Woman's newborn baby kidnapped by someone who first posed as a friend

Back in 2016, the film "Pamilya Ordinaryo" highlighted disturbing truths about the Philippines.

It once again proved to be a reflection of reality in the latest episode of "Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho."

The episode told the story of Jennifer Tinapay, who gave birth to her sixth son Carl Michael last June 24.

However, less than two weeks since she welcomed him to the world, he was taken from her.

"I cried all the time. I was having such a hard time, I felt like I was going crazy," Jennifer said in Filipino.

Carl Michael was stolen by a person they had already met — a woman who approached Jennifer one day, introducing herself as Elidia. Jennifer was still pregnant at the time.

During that first meeting, Elidia gave Jennifer P100 and asked for her number, saying that she wanted to support her.

Elidia maintained communication with Jennifer, even asking about her check-ups and buying her groceries.

Jennifer's husband Carlito, however, was suspicious.

"She used to say her aunt had cancer and that she really wanted a baby," he said. "The aunt was offering Elidia P20,000 for a baby. She asked us, but we didn't agree. We couldn't sell out baby."

A week after Jennifer gave birth, Elidia asked to meet up with her so she could see what the baby looked like.

When they met up, Elidia asked Jennifer if she could "borrow" her baby.

"I told her to return my baby soon. She handed me P2,000, saying it was aid from her aunt," Jennifer recalled.

"It didn't occur to me that she would trick me, she said she would give my baby back in the afternoon. I trusted her," she added.

Carlito, meanwhile, told Jennifer: "Why did you give her our baby, she might not return him."

Jennifer then texted Elidia to remind her to return her baby, which Elidia agreed to.

In a followup text conversation, Elidia revealed that they were heading to Bulacan.

"I was surprised, I didn't know she was going to Bulacan," Jennifer said.

Eventually, Elidia stopped responding to Jennifer's texts, and rejected all her calls.

Realizing that they had been tricked, the couple went in search for Elidia and their baby.

The problem was that Elidia was always wearing a face mask whenever she and Jennifer would meet up, and they only had her phone number.

"They said she might have sold my baby," Jennifer tearfully said.

Addressing Carl Michael, she added, "I'm sorry I let you be touched by other people. I never thought that you would be in danger in other people's hands. I didn't know that you were already stolen from me."

The investigation

After spending days visiting barangay after barangay, the couple finally came across a CCTV footage from July 4.

It showed Elidia carrying a bag of bottles and a baby carrier. Minutes later, Jennifer was spotted crossing the street while carrying Carl Michael. After that, a taxi suspected to have been hailed by Elidia passed by.

However, police couldn't identify Elidia's face and the taxi's plate number.

This was when Jennifer approached KMJS.

The team searched Elidia's phone number in Viber, and a name and photo appeared. They searched for the name in Facebook, and it led to them to a profile of a woman called Emilie who lived in Bulacan.

KMJS then handed this information to the Caloocan City Police Station.

"We’re looking into whether she might be a member of a syndicate who kidnaps children, or someone who just had personal interest over a child," said Assistant Section Chief Marcelina Ocampo Pino.

Police showed Jennifer some photos of Emilie taken from Facebook. Having only seen Elidia in a face mask, Jennifer had a hard time confirming her identity.

But then they showed Jennifer a photo of Emilie wearing a face mask, Jennifer was able to positively identify the suspect.

Authorities went to the address of the suspect and found Elidia — real name Emilie — with the baby.

All parties were then escorted to the barangay hall.

However, Emilie denied that she had stolen the baby she was cradling.

"How could I borrow your baby, I don’t even know you," she told Jennifer.

When asked by the police whose baby she was carrying, Emilie answered, "Mine."

She also claimed to have given birth in a Quezon City clinic.

Emilie's father, who accompanied her to the station, claimed: "When she came home, she already had a baby."

Addressing Emilie, he said, "Let’s just give the baby to them. Maybe you think what you did was a good thing. This is a heavy accusation."

In the end, Emilie confessed.

"She admitted that it wasn’t her baby, that it was Jeniffer’s baby," Pino said.

"According to her, the baby was scheduled for newborn screening. She said that she was going to return it after. She claimed that she had a miscarriage, that maybe she saw her baby in Jennifer’s baby," she added.

Emilie was brought to Caloocan City Police Station. When asked for comment, she refused to speak.

She was charged for violation of Article 270 of the Revised Penal Code, or Kidnapping and Failure to Return a Minor.

However, Jennifer withdrew her complaint, saying that she felt sorry for Emilie and that she wanted to close this dark chapter of her life.

"I’m happy, I can sleep properly again," she said.

Police irge those who experience the same thing to report the incident. —JCB, GMA News