A true-crime documentary about the astonishing case of a missing baby is dropping this month.
Girl, Taken follows the heartbreaking story of Celeste and Morne Nurse, whose baby daughter Zephany was snatched from hospital in April 1997, three days after she was born in Cape Town, South Africa.
The devastated couple searched for their missing daughter for 17 years and regularly used the media to make appeals to know her whereabouts.
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The parents also hired private detectives and followed false leads in desperate attempts to be reunited with their missing child.
In one emotional scene, mum Celeste tearfully recalls 'starting to get sick' because she 'had no baby to breastfeed' during the search for Zephany.
Because Celeste's breasts were filled with milk but she was unable to breastfeed, another mum urged devastated to breastfeed her own child.
Celeste said: "She told me 'You can breastfeed my child so that you can feel better'."
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The case took an unexpected turn in 2015 when their second daughter Cassidy enrolled in a new school.
Before Cassidy's birth, Celeste described feeling fearful about returning to hospital.
Years after her arrival, students at Cassidy's school instantly noticed that an older pupil at the same school, named Miche Solomon, had a striking resemblance to Zephany, Cassidy’s missing sister, and Cassidy herself.
The girls became friends but they had no idea what would happen next. DNA samples confirmed that Miche – the student who was identified as looking very much Zephany – had a concealed identity she was previously unaware of.
The results from the DNA samples provided by Miche proved that she was Zephany, unfurling a startling and painful investigation into how she became separated from her birth family.
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Miche, as she is now legally known, grew up only a few miles from the Nurse’s home.
It soon emerged that when she was a baby, Miche was kidnapped from the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.
In 2016, the woman who Miche grew up believing was her mother was arrested and placed on trial.
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Miche, who was devastated by the trial and arrest of the kidnapper, decided to remain with the woman’s family.
Against all expectations, the Nurse family lost their daughter a second time.
The documentary is shocking, profound and gripping as it follows the process of two broken families who are brought together in the most outrageous situation imaginable trying to find forgiveness.
Girl, Taken will be released 25th July on Paramount+
Topics: TV And Film, True Crime
Gregory Robinson