Natalia Edith Gonzalez is accused of dressing in a nurse’s uniform and face mask in a hospital in Asuncion, Paraguay, before stealing a newborn baby girl. She was arrested just metres from the Argentinian border
A woman has been arrested over the alleged theft of a newborn baby girl from a hospital in which she’s accused of disguising herself as a nurse.
Police in Paraguay apprehended Natalia Edith Gonzalez just 165ft from the Argentina border after the audacious attempt on Thursday. Harrowing CCTV shows a woman dressed in a nurse’s uniform and a mask cradling the newborn in a hospital corridor while seemingly waiting for a passing patient to return to her room.
But once the coast is clear, the woman darts out of the ward still carrying the one-day-old infant. The footage was captured at Barrio Obrero Public Hospital in Paraguay’s capital, Asuncion.
The baby’s great-grandmother later claimed she had shared a cup of tea with the suspect minutes before the alleged kidnapping. The grandmother of the newborn’s mother said the woman had told her she’d been in hospital visiting an uncle at the time.
The gran 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.”
After the alarm was raised, officials in Paraguay activated an alert to other authorities, with a particular focus on the country’s borders with Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina. Police believe the suspect took a taxi before catching a bus from the hospital, and was later arrested near Clorinda, Argentina.
Police spokesperson Juan Gonzalez said: “We started to cover critical points in the city, especially the borders and footbridges, carrying out checks.” He said that the suspect took a bus to the area of Mercado 4 before buying clothes for herself and the baby girl, then took a taxi to Loma Pyt .
She then asked the taxi driver which bus to take to cross the border. Gonzalez, who is from the Argentinian city of Formosa, reportedly had the baby in her arms at the time of her arrest, as reported by NeedToKnow. The police said: “We proceeded to arrest the woman, who resisted at all times.” The baby was thankfully returned to her mother, 19, 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 stated: “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 others hospitals before carrying out the kidnapping. Gonzalez’s partner was shocked when he found out the truth.”
Ms 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 a human trafficking network. Upon her lawyer’s advice, it’s understood Gonzalez has so far declined to testify. Ms 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.