."

The teenager's birth family cried "tears of joy" after detectives confirmed the discovery, and they have now spoken to each other over the internet.

Her paternal grandmother, Velma Aiken of Jacksonville, said: "She looks just like her daddy.

"She act like she been talking to us all the time. She told us she'd be here soon to see us."

Image: Ms Mobley was taken when she was eight hours old

Williams' aunt, Susan Alls, said she watched Miss Mobley grow up and graduate from Colleton County high school. She refuses to believe Miss Mobley does not belong to Williams.

Ms Alls said: "I don't think it's true. There has to be something going on with the DNA, whatever they did."

After the baby was snatched, a massive search was launched but the case remained a mystery despite thousands of tips over the years.

A few months ago, Miss Mobley "had an inclination" that she may have been kidnapped, said Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams, but authorities did not reveal what raised her suspicions.

Image: Police released a photo of the accused and sketches from 1998

The breakthrough came after a tip received by the national centre for missing children led cold case detectives to Miss Mobley's home.

"She wasn't an abused child or a child who got in trouble," said Williams' neighbour Joseph Jenkins.

"But she grew up with a lie for 18 years."

Her mother, Shanara Mobley, told the Florida Times-Union newspaper on the 10th anniversary of the kidnapping that on every one of her daughter's birthdays, she wrapped a piece of 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," she told the newspaper in 2008.

Williams was denied bail and is set to be extradited to Florida.