Google me: Abduction - the nightmare that haunts all parents

By JULIET ROWAN

Baby Montana Barbaro's kidnapping in Melbourne on Saturday shocked Australia and no doubt scared plenty of parents on this side of the Tasman as well.

Thankfully, her ordeal lasted less than two days and she bore no scars, other than a shaved head, when discovered on Monday morning in a derelict house.

Sadly, baby kidnappings are not uncommon. One only has to punch variations of the words ("baby kidnap", "baby kidnappings", "kidnapped baby", "baby abduction" and so on) into Google to get an idea.

In the United States, there are 100-150 baby abductions a year.

In Britain, the figure is 10 to 12.

Frightening headlines about recent cases in America abound. Some infants, like baby Montana, were snatched from their parents in public places. Others were takenfrom homes or hospitals.

Some hospitals now use electronic tags to prevent baby abductions and mix-ups in maternity wards.

A lightweight tag is attached to the infant's wrist and if anyone tries to remove him or her from the ward, an alarm sounds.

Parents, doctors and nurses who are authorised to handle the child wear a corresponding tag that does not trigger the alarm.

Kidnapping babies - helpless and unable to defend themselves - is particularly cowardly. The literature shows perpetrators range from family members to unrelated childless couples making perverse attempts to procure babies.

In 2001, the Associated Press ran a story about a kidnapped baby who grew up with his abductors.

Matthew Propp, of New Mexico, found out two decades later when he applied for a birth certificate that the couple who raised him were not his real mother and father.

"The people he knew as parents, Bennett and Mary Propp, were actually artisans Barry and Judith Smiley, who say they ran off with him at 15 months when adopting him fell through," the story says.

"So, on Thursday, as Propp - born Anthony Joseph Russini - turned 22, he watched the only father he's ever known surrender to New York authorities and plead innocent to a charge of kidnapping on a warrant issued in 1980".

And then there are people who do it for money.

Most New Zealanders will recall the nine-day abduction in April 2002 of Kahu Durie, daughter of High Court judge Eddie Durie and lawyer Donna Hall.

Kidnapper Terence Traynor demanded a $3 million ransom. He selected his target after Ms Hall's name appeared on a rich list.

But perhaps the most notorious baby kidnapping in history was that of Charles Lindbergh jnr, son of the legendary American aviator who made the first non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic from New York to Paris.

The 20-month-old was nabbed from the nursery of the Lindbergh home in New Jersey on March 1, 1932 (just two months after his father had played a prank on the household by pretending the baby had been abducted).

A ransom note demanding US$50,000 was found on a nursery window-sill.

Over the next few weeks, the family received 12 more ransom notes asking for more money. But despite complying with the demands, they were not to see the baby again.

His body was discovered not far from their home on May 12 that year.

In 1936, after a long trial, illegal German migrant Bruno Richard Hauptmann was put to death for the murder.

The case was historic not just because of the high-profile family involved. It also led to the Lindbergh Law, which made kidnapping a federal offence.