A mother by the name of Rachel Youngs recently spent an innocent Friday morning at Target with her 9-week-old daughter.
While appropriately spending some time in the baby section, the two were approached by a woman with a dog. Out of common courtesy, Rachel told the stranger that she thought her dog was cute and the stranger replied, saying her baby was cute. Harmless exchange, right?
Well then the stranger said, “I’ll trade you my dog for my baby.” A little weird, but probably just a silly joke, Rachel thought to herself.
The strange woman proceeded to tell Rachel that she was an experienced babysitter. Additionally, she said that she also had her own successful dog-grooming business. Just by this simple, light-hearted exchange, the woman seemed safe and friendly. Definitely harmless, Rachel thought. So when the woman asked Rachel if she could hold her baby, she said yes.
She regretted that decision immediately after.
As the woman held Rachel’s baby, she started making bizarre remarks. She asked if the baby had a godmother before going on to ask if she could be her godmother. “Do you have a godmother? I’d love to be her godmother; I’ll split everything 50/50.”
Alright, a little bit weird… Until it gets even weirder. Suddenly it was alarming and Rebecca could tell that there was something wrong.
“Just so you know, I was arrested for attempted kidnapping,” the woman said. Okay, a weird sense of humor is an understatement here. Now, this is clearly something beyond a mere joke. After that, the jokes stopped, and the story proceeded to take a frightening turn that no mother should ever have to experience.
“All of a sudden she starts walking off with my daughter,” Rebecca says. “I go up to her and I say, ‘I need my baby back please. Give me my baby back.'”
After she began to go after her, the woman paused for a second with hesitation but then gave her her baby back. After the horrifying incident, Rebecca urged employees at Target to call the police. Officers arrived but told Rebecca that there was really nothing that they could do.
The cops told Rebecca that she technically gave the woman permission to hold her baby. “My exact words were, ‘Okay, so me giving her permission to hold my baby for a couple of minutes gives her permission to take off with my child?'” Rebecca explained of her interaction with the cops on the scene.
According to the police, they know who the woman in question is and are still investigating.
Maybe the only good thing to come from this confusing and terrible incident is the lesson that Rebecca has learned. The next time a stranger walks up to her, she is definitely going to think it through before simply handing over her baby.
“I try to trust people, and so many people do, but you can’t trust anyone,” she concludes, explaining that she always tries to be as nice as possible. A good outlook for life, but when it comes to the protection of her baby, she is going to start cracking down. No more Ms. Nice Rebecca!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
ARVE Error: need id and provider
