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CNN Saturday Morning News

Baby Jasmine Reunited With Her Mother

Aired December 29, 2001 - 08:24   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A toddler who was kidnapped from a Chicago bus station is now back where she belongs, in her mother's arms.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim has the story of the mother and child reunion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARCELLA ANDERSON, MOTHER: And she gave me a big old hug and it was just heaven sent, kind of like she was just a new born baby.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: What were her first words to you?

ANDERSON: She said dada.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jasmine Anderson's first words may have seemed funny, but to her mother Marcella, they were joyful sounds after a three day ordeal. On Christmas Eve, the mother and her two young daughters were heading home to Milwaukee when Anderson says a woman in the bus station approached, offering a ride, convincing her to exchange her bus tickets.

Police identified that woman as 33-year-old Sheila Matthews and say she was desperate to prove to her ex-con boyfriend that she'd had his baby while he was in prison.

PHIL CLINE, CHICAGO CHIEF OF DETECTIVES: And when she went to the Greyhound station that night, she was looking to abduct a baby and unfortunately Marcella was there with Jasmine and that's, it was, the crime was a spur of the moment crime.

OPPENHEIM: Anderson says while she was refunding the tickets, Matthews walked away with Jasmine in her arms. Police say Matthews stayed in Broadview, a Chicago suburb, with her boyfriend, who has not been charged. Investigators said after the couple left for West Virginia, the mother of the boyfriend saw the child's picture on the news, suspected foul play and called police.

Jasmine was found at Matthews' Williams, West Virginia home Thursday. By Friday afternoon, Marcella Anderson was on her way to get her baby back and she described how it felt. ANDERSON: It was the most wonderful feeling in the world. The first person she saw when she got up and it will the last person she sees when she goes to sleep, too.

OPPENHEIM: In Chicago, I'm Keith Oppenheim, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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