Jamaica: Parents of kidnapped baby hopeful

Victoria Jubilee Hospital

(Jamaica Observer) THE parents of the newborn baby who was snatched from the Victoria Jubilee Hospital on Tuesday say they are optimistic that their son will be returned to them.

Thirty-six hours after the baby was taken from the Kingston hospital, his father, Sinclair Hutton, told the Jamaica Observer that he has faith in the police.

“The police said they are following up on some leads. I am very much hopeful that my son will return,” the father, who didn’t get the opportunity to see his third son, said yesterday.

The baby boy was born at 7:04 pm on Monday, and was stolen at 5:00 am Wednesday, according to the mother, Suzzett Whyte.

“Somebody must know something. Twelve hours, at the time when him guh missing… from an institution like that weh tight on security, and nobody see anything? There’s supposed to be two security guards when you enter enuh, one on the right,” the father said, adding that somebody must know something about the disappearance of his child.

At the same time, Hutton said despite the spike in blood pressure Whyte experienced due to the abduction of her child, she, too, is hopeful.

But yesterday, crime officer for the West Kingston Police Division, Inspector Phillip Dodd, told the Observer that the police have not yet established any leads in the investigation.

“The baby is still unaccounted for. The investigation is still ongoing, that’s the most I can tell you so far. We are in the process of recording some statements and all of that…” Dodd explained.

The police inspector is also asking anyone who may have information that can assist with the investigation to contact the Denham Town Police Station or any other police station.

“We are very concerned about the safety and the health of this newborn. So we are appealing to persons, especially those at clinics and hospitals, to be on the lookout,” the policeman said.

Last Friday, a woman abducted a three-week-old girl from the Cornwall Regional Hospital in St James, after the child’s mother reportedly left the baby in her care to use the restroom. The baby was found two days later and the accused, 26-year-old Melissa Hariott of Norwood, Montego Bay, St James, arrested. She has since been charged with child stealing and is to appear in the St James Parish Court next week.