A woman who hit the headlines when she was snatched from hospital as a newborn has died at the age of just 30. Abbie Humphries disappeared from Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham when she was just hours old.
The horrific story gripped the nation until she was found 16 days later and reunited with her parents Karen and Roger Humphries. The woman who took her, Julie Kelley, was later prosecuted and sentenced to three years probation with treatment for a severe personality disorder after admitting abducting Abbie.
But 30 years on the family has been struck with a new tragedy after Abbie’s death. The 30-year-old died from a brain tumour in New Zealand where she had moved, settling there with husband Karl Sundgren.
He broke the news of her untimely death on Facebook saying: “Our beautiful Abbie peacefully passed away yesterday, surrounded by loved ones. She fought so hard with so much strength and grace for over 4 years and can finally rest.
“We will be celebrating her life on Saturday 14 December from 2pm at the Sundgren house in Whenuapai. Please feel free to join us. Abbie was so strong, and her infectious smile will forever remain in our hearts.”
It was in July 1994 that Abbie, at just three hours old, vanished from her cot. Her parents made repeated appeals for her return until finally, after 16 tough days, she was found at the home of Kelley in Wollaton.
Neighbours had tipped off police after becoming suspicious that the “pregnant” former dental nurse who lived at the property with her boyfriend and his mother had been expecting a boy but came home with a girl. At the time it was reported she faked the pregnancy to trick her boyfriend and persuade him not to leave her.
He told newspapers at the time he thought Abbie was his daughter. Car mechanic Leigh Gilbert said at the time: “I knew nothing about any abduction. I loved that child like it was my own.”
Neither he nor his mother faced any police action with police believing they were among the many people conned by Kelley. He added: “I have been duped by someone who was very clever. I believed that little baby was my daughter and now she has gone away and I may never see her again.”
Seeking a new life after the court case the family moved to New Zealand where Abbie became a champion swimmer and represented New Zealand. She married her teenage sweetheart Karl in 2017.
But her family was hit by fresh heartache when her mother Karen passed away in 2020 after developing breast cancer. Abbie began to get headaches following her mother’s death which she initially put down to grief before doctors diagnosed it as a brain tumour.
Tragically despite attempts to beat the disease, treatment was unsuccessful. Following her diagnosis in 2021 she was told she would probably have just one or two years to live but managed to have four years before her death.