Buzz
The vanishing of a baby is one of the most tragic unsolved mysteries. For parents, the pain of losing a child they’ve just welcomed into the world is immeasurable, especially when the child disappears without a trace. However, in such cases, there’s often hope that the child may still be alive. Infant abductions are frequently carried out by individuals who either wish to raise the child themselves or sell them for illegal adoptions. These children might grow up unaware of their true origins, living what appears to be a normal life.
A notable case is that of Carlina White, a 23-year-old woman who discovered that the person she believed to be her mother had actually kidnapped her from a hospital when she was just 19 days old. Eventually, she was able to reunite with her biological parents. In some of the cases listed below, the parents themselves have been under suspicion for their child’s disappearance, yet there remains a possibility that these missing infants could still be alive.
10. Marlene Santana
On October 18, 1985, Francesca Santana welcomed her daughter, Marlene, into the world at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn. Just three days later, while Francesca was admiring her baby in the nursery, a Hispanic woman in her late twenties approached her, striking up a conversation and remarking that Marlene was the most beautiful baby in the room. That same evening, as Francesca and two relatives were leaving the hospital with Marlene, the woman confronted them outside, brandishing a gun and forcing them to walk six blocks to an abandoned junkyard.
The woman demanded Francesca hand over the baby. When the assailant aimed her gun at Marlene and threatened to shoot, Francesca had no choice but to comply. Before Francesca and her relatives could react, the woman snatched Marlene, jumped into a waiting car driven by an accomplice, and fled. Investigators believe Marlene was either sold for illegal adoption or taken by someone unable to have children who wanted to raise her as their own. Tragically, more than 27 years have passed, and Marlene Santana has never been found.
9. Raymond Lamar Green
Donna Green gave birth to her son, Raymond, on November 1, 1978, at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. While visiting her newborn in the nursery, Donna encountered an African-American woman who introduced herself as “Lisa Morris.” She claimed to be visiting her sister, who had also just given birth. Donna spoke with this woman several times before leaving the hospital and taking Raymond home.
On November 6, Morris unexpectedly showed up at Donna’s apartment, saying she wanted to check on Raymond. Donna allowed her inside to see the baby, and since her brother Tony was present, Donna felt safe stepping away to take a quick three-minute shower. However, when Donna returned, Tony informed her that Morris had taken Raymond outside after he began crying. Donna searched for them but was told by a neighbor that Morris had entered a car and driven off with Raymond. After reporting the incident to the police, Donna discovered that the name “Lisa Morris” was fake and that no one matching her description had a sister who had recently given birth at the hospital. The woman’s true identity remains unknown, and sadly, Raymond Lamar Green has never been found.
8. Bryan Dos Santos-Gomes
On December 1, 2006, in Fort Myers, Florida, Maria de Fatima Ramos Dos Santos was waiting at a bus stop with her three-week-old son Bryan and a female friend when a Hispanic woman in an SUV approached them, asking for directions. After Maria and her friend boarded the bus, the woman followed them and asked for directions again once they got off at their stop. They agreed to get into the vehicle to assist her but were abruptly kidnapped. Maria noticed that the SUV already contained a car seat and a diaper bag. The woman drove them to Estero, demanded $500, and then dropped Maria and her friend off before driving away with Bryan.
Maria and her husband, Jurandir Gomes Costa, originally from a Brazilian village, had paid human traffickers to smuggle them into the United States. Initially, it was suspected that Bryan was taken because Jurandir had fallen behind on payments to the traffickers. However, police later considered the abduction a random crime after another Fort Myers woman reported a similar encounter. On the day Bryan was taken, she had been walking with her infant grandchild when the same Hispanic woman in an SUV approached her, asking for directions. Authorities believe the woman may have been seeking a child to raise as her own, but Bryan and his abductor have never been located.
7. Melissa McGuinn
Rebecca and Robert McGuinn resided in Trenton, New Jersey, with their seven-month-old daughter Melissa and two roommates, including 30-year-old Wanda Faye Reed. On March 6, 1988, Wanda asked Rebecca if she could take Melissa for a walk and received permission. Wanda left and returned eight minutes later with a neighbor, but Melissa was missing. Due to Wanda’s mental disability, functioning at the level of a four-year-old, she provided inconsistent accounts of what happened to Melissa.
Initially, Wanda claimed an unidentified African-American man knocked her down and took the baby. She later stated she dropped Melissa into the Delaware River, then changed her story again, alleging the neighbor she was with had traded the baby for drugs. The neighbor was investigated, but no evidence supported Wanda’s claims. Her story about the Delaware River was dismissed, as it was impossible for her to walk there and back in eight minutes. Some speculated Wanda harmed Melissa out of jealousy for the attention she received. Wanda was charged with kidnapping but was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial. The charges were dropped, and she was placed in an institution for the mentally disabled. Tragically, after 25 years, Melissa McGuinn’s fate remains unknown.
6. Sabrina Aisenberg
On the morning of November 24, 1997, in Valrico, Florida, Marlene Aisenberg woke up to find her four-month-old daughter Sabrina gone from her crib. A blue and yellow blanket belonging to Sabrina was also missing. The garage door had been left open overnight, one of the house doors was unlocked, and a blonde hair and an unidentified shoe print were discovered near the crib. Around 1:00 AM, a neighbor was awakened by his barking dog and thought he heard the sound of a baby crying.
