Resolution For Family Whose Newborn Was Snatched 17 Years Ago

At just three days old the Nurse family's first child, who they named Zephany, was taken from her mother's bedside while she slept at a hospital in Cape Town, South Africa in 1997. The Nurses were devastated and continued to celebrate the birthday of their lost daughter every year. Last year, the baby's aunt, Shantal Berry, described the loss to CapeTalk radio: "It felt empty, and we were always wondering. She was stolen but not forgotten." One of the few photos the distraught family had taken before their baby was snatched. Then last year, 17 years after the kidnapping through an incredible coincidence the family found their lost daughter. Unbeknownst to the family, their daughter was being raised just a few miles away with a new name and a new family. It may have remained a tragic mystery forever had the Nurses' second daughter, Cassidy, not joined the same school. She was told by the other students that there was a girl who looked just like her. The girl was Zephany. The two became close friends, not suspecting their true connection. When Morne Nurse, Zephany's real father saw her, he knew at once and contacted police. DNA tests confirmed what he believed. His long-lost daughter was found. The woman who had raised Zephany was charged with stealing the baby and was, this week, sentenced to 10 years in prison. Her identity continues to be concealed to protect the privacy of the young girl. Zephany was reportedly raised with love and kindness by the convicted woman and her husband, who she believed to be her natural parents. The kidnapper had suffered a series of miscarriages before stealing the baby. At the time of the arrest, the Nurse family said that their joy overwhelmed any desire for revenge. Celeste Nurse told the Mail Online that "What she did was very wrong, they've been living a lie for the last 17 years, but I forgave her some time ago." Last year, at the time the discovery was made, Zephany's biological parents said there would be no pressure on the girl to live with them. "I want what she wants - whatever she thinks is best for her will be fine by us," said Celeste Nurse. According to John Ray of ITV news, Celeste ‘burst into tears at the verdict’.