Single Mom Puts Baby in Walmart Shopping Cart — Moments Later, Cart Disappears

Jayme, a 36-year-old woman from Florida, shared how her four-month-old baby was kidnapped in Walmart. She found shocking information about the culprit and still deals with PTSD from the incident.

Jayme, a 36-year-old woman from Florida, shared one of the most shocking experiences of her life on Reddit. The incident took place in 2005 when she was a 21-year-old single mother.

She had just moved from Columbus, Ohio to Bradenton, Florida, where her mother lived. In just a week after the move, Jayme had already landed a job at a daycare specializing in children with special needs and early childhood education.

Her new job was the first time she worked professionally with kids, but Jayme had been around children most of her life, from babysitting to taking Red Cross classes and working part-time at a fitness daycare.

She had grown up around children and had forever longed to have one of her own. But she and her partner at the time struggled to conceive before welcoming their "miracle baby," Promyse Rose.

Welcoming her baby was one of her biggest joys, and she hoped to have more. Jayme stopped working at a daycare and became a registered nurse. The traumatizing incident she experienced pushed her to build a more stable life for herself and her daughter.

The Incident that Unfolded in Walmart

One lesson that Jayme held on to when she worked in daycare concerned what to do if a child went missing. Most people's first instinct is to go out and look for the child, but the correct protocol is to call the authorities and keep the facility on lockdown. The mother had no idea that the valuable lesson would prove useful to her when her daughter was between three to four months.

That day, Jayme brought Promyse with her to Walmart, excited to introduce her to baby food. She drove them to the store, and seeing that Promyse was asleep in her car seat, Jayme decided to take Promyse along with the car seat, put them in her shopping cart, then carry her purse over her shoulder.

Jayme was particularly excited to pick out the first vegetable her daughter would try and decided it would be green beans. As the mother got to the baby aisle, she reached out to get the green bean baby food. She recalled:

"I turned around to grab 3 stage 1 jars of green bean baby food, turned around to put them in the cart........my whole world collapsed. My whole cart was gone including my babygirl."

Jayme dropped the jars screaming for her baby. She remembered everyone staring but no one moving. Her first thought was to sprint to the front desk and report her child missing.

The security guards reacted quickly, immediately shutting the doors and forbidding anyone from leaving the store. Luckily, Jayme still had her purse on her and was able to show them pictures of Promyse.

The workers and some volunteers were assigned to look for the four-month baby and Jayme's belongings. Forty-five minutes passed, and the worried mother started losing hope but continued to shout her baby's name.

The cop suggested they look at the security camera footage, but while she walked over to the office, Jayme heard a baby cry and instantly knew it was her child.

She followed the cry and found the cart covered in many clothes in the women's wear section. It was as if the clothes were meant to hide the cart and the baby inside. Jayme unbuckled Promyse from the car seat and broke down, crying in disbelief.

The mother was overjoyed to have found her child, but she also wanted to get to the bottom of who was responsible for putting her through such misery.

Finding the Kidnapper

The Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) checked if Promyse was hurt, but according to the examination and her vitals, the baby was fine; she only needed help with a diaper change.

Jayme was then taken to the security office to view the CCTV footage. The store had just updated its cameras due to an increased amount of people stealing baby formula.

The mother saw exactly when her child was taken, and it showed a woman with two children, and the male kid was the one pushing the cart that contained Promyse.

The suspects were eventually found. The woman explained that her son had accidentally taken the cart, and she was scared to come forward because she feared her son would be arrested or the authorities would report her to immigration officers.

Jayme did not believe the story and pursued pressing charges against the woman. A year after the incident, the women met in court, and it was discovered that the two children with the suspected woman were not hers. She had also kidnapped them.

When asked why she took Jayme's child, she said she just felt like it. She added that she had already gotten away with two kidnappings at Walmart, and figured she would kidnap a baby, which she wanted.

It was also discovered that the woman had been abusing the two children and they lived in a dirty apartment. So, in addition to being charged with kidnapping, she also faced charges of child endangerment and many more. The woman was sentenced to 15 to 20 years in prison, and each time she tried to get parole, Jayme testified against it.

Although she was happy to have put the culprit behind bars, Jayme still dealt with PTSD from that day. She said she never took her child to Walmart again or fed her green beans.

Years later, Promyse was a grown and healthy 14-year-old. "I'm so blessed to call her my daughter!! I literally couldn't ask for a better child," gushed her mother.

Jayme also thanked the authorities who helped her with her case, the people who volunteered to help find her baby girl on that dreadful day, and the Walmart staff who responded quickly.

Here is another story about a woman who almost ended her marriage when she discovered her newborn child was not in the crib.