Abducted Baby Found; Woman Arrested
Aug. 15, 2002 -- A 1-month-old baby snatched from her mother's car in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Texas was back with her parents today, and a former corrections officer was charged with kidnapping her.
Margarita Chavez, bearing scrapes on her face and her hands heavily bandaged from her desperate attempts to save her child, said she was sore but very happy to have her daughter, Nancy Crystal Chavez, back in her arms.
"There no words," she said of their reunion. "My hope never ended. I trusted the Lord. I was sure I was going to get my baby back."
Nancy was abducted Tuesday from the Wal-Mart Supercenter parking lot in Abilene as her mother was loading her groceries into her minivan. Margarita Chavez said she had placed her three children in the minivan and walked just 10 feet away to return her shopping cart when she saw a woman grab her baby out of the vehicle, get into her own car and begin to drive away.
Chavez latched on to the abductor's getaway car and was dragged more than 30 feet across the parking lot as she screamed for help, police said.
Nancy was found unharmed after police pulled over her suspected kidnapper in Quanah, about 125 miles north of the Abilene. After being identified and examined, the baby was reunited with her tearful parents.
Suspect Wanted ‘to Fill a Void’
The suspect, identified as Paula Lynn Roach, 24, was charged with one count of aggravated kidnapping. In a court appearance today, Roach said she understood the charge. She was ordered held on $200,000 bail.
Police said Roach signed a written statement confessing to the abduction and told police she took Nancy to "fill a void." Roach, investigators suspected, took Nancy because she saw a window of opportunity.
Police said Roach worked as a corrections officer for about 20 months before resigning in September 2000. She had lived in Abilene for the several months and worked at a convenience store and had relatives in Quanah.
Abilene police Sgt. Kim Vickers said police pulled over the suspect's car because it matched the description of the vehicle that drove off with baby Nancy on Tuesday.
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