Snatched from a Florida hospital in July 1998, Kamiyah was found alive and living in South Carolina some 7 hours away, having been raised by the woman who kidnapped her.
Kamiyah never knew the kidnapper who raised her was not her biological mum.
The discovery was made when a DNA sample from Kamiyah revealed she was the missing daughter of Craig Aiken and Shanara Mobley, who said they never gave up hope of finding their baby girl.
“I always thought I would find her,” her father Craig told Florida Times-Union. “I always felt she was alive,” he said. “I always felt she would find us. Now we have the rest of our lives together.”
Biological father Craig always knew he’d see his little girl again.
After the tear-jerking reunion, he said it was the moment that kept him going all these years.
“The first meeting was beautiful. It was wonderful. It couldn’t have went any better,” he said. “It’s a feeling that you can’t explain. It’s hard to put into words right now. We are just trying to process it — 18 years. It’s going to be hard to make that up. I just can’t describe it.”
Biological mother Shanara Mobley with the girl she gave birth to 18 years ago.
The long-lost parents are unsure where things will go from here, but just knowing where their daughter lives is enough for now.
“We are taking it one step at a time.”
He has a message for the parents of other missing children.
“Just keep fighting, keep your head up. Just keep praying. Keep pushing. It can happen one day.”
Gloria Williams, the woman who stole Kamiyah all those years ago and raised her as her own daughter, has been charged with kidnapping and interference with custody. If convicted she could face up to life in prison.
