LOS ANGELES – In just over two weeks there have been three infant abductions from U.S. hospitals.
The latest occurrence happened the morning of March 10 in Lubbock, Texas. Rayshaun Parson, 21, posing as a medical worker kidnapped a jaundiced 3-day-old girl from Covenant Lakeside Hospital. The suspect had entered the mother’s room several times, telling her the child, named Mychael Dawodu, needed medical treatment.
The infant was wearing a security ankle bracelet, which alerted hospital officials when the baby and the device were separated. After that, Parson was viewed on the medical center’s video system leaving the facility with the child.
Police found Dawodu the following day in Clovis, N.M., and Parson was arrested. The suspect faces federal kidnapping charges and will be extradited to Texas.
In Lynwood, Calif., a 2-hour-old baby was abducted from St. Francis Medical Center on March 6. The baby was safely returned after the mother talked via cell phone to the father and convinced him to bring the child back.
Allegedly, the baby’s father simply walked into the hospital, took the infant and went joyriding. Once apprehended, the father was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and child endangerment.
On Feb. 23 in Gary, Ind., a 34-year-old man abducted a 1-day-old baby boy from the Northlake Campus of the Methodist Hospitals. The man and an accomplice were captured, and the newborn safely recovered, a short time later.
The suspect, believed to be the baby’s father, may be charged with neglect of a dependent or child endangerment. Methodist staff initiated the hospital’s alert system for infant abduction when the baby was first discovered missing. According to hospital officials, the baby’s security band had been tampered with and found under the mattress.
The infant was taken shortly after his mother informed the father that marijuana had been found in the child’s system.