While some evidence pointed to Sabrina being abducted, investigators found it odd that neither Marlene nor her husband, Steve, heard an intruder during the night, and the family dog showed no reaction. Controversy arose when authorities secretly placed listening devices in the Aisenberg home and allegedly recorded Marlene and Steve discussing their daughter’s death. In 1999, the couple was charged with conspiracy, but the recordings were too unclear to confirm any incriminating statements. It was later revealed that investigators had misled a judge to obtain permission for the surveillance, leading to the couple being exonerated of all charges. Although the Aisenbergs were never officially ruled out as suspects, no evidence linked them to Sabrina’s disappearance. Tragically, over 15 years later, Sabrina’s fate remains a mystery.
5. Christopher Abeyta
In the early hours of July 15, 1986, Gil and Bernice Abeyta of Colorado Springs found their seven-month-old son Christopher gone from his crib. The couple had last seen Christopher when they put him to bed at midnight, and the front door had been left unlocked. Initial suspicion fell on the parents, as Gil and Bernice were reconciling after a separation, and this was the first night Gil had stayed over in some time. However, the Abeytas were never officially named as suspects, and the Colorado Springs police faced criticism for eventually destroying much of the case evidence.
Christopher’s parents are convinced he was abducted and reported receiving numerous hang-up calls for six months before his disappearance, which stopped abruptly and then resumed months later. The calls were traced to Emma Bradshaw, a woman with whom Gil had an affair. Due to her history of break-ins, Bradshaw became the prime suspect, though she has always denied involvement. Nearly 27 years later, the Abeyta family runs a website dedicated to Christopher’s case and is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to answers.
4. David Blockett
On December 11, 1980, two-week-old David Blockett was taken from his home in Newport News, Virginia, by a woman who identified herself as “Marie Kelly.” She told David’s mother, Vanessa, that she was from the Department of Social Services and invited David and his two-year-old brother Frederick to a children’s event at a nearby medical center. Vanessa agreed, but later that afternoon, Frederick was found wandering alone at a shopping center with a note in his pocket containing his name and address. David was never seen again.
Frederick was reunited with his mother, but David was nowhere to be found. An inquiry with the Department of Social Services confirmed that no one named Marie Kelly worked there, nor did any employee match her description. As Frederick grew older, he had faint memories of the abduction and recalled the woman meeting a male accomplice. In a strange twist, two of David’s nephews were also abducted over 30 years later, though they were quickly found safe. Sadly, David’s fate remains unknown, and he has never been located.
3. Mary Agnes Moroney
In 1930, Michael and Catherine Moroney lived in Chicago with their two-year-old daughter Mary Agnes and her sister Anastasia. Michael placed an ad seeking a social services worker to assist his family, and on May 14, a woman named Julia Otis arrived, claiming she was sent by a social worker named Mrs. Henderson. The next day, Otis offered to take Mary Agnes shopping for clothes, and her parents agreed. A day later, the Moroneys received a letter from Otis stating she had taken Mary Agnes to California and would bring her back in two months.
Two weeks later, the Moroneys received another letter, this time from a woman named Alice Henderson, who claimed Julia Otis was her cousin and had taken Mary Agnes because her own husband and baby had died the previous year. The Moroneys never heard from Otis or Henderson again, but investigators believed both letters were written by the same person. In 1952, a California woman named Mary McClelland came forward, claiming to be Mary Agnes Moroney. She reunited with the family, but doubts arose because McClelland lacked Mary Agnes’s hernia scar, and a doctor claimed to have delivered McClelland a year before Mary Agnes was born. Decades later, DNA testing after McClelland’s death confirmed she was not Mary Agnes Moroney.
2. Lisa Irwin
On October 4, 2011, Jeremy Irwin arrived home at 4:00 AM in Kansas City, Missouri, and discovered his 10-month-old daughter, Lisa, was no longer in her crib. Lisa’s mother, Deborah Bradley, stated she had last seen her when she put her to bed the previous night. Jeremy also noticed several lights were on, the front door was unlocked, Lisa’s bedroom window was open, and three cell phones were missing. Deborah, who had been drinking heavily that night, soon became a suspect in Lisa’s disappearance.
Authorities alleged Deborah failed a polygraph test and brought in a cadaver dog to search the Irwin home. The dog reportedly detected the scent of a deceased body near Deborah’s bed, but no samples were collected for further analysis, and no evidence was provided to substantiate the claim. Lisa’s family insists she was kidnapped, a theory supported by three witnesses who claimed to have seen a man carrying a diaper-clad baby near the Irwin home that night. A month after Lisa vanished, Jeremy reported his debit card stolen, and in May 2012, it was allegedly used on a site offering fraudulent birth certificates. Despite these leads, Lisa Irwin’s fate remains unresolved.
1. Kamiyah Mobley
On July 10, 1998, Shanara Mobley welcomed her daughter Kamiyah at University Medical Center in Jacksonville, Florida. Throughout the day, she interacted with an African-American woman posing as a nurse. Eight hours after Kamiyah’s birth, the woman claimed the baby had a temperature issue and removed her from the room. Both Kamiyah and the woman vanished from the hospital, and neither was seen again.
Despite wearing a nurse’s uniform and an ID badge, the woman was not employed by the hospital. Investigators believe she may have had prior medical experience, as she demonstrated familiarity with medical terms and the hospital’s layout. While impersonating a nurse, she also pretended to be a member of the Mobley family, frequently asking staff when the baby would be discharged. Shanara later sued the hospital for negligence and was awarded a $1.5 million settlement. It is thought the woman was searching for a child to abduct and raise as her own. If alive today, Kamiyah Mobley would be 15 years old, likely unaware of her true origins.
