A woman who was abducted as a baby from a U.K. hospital has died at 30 following a brain cancer diagnosis, according to her family and news reports.
As an infant, Abbie Humphries was kidnapped by a woman pretending to be a nurse three hours after she was born at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, England, in July 1994. She was found and returned to her family 17 days later, according to the The Nottingham Post.
Humphries was abducted by 22-year-old former dental nurse Julie Kelley, who had recently been pregnant at the time. She was later found at a property in the Nottingham village of Wollaton and returned to her parents, Roger and Karen Humphries, the BBC reported.
Kelley pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and was put on probation for three years after she was diagnosed with a personality disorder, according to the BBC and The Independent.
Later in life, Humphries relocated to New Zealand.
Humphries’s husband, Karl Sundgren, announced on Facebook on Monday, Dec 9, that she had died after being diagnosed with brain cancer in 2020.
“Our beautiful Abbie peacefully passed away yesterday, surrounded by loved ones,” he wrote. “She fought so hard with so much strength and grace for over 4 years and can finally rest.”
According to her Facebook page, Humphries lived with her husband in Auckland, New Zealand. She moved to the country with her family as a 10-year-old, according to The Nottingham Post.
Abbie Humphries reunited with her parents Karen and Roger Humphries in 1994.
Press Association via AP
Alongside his message, Sundgren shared photos of Humphries which included an image of the pair walking down the aisle on their wedding day. Other photographs showed scenes of her posing with family members and throwback images of her as a young child with her parents.
Humphries was not told about her adduction as a young child and only discovered she’d been kidnapped at age 10 after she found press cuttings about the incident, according to The Nottingham Post and the BBC.
Abbie Humphries with her mom Karen Humphries before she was abducted.
PA Images via Getty
“That’s when I realized what a huge deal it was,” she told The Nottingham Post at age 16. “But it didn’t stir up any emotions of horror or anything. To be honest, I thought it was rather cool.”
“My parents told me all about it as I grew up, but not all in one go. It came out in bits and pieces,” she said.
Humphries was diagnosed with a brain tumor in November 2020, the BBC reported.
Speaking about her diagnosis in 2021, Humphries told The Mail on Sunday, “There is no point feeling angry or blaming anything. We have just had a terrible amount of bad luck. I usually choose to look at the positive side of everything. It makes everyone feel better.”
A memorial is being held for Humphries in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday, Dec. 14.
