In 1997, at the age of 18, Celeste Nurse woke up in a Cape Town maternity ward to find her newborn baby missing.
She had fallen asleep, holding her baby to her chest. A woman posing as a nurse kidnapped the young man.
The Nurses continued to celebrate their daughter’s birthday without her for 20 years because they never gave up hope of finding her.
An Unexpected Bond at School
A miraculous turn of events occurred in 2015. The nurses met a new acquaintance named Zephany thanks to Celeste Nurse’s second child.
Zephany eerily resembled her missing daughter and even shared the same birthday with her.
The revelation shocked the Nurse family to the point that they contacted the police and requested a DNA test.
DNA analysis verified that Zephany was her long-lost daughter.
“DNA doesn’t lie. The results confirmed what we felt in our hearts,” said Celeste Enfermera.
The Arrest and Trial
When police first questioned Miché Solomon (then known as Zephany Nurse), she was at a loss.
Social workers at Retreat Hospital discovered that, despite her birth certificate stating otherwise, there was no record of her having been born there.
Miché’s world fell apart when the DNA results were confirmed.
The woman Miché had always thought was her mother, Lavona Solomon, has been arrested and charged with kidnapping and fraud.
As the trial progressed, Lavona maintained her innocence. She claimed that Sylvia, a woman, had given her the baby, but there was never any proof of this.
He was eventually sentenced to 10 years in prison for kidnapping, fraud and violations of the Children’s Act.
“When the hammer fell, it was like my life was shattered,” Miché recalls.
Emotional reunions and unresolved feelings
Social workers accompanied Miché to meet her biological parents at the police station.
The nurses were delighted, but Miché couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.
Her cultural family was falling apart, but her biological family, whom she had never met, was ready to step in and fill the void.
“Two families, both claiming me as their own. It was a mental and emotional battleground,” Miché said.
After her original parents divorced and she was not comfortable living with either of them, Miché moved back in with Michael Solomon, whom she considers her father.