Nonfiction Nugget: High School Friendship Solves Kidnapping

Welcome to the next installment of my Nonfiction Nuggets series, which I share on the blog about every other month, in addition to my PI Posts, Character Coffee Chats and regular post updates. Today’s Nonfiction Nugget is about how a high school friendship helped solve the case of a child’s abduction. Since I may be sharing case details, I would like to warn readers that the subject matter might be difficult for sensitive readers. Please take care as you read on and also be prepared, as some of the information I share might also offer spoilers to anyone who hasn’t yet read the Jorja Matthews mystery series.

If you’re caught up with the Jorja Matthews mystery series, you know about the mystery surrounding Jorja’s birth and what she learned as an adult about the day she was born, the identity of her parents and the truth about her twin. If you’re not caught up, you might not wish to continue reading, because the following details do offer spoilers.

Read on at your own risk; spoilers ahead…

When Jorja was born, her biological mother attempted to commit the most unspeakable act. I share more about the potential reasons this may have happened in my first Nonfiction Nugget post regarding postpartum psychosis. As if those actions weren’t bad enough, another character lied about the demise of Jorja’s twin brother after making the decision to take the baby to raise it as his own with his wife.

A P.I. Post I shared a few months ago involved the story about a mother who took her own child and disappeared. It turned out that after she left her husband, she was caught committing a crime and placed in a psychiatric hospital, where she gave a false name for herself and her child. When she later escaped from that hospital and essentially abandoned her son, the authorities adopted the child out under the assumed name. The couple who adopted him had no idea that the baby had a biological father desperately searching for him.

The woman in the above case disappeared with her own child for her own reasons. But what makes someone so desperate that they’ll abduct a baby belonging to another?  There are varying degrees of reasons, including the desperate need to have a baby, an attempt to save a child from a perceived harm, or more despicable motives. An abductor may truly love the child as their own, but that certainly doesn’t give the parents of the missing child any comfort when they are wrought with worry and searching for answers. And it doesn’t save the child from additional difficulties when and if their abduction is discovered later in life.

More spoilers ahead…

In my mystery series, Jorja’s twin, Ryan, learns the truth about his birth only after his abductor spills the secret on his death bed. Did the man have a good reason to steal someone else’s child? No, but in his mind he thought he was doing the right thing. He took the baby because of the situation involving the biological mother and it was his belief that he and his wife, who had never been able to have children, could take care of the baby because Jorja’s family would not be willing to do so. Ryan is raised by two loving parents, having no clue they are not his biological parents or that he was abducted. He’s well into adulthood when he discovers he has a twin sister and that he’d never get to meet his biological mother because she’d already passed away. But how would that reunion go, I wonder? When his birth mother had terrible intentions after his birth and he almost lost his life because of it? Again, spoilers for anyone not up-to-speed on the series, but I warned you.

Truth can be stranger than fiction

I chose today’s case as a Nonfiction Nugget because of the mystery surrounding Jorja’s birth, the abduction of her brother and how they were able to find their way back to each other after thirty years. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Truth is stranger than fiction.” No matter what you think about your favorite mystery author and the ideas they come up with, and whether those ideas are even possible, I’d offer a bet there’s likely a similar version of the story that’s actually true. And it’s also possible the true version is more unbelievable than what you might find in any book.

In today’s Nonfiction Nugget we have the case involving Zephany, a baby who was kidnapped only a few days after her birth in April 1997, and likely taken by a woman disguised as a nurse. The baby’s birth parents apparently spent years trying to find her and used the media in their attempts to discover who might have taken her or where she might be, but those efforts offered no results. Eventually, the birth parents had another child, a daughter they named Cassidy and who was four years younger than Zephany.

Is she a doppelganger or a blood relative?

Cassidy and Zephany (who is now using a different name) end up attending the same school and learn from others that someone else at school looks just like them. They meet and end up forming a friendship, even with the four-year age difference between them. When Cassidy’s parents learn of the girl who looks like their daughter, and actually get to meet her, it’s not long before authorities are informed and Zephany’s parents are questioned. Not able to produce proof of Zephany’s birth leads to DNA testing and those tests confirm Zephany is Cassidy’s missing sister. Missing for seventeen years, Zephany had been raised only a short distance from her birth parents and wound up attending the same school as her biological sister. Hard to believe, but true.

An abducted child may be loved, but doesn’t make the situation any less difficult

The woman who abducted Zephany went to trial and was sentenced to ten years for the kidnapping. Sadly, when you dig deeper into a story like this, there’s more than just the kidnapping. There’s the fact that the person who raised Zephany was the only mother she knew and is someone she still loved. Just as my character, Ryan, discovers his father is not his biological father, and that he was abducted, it didn’t change the fact that he still loved the only father he’d ever known regardless of the crime the man committed to become a father.

Another consideration is that the abducted child might feel torn between both sets of parents, and may feel an obligation to try to get to know their biological parent(s). Sometimes it works out, other times it doesn’t. In my series, Ryan gets along with his bio dad, but Jorja hasn’t yet formed a real bond with him, possibly due to her love and respect for the parents who raised her, and are still living, even if it was under a lie.

A final consideration would involve those who might not be given the title of victim, but are in some respect. One such example is the man who raised Zephany. From what I understand, he had no clue his wife kidnapped a baby and he raised it believing he was the biological father. Imagine what he must have gone through after learning the child wasn’t biologically his and that his wife had committed a crime seventeen years ago that would take her away from him for ten years. A case like this is heartbreaking in all respects and from many different perspectives.

I developed my characters and the backstory of their birth years ago and only just discovered the above case a few months ago, but it’s a good example of a Nonfiction Nugget. Novels and the details authors include, whether from their imagination or sparked by something in real life, offer a platform where truth and fiction can meet to give readers a story they can relate to, escape to, or learn from.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this installment of my Nonfiction Nuggets series and that you’ll continue to follow my blog for additional posts. I will continue to share weekly posts that will include P.I. Posts, Character Coffee Chats, and more Nonfiction Nuggets, as well as author musings and updates. You can also search the archives for any past blog topics you might be interested in reading about further.

Until next time, have a great week and happy reading.