Where Is Convicted Kidnapper Gloria Williams Now?

On July 10, 1998, Kamiyah Mobley was born at the University Medical Center in Jacksonville, Florida (via The Florida-Times Union). Instead of going home with her then 15-year-old mother Shanara Mobley, the infant was taken by a woman dressed like a nurse. ABC News explains that Gloria Williams took the child, named her Alexis Manigo, and raised her in South Carolina as her own. Per an in-depth profile on Shanara by The Florida-Times Union, this was a devastating blow to the young mother. She previously had a miscarriage and was looking forward to this new chapter of her life.

When Shanara gave birth, Williams entered her hospital room and stayed with her for five hours under the guise that she was her caretaker. She then told Shanara that she was going to take the baby to get checked for a fever. Instead, PennLive states that Williams left the hospital with Kamiyah in hand. What followed was an extensive search for the newborn around the Jacksonville area while Shanara publicly pleaded for the return of her baby (per CNN).

Shanara, per The Florida-Times Union, eventually received a $1.2 million settlement from the hospital and had five more children. Even so, she never forgot her lost first-born child. As for Gloria Williams, Oprah Daily reports that her family was not concerned when she came home with a baby. Williams had actually been pregnant but secretly suffered a miscarriage. For the next 18 years, Kamiyah Mobley believed that Williams was her biological mother.

CNN reports that Kamiyah and Williams, who worked as a social worker, had a close-knit mother-daughter relationship. Then in 2017, Kamiyah's world was turned upside down when Williams was arrested for kidnapping her as an infant (per ABC News). According to The Florida-Times Union, the Center for Missing and Exploited Children received two tips that led investigators to a then 18-year-old Kamiyah. It was then discovered that she discovered that she had fake documents and the same birthday as Shanara's missing daughter. A DNA test was performed and confirmed that Kamiyah was indeed the kidnapped infant.

However, another article from the Florida-Times Union explains that Kamiyah actually knew she was kidnapped but chose to not take action against Williams. She instead told her to run if she needed to. In 2018, Williams pleaded guilty in a Florida court to kidnapping Kamiyah and faced 0 to 22 years in prison. The Florida-Times Union states that she took a plea deal to avoid a trial and possible life sentence. Instead, Williams admitted that she took Kamiyah from her birth mother's hospital room on her own accord.

Williams also told the court her reason for the kidnapping. She stated that she "had just suffered a devastating miscarriage and was exhibiting symptoms conducive to postpartum depression, as well as experiencing extreme mental and emotional disturbance" (via First Coast News). Per CNN, Williams also apologized for the damage she had done to Shanara. Shortly after, Williams was sentenced to 18 years in prison (per News4Jax).

Per the Florida-Times Union, Kamiyah continued to call Williams on the phone and write letters to her even after her arrest. Kamiyah went on to say that, "My feelings toward my mother will never change" (via CNN). Oprah Daily writes that Kamiyah also continued to live in Williams' South Carolina home. In March 2022, Live 5 News reported that Kamiyah wrote a letter asking a judge to reduce Williams' sentence from 18 years to nine years. Her letter explains, "I would like to make it very clear that she [Williams] is my mother. She raised me, and not only provided for my needs, but she loved me unconditionally."

According to Action News Jax, Kamiyah also said, "I had a well-rounded life; and I am an independent, college educated, and deeply spiritual person, because of all my mom gave me." Williams also wrote her own letter asking for leniency. In it, she cites her good behavior and that she is set to receive a Master's degree in business administration. She stated, "I have received no disciplinary reports whatsoever, and I have maintained an above satisfactory rating by both security and in my work assignment performance issued once a month by the Department of Corrections." Even so, News4Jax writes that her request for a lighter sentence was ultimately denied.

In her letter written to a judge for leniency for Williams, Kamiyah adds that she knows what Williams did was wrong but that she was "grateful" to now have a "second family" (per Live 5 News). Action News Jax notes that Kamiyah was reunited with her biological mother Shanara as well as her biological father, Craig Aiken, shortly after a DNA test proved her true identity. However, as Oprah Daily explains, Kamiyah's relationship with her birth parents has been tempestuous. In an interview with the Florida-Times Union, Shanara states that finding out that her daughter was still alive "was one of the happiest days of my life."

When Kamiyah continued to support Williams and chose not to wish Shanara a happy Mother's Day, Shanara told the Florida-Times Union "I wish they never would have found her." Per Kamiyah's Instagram, the 24-year-old goes by both the name that she was given at birth and the name that was given to her by Williams, Alexis Manigo. Oprah Daily reports that in December 2019, Kamiyah moved to Jacksonville, Florida to be with her biological family. On an episode of "Iyanla: Fix My Life," Kamiyah told the host, "I need my birth mother to be okay with the fact that I love the woman who raised me." In 2021, First Coast News reported that Kamiyah's relationship with her biological parents was improving.