WMBFNews.com | Myrtle Beach/Florence, SC | News, Weather, SportsWoman charged with kidnapping 2-week-old

Woman charged with kidnapping 2-week-old

CONWAY, SC (WMBF) - A Myrtle Beach woman was charged Wednesday in the disappearance of a 2-week-old baby in Conway.

Authorities charged Annette Melissa Rich, 30, with kidnapping Wednesday. Conway Police say she took Sharawn Jerod Chestnut Jr. from his home on Duckett Street late Monday night, which led to a 16-hour search for the infant.

A judge set bond at $75,000. A second person was questioned by police in connection with the kidnapping and released.

Crishe Nelson, the mother of the two week old that was taken, was also in court. She says she's just glad to have her son back in her arms.

"You just don't take nobody's child. You wouldn't want anybody to take your child," said Nelson after the bond hearing.

Della Rich, Rich's mother, says she doesn't know what happened, adding it's not like her daughter to do something like this.

"I didn't think it was true," said Della Rich. "I don't think she did it. Somebody else did it and had her with them. That's what I think."

Conway Police say officers were dispatched to the Conway home shortly after midnight Monday when Criche Nelson reported Sharawn missing. Nelson told police she put her 1-year-old daughter and Sharawn to bed around 11 p.m., and when she returned to check on the two, Sharawn was missing.

Officers frantically searched the area surrounding Nelson's home Tuesday, but were unsuccessful in finding the boy.

At 3 p.m. Tuesday, Conway Police, Sharawn's mother and great aunt Bernadette Baker held a press conference pleading with the public to help find the infant.

"I wouldn't have expected it," the infant's mother said. "I'll be more careful with my surroundings."

Less than one hour later, Conway Police spokeswoman Catina Hipp announced Sharawn had been located unharmed and was reunited with his mother.

Baker says the baby was found in a bag under the seat of a truck parked in front of the Shoney's restaurant in Conway. She adds a best friend of the mother took the infant and planned to pass Sharawn off as her own.

"I'm just happy. I'm just glad I have my child," Nelson said minutes after her reunion with Sharawn. "I thank God for him."

Rich was arrested Tuesday evening in connection to the infant's disappearance.

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