SHAWNEE, Kan. – A Kansas mother says someone tried to kidnap her 9-week-old baby as she shopped at Target, according to WDAF.
Rachel Youngs was at the store on Shawnee Mission Parkway getting groceries Friday morning whe she says a stranger with a dog approached her in the baby section.
Youngs said the woman initially seemed very friendly, telling her how cute her baby is.
“I made a comment on how cute her dog was, and she went around to the front of my cart and made a comment about how cute my baby is,” Youngs said. “She made a comment saying, 'yeah, I'll trade you my dog for your baby,' and I thought she was just joking,” Youngs said.
Youngs said that during the conversation, the woman told her she babysits all the time, and has a dog grooming business.
“Just was super, super nice and she went to the front of my cart and asked me if she could hold my daughter,” said Youngs, “and she starts taking her out of the car seat, and she hands me her dog.”
Youngs said she agreed to let the stranger hold her baby, but immediately regretted it.
“As she's holding my baby she started saying weird things, she starts asking me, 'do you have a godmother?' I said no, and she said, 'I'd love to be your godmother, I'll split everything 50/50.' And I was like this is kind of weird, like, who says this to a random person?” Youngs said.
Youngs said the conversation only became more alarming as they continued to talk.
“And she says, just so you know, I was arrested for attempted kidnapping,” said Youngs, “That's when I was like, okay you know what, there's something wrong … all of a sudden, this woman starts walking off with my daughter, and I yelled to her, I said, 'I need my baby back!'”
She says the lady hesitated for a second, then handed over baby Waverly.
Youngs asked employees to call police. Officers arrived but told Youngs their hands were tied.
“They just said, 'well, there's nothing we can really do because you technically gave her permission to hold your baby,' and my exact words were, 'okay, so me giving her permission to hold my baby for a couple minutes gives her permission to take off with my child?'” Youngs said.
Shawnee police said they know who the woman in question is, and are still investigating.
Youngs says she'll think twice the next time a stranger walks up to her.
“Someone could come up to you and just be as nice as possible, and I try to trust people, and so many people do, but you can't trust anyone,” Youngs said.
Youngs says she wants to warn others, because she's concerned the woman will try to take someone else's baby.
