I posted an item on Saturday about a woman in Sanford, Fla., who managed to disguise herself as a nurse and successfully walk out of a hospital with a newborn infant in a tote bag. The infant was recovered a short time later and the alleged babynapper, 39-year-old Jennifer Latham, was arrested.
But that was only the beginning of this story. It gets even freakier.
For starters, Latham had told relatives she was nine months' pregnant and expecting a child any day. "We went shopping for baby clothes and all kinds of stuff," her sister told ABC News.
This comment prompted me to do the natural thing: Find out if Latham was registered. And indeed, a Jenny Latham of Sanford, Fla. with a due date of March 18 is registered at Babies R Us. None of the items has been purchased but, in case you're wondering, the nursery theme is "Soft and Fuzzy Pooh." (I call dibs on the ice cream cone socks!) Assuming this is the same Latham, this strikes me as potential evidence of a premeditated crime.
Other interesting details about the case also have emerged. According to the Orlando Sentinel, she tried to take another child first. While wearing a nurse's uniform, she entered a mother's room and said she needed to take her infant for an eye and ear exam. When the mother said the child had already undergone such exams, Latham left and entered the room of Mother No. 2. Once again, she asked to take the baby for an eye exam. And this time, understandably, the mom said yes, which is how Latham got her hands on the child she seemingly planned to pass off as her own.
On the legal side of things, a judge had ruled to release Latham from jail and put her on home detention pending a hearing. But it looks like that decision, which was based on the fact that Latham had no criminal record, could be overruled. Because, as it turns out, she may have a criminal record.
According to Fox 35 Orlando, she was arrested a few years ago in Indiana on several felony charges and two misdemeanors. And another Orlando station reports that Latham may have gone by an alias and possessed at least two Social Security numbers.
In other words, kids, this is one hot, maternity-ward mess. I personally can't get over the fact that Latham pretended to be pregnant and her relatives believed her. Based on photographs, she looks like a heavier woman so maybe it was hard to tell. But by the time the ninth month rolls around, a baby bump of some kind is usually pretty apparent.
Did she buy maternity clothes? Did she fake morning sickness in order to keep the ruse going? And just what did she plan to do if she had successfully swiped the kid? Seems like that level of fakery could only last for so long.
But perhaps the most important question is: If any of her friends threw her a shower, how totally stupid do they feel right now?
Clearly Latham -- who looks a little like Kathy Bates in "Misery" -- has some mental health issues, which hopefully she can address after spending some time in prison.
I want to close with this important note. For those of you who expressed genuine concern that this could happen to you, consider the statistic quoted by ABC News: Only 120 babies have been abducted from U.S. hospitals in the past 20 years. So the odds of this happening to you are very small. In case you hadn't already figured it out, a babynapper like Jennifer Latham is one in a million.
Photo: Local6.com
