Investigators have offered a $8,000 reward for any tips on the whereabouts of a baby who was kidnapped from a hospital near Moscow shortly after his birth.
Investigators believe that the baby boy — whose biological parents were planning to give him up for adoption — was abducted by a woman who had been hanging around the hospital in the town of Dedovsk, outside Moscow, offering free baby clothes and food, the Investigative Committee said in an online statement Thursday.
Witnesses reported seeing the woman holding the baby in her arms on hospital property shortly before he went missing, the report said.
The boy was about one month old when he disappeared in mid-June, the committee said, offering a 300,000-ruble ($8,800) reward for any information about his location and urging the kidnapper to come forward.
The statement also included two composite drawings of the alleged kidnapper who, in an earlier statement, was described as a Slavic-looking woman who was heavily-built, had light brown hair and a round face.
"We call upon whoever has the baby to return him," the statement said. "Only in this case will you avoid punishment! We are warning that kidnapping a minor carries a punishment of up to 15 years in prison!"
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