WATCH the sinister moment a “cradle snatcher” woman who posed as a nurse flees from hospital with a stolen baby wrapped in her arms.
Natalia Edith González, 39, was taken into custody for reportedly snatching a newborn from a hospital in Paraguay. She was apprehended just 50 meters away from crossing the Argentine border with the infant.
It is believed that González, who had deceived her family, including her partner, about being pregnant, was in search of a baby to kidnap. She selected a target after visiting three different hospitals.
Her attempt to abduct the day-old baby was caught on CCTV inside the Barrio Obrero Public Hospital in the Paraguayan capital Asunción.
Footage shows the woman dressed in a grey uniform pushing through a door and into the corridor with a bundle in her arms.
She walks to the far end and lingers there whilst another woman enters the passage.
When the coast is clear, the woman breaks out into a run, tightly clutching a large pink bag.
Video footage of the arrest captures the altercation between the woman and the police as they attempt to handcuff her, while the baby is safely reunited with a family member.
The suspect, an Argentine national, was reportedly posing as a nurse and wearing a face mask when the one-day-old baby was taken.
The grandmother of the infant’s 19-year-old mum said she drank tea with the fake nurse before the alleged kidnapping.
She claimed to the grandmother that she was at the hospital visiting an uncle.
The granny said: “I later asked my daughter where the baby was and she told me that the nurse had taken her to the paediatric ward.
“I told her that she wasn’t a nurse.
“We ran after the lady because we saw her with the baby in her arms.”
The authorities activated an alert throughout the country with particular attention on nearby border crossings.
Juan González, a local police spokesperson, said: “We started to cover critical points in the city, especially the borders and footbridges, carrying out checks.”
He said that Natalia sprinted out of the hospital and jumped on a bus to the area of Mercado 4 last Thursday as she tried to evade cops.
There, she bought clothes for herself and the baby girl and then took a taxi to Loma Pytá, another area of the city.
She then asked the taxi driver which bus to take to cross the border into Clorinda in Argentina.
The suspect, who lives in the Argentine city of Formosa, was caught by the Paraguayan police just 50 metres from the Argentine border.
NeedToKnow reported that we was caught red-handed with the baby in her arms.
Police said: “We proceeded to arrest the woman, who resisted at all times.”
The baby was reunited with her distraught teenage mother and is reportedly in good health.
Prosecutor Laura Finestra, in charge of the investigation, said the suspect lied to her partner and family, claiming she was pregnant.
The lawyer said: “She told them she was in a hospital in Formosa to give birth, but in reality, she crossed into Paraguay on 14 or 15 December.
“She then chose a mother who was alone and stole her child.
“She visited two other hospitals before carrying out the kidnapping.
“[Natalia’s] partner was shocked when he found out the truth.”
Finestra said they have evidence on the suspect’s seized phone that confirms the series of events.
There is currently no evidence linking the crime to any wider human trafficking network.
So far, Natalia has refused to testify, on the advice of her lawyer.
Finestra said: “She insisted on giving contradictory and implausible versions.
“She even implicated other people, but everything was false.”
The investigation into the alleged abduction is ongoing.
