It's called 'Newborn kidnapping by Caesarean section'

By Jason Cato
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, October 14, 2005
Cases of children being ripped from the womb and kidnapped are shocking, but rare.

Since 1987, there have been eight documented cases in which fetuses were stolen, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Seven of those eight mothers died; all but two of the children lived.

The phenomenon even has a name: "Newborn kidnapping by Caesarean section."

While the center has extensive details and records of abductions in which fetuses were successfully removed, it does not track attempted cases, such as one that occurred Wednesday in Armstrong County.

Peggy Jo Conner, 38, of Manor, is accused of hitting Valerie Lynn Oskin in the head with a baseball bat and later trying unsuccessfully to remove her unborn child with a razor. Oskin, 30, also of Manor, was flown to Allegheny General Hospital, North Side, where doctors performed an emergency Caesarean section.

"Sadly, infant abductions happen. Not with a lot of regularity, but they do happen across the country," said Cathy Nahirny of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, based in Alexandria, Va.

In February, a Kentucky mother fended off an attack by a knife-welding woman attempting to steal her unborn child, which was near full-term. During a struggle inside the would-be-abductor's apartment, Sarah Brady, 26, wrested away the knife and fatally stabbed the assailant.

Three of the successful abductions happened in the past five years, but that is not indicative of a trend considering there are 4 million births a year in the United States, Nahirny said.

"I think it's random," she said.

The typical abductor is a woman of childbearing age who relies on manipulation and deception to make people believe she is pregnant and to gain the trust of a woman who really is pregnant. The motive often is a desire to have a child in order to "save" a relationship with a boyfriend or husband, Nahirny said.

"There are some very, very disturbed people out there," she said. "I cannot tell you how creative these women are."

Conner told authorities she was seven months' pregnant and that she told her husband and many others about it, according to the affidavit of probable cause. Police, however, said there is no evidence to suggest Conner is pregnant.

Ann Burgess, a Boston College nursing professor and the lead researcher in a 2002 study on newborn kidnapping by Caesarean section, said Oskin likely would have been killed were it not for a 17-year-old boy who noticed her and Conner along a secluded dirt road.

Other women who have attempted to steal unborn children were not deranged or insane, Burgess said. Delusional, maybe.

"The thinking is similar, in that they have delusions they can take someone else's baby," Burgess said. "But what (Conner) didn't plan out well is how she was going to get away with it and what she was going to do with the body."

Documented cases

Unborn children were cut from their mothers' wombs and stolen at least eight times since 1987:

1987; Albuquerque, N.M.: Darci Piecer, 19, strangled Cindy Ray in the desert and used car keys to cut into the woman's womb.

1992; Brownsville, Texas: Sisters Rosa and Paulyna Botello lured Laura Lugo across the Mexican border, where the woman was drugged and her unborn child removed through Caesarean section. Lugo survived, but later was killed in an unrelated incident.

1995; Addison, Ill.: Three people shot Deborah Evans in the head and then used scissors and a knife to remove her fetus. The suspects also killed two of Evans' other children.

1996; Tuscaloosa, Ala.: Felicia Scott, 29, sliced open Carenthia Curry, 17, and stole her child before shooting the mother in the head and stuffing her body in a plastic garbage bag.

1998; Fresno, Calif.: Josephina Saldana, 40, abducted Margarita Flores in an attempt to steal her unborn child. Saldana took the dead fetus to the hospital the next day. Flores' remains were found in Tijuana, Mexico.

2000; Ravenna, Ohio: Michelle Bica, 39, abducted Teresa Andrews, 23, and shot her in the back before removing her unborn son. Bica shot herself as FBI agents waited to question her.

2003; Okemah, Okla.: Effie Goodson, 37, shot Carolyn Simpson, 21, in the head, then used a knife to cut out the woman's 6-month-old fetus. Goodson was arrested after taking the dead fetus to a hospital, claiming to be the mother.

2004; Skidmore, Mo.: Lisa Montgomery, 37, drove from her Kansas home to the house of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, where she strangled the 23-year-old woman before using a knife to cut out her unborn daughter.

Sources: "Newborn Kidnapping by Caesarean Section," published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2002; National Center for Missing and Exploited Children  

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