Abbie Humphries, who was famously kidnapped as a newborn baby from a Nottingham hospital by a woman posing as a nurse, grew up unbeknown to her chilling abduction
It wasn’t until Abbie Humphries turned 10 years old that she discovered the full horrifying details of what had happened to her as a baby. And, in a strange twist, Princess Diana was a crucial element of her discovery.
Abbie, who has sadly died of a brain tumour, was just three hours old when she was snatched from her cot at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham on July 1, 1994. Her kidnapping by a young woman disguised as a nurse stunned the world, sparking a nationwide police hunt with officers scouring the UK in search of the tiny baby.
Abbie grew up knowing few details of her abduction until, aged 10, she found press cuttings and a message from the late Princess Diana, with whom she shared a July 1 birthday. At the time Abbie’s family was moving to New Zealand for a fresh start and busy packing. It was as she read the goodwill letter from the late Princess of Wales that Abbie first began to realise the enormity of her case.
“My parents told me all about it as I grew up, but not all in one go. It came out in bits and pieces, part of the family conversation really,” Abbie revealed in 2021. “We were unpacking all the boxes and I saw the press cuttings. That’s when I realised what a huge deal it was. But it didn’t stir up any emotions of horror or anything.”
After Abbie was terrifyingly taken from her cot, reporters helped to raise awareness of her case in the news. In a press conference broadcast live on TV, Abbie’s mother, Karen, pleaded to be reunited with her baby. She said: “Whoever has taken our baby, can they please give her back.”
Sixteen days later, the newborn was discovered at an address in Wollaton just two miles from the hospital. Police had been tipped off that a former dental nurse called Julia Kelley, living there with her boyfriend and his mother, had been pregnant and expecting a boy, but had come home with a girl, making neighbours suspicious.
It was reported Kelley faked a pregnancy to persuade her boyfriend not to leave. Following her arrest, Kelley pleaded guilty to abducting Abbie and was put on probation for three years and treated for severe personality disorder.
Meanwhile, Abbie was reunited with her devastated family. Karen said of the ordeal: “I’d had those first three hours with Abbie, cuddling her and feeding her. The bonding had begun. It was a terrible wrench to lose her so quickly, but I knew I had to be strong and believe that I would get her back.”
In 2020, Karen tragically died of breast cancer, and one year later, Abbie was diagnosed with a Grade 4 cancerous brain tumour. She told Mail Online at the time: “We have just had a terrible amount of bad luck. I usually choose to look at the positive side of everything. It makes everyone feel better.”