Abbie Humphries was three hours old when she was kidnapped by a fake nurse
The woman who was snatched from a hospital as a newborn by a fake nurse has died at the age of 30.
Abbie Humphries – once known as ‘Baby Abbie’ – was just three hours old when she was taken from her cot at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham in 1994.
Her parents Roger and Karen had to wait 16 agonising days until she was found.
“We have just had a terrible amount of bad luck,” Karen said at the time.
Abbie Humphries was three hours old when she was kidnapped by a fake nurse (Facebook/Karl Sundgren)
“I usually choose to look at the positive side of everything. It makes everyone feel better.”
Police received a tip-off that a former dental nurse named Julie Kelley, who told neighbours that she was expecting a boy, came home with a baby girl.
Kelley plead guilty to the charges and was treated for a personality disorder. As a result, the family moved to New Zealand to start a new life.
However, in 2020, Abbie’s mum Karen passed away from breast cancer at 59, and she began struggling with headaches.
Initially, the daughter thought the headaches were due to grief, but soon discovered it was in fact a grade four brain tumour.
“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,” Abbie said in 2021.
On Monday (9 December), her husband Karl Sundgren shared the tragic news that Abbie had ‘peacefully passed away yesterday’ was ‘surrounded by loved ones’.
Karl said: “She fought so hard with so much strength and grace for over four years and can finally rest.”
He added: “Abbie was so strong, and her infectious smile will forever remain in our hearts.”
Before she died, Abbie said she was very well protected as a kid after what had gone on.
“It was like everyone always knew who I was,” she said.
“Mum told me how much it had affected Dad, and as I was growing up it was like he had flashback moments and had to know where I was right then and there. He’d call me out of nowhere and be a bit strange.
Husband Karl said Abbie had ‘peacefully passed away yesterday’ (Facebook/Karl Sundgren)
“He felt what happened was his fault, because Mum was a midwife at the hospital and it wouldn’t have happened if she was in the room.”
People have been issuing their condolences on social media, as one person wrote “Rest in peace beautiful Abbie. I miss you so much already.
“I’m so so sorry to hear this news. Sending you and your family lots of love!” another added.
“Such a beautiful person, inside and out. I’m so proud of both of you for the courage, strength and positivity you showed throughout. Sending lots of love to you, your family and Abbie’s family xxx,” a third said.
In 2020, the BBC released The Secrets She Keeps, a TV drama loosely based on her abduction.
