Woman, 17, arrested in connection to missing baby case
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PORTLAND, Ore. – A 17-year-old woman was arrested Tuesday for allegedly stealing her cousin's 4-month-old son and abandoning him in the front yard of a Northeast Portland home.
Police arrested Kabriana Harper on suspicion of second-degree kidnapping, a Measure 11 offense. She was lodged at the Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Home.
The case surfaced at about 2 a.m., when the baby's mother reported him missing. Officers searched the neighborhood near the Cedar Tree Apartments, located at 239 Southeast 148th Avenue.
Five hours later, the baby was found in the 400 block of Northeast 139th Avenue. Medics took the boy to a hospital. It's unclear who found him.
Police said Harper was staying with the baby's mother for a few days and took the boy early in the morning. She allegedly abandoned him beneath a tree outside the Portland home, police said.
A woman named Rochell, who lives in the Cedar Tree Apartments and didn't want to give her last name, said the baby's mother left the him with a friend while she took a shower. When she came out of the bathroom they were gone, Rochell said.
"Very scary," she said. "It tells you, you gotta keep your eyes on your kids. You can't let them out of your sight."
A neighbor told KATU News that the woman who lives at the house where the baby was found usually leaves for work at around 7 a.m. She found the baby in her yard Tuesday morning.
"It's really tragic that someone has the heart to do that to a little baby," said Florian Pasc.
Officer Kevin Macho was the first responding officer on the scene. He said he was relieved that the baby was OK.
"It's unfortunate that I'm maybe the only one that got to hold the baby after all the work that went into this," he said. "I think sometimes that people forget that under these police uniforms we're fathers and mothers and husbands and obviously for us it's a great outcome."
A motive for the alleged kidnapping has not been revealed.
"Officer Macho"
I bet that never gets old around the station.Â
Now of course the burning question is WHY? Was it some sort of juvenile revenge plot because she was angry with her or something? Will we ever know?
Oh, and I think it is cute that the cop was sad that none of his buddies got to hold the baby. That part was very sweet.
It must be a drag to steal your cousins car and find your cousins kid in the car. Can anybody tell me the lineage name for cousins kid?
@Bert 2nd cousin
WTF???
Yes, Officer Macho, people do forget that police are just human beings, they are people that have families and make mistakes just like everyone else. Portland is fortunate to have some good officers that understand what community policing is all about. And you, Kevin Macho, are now one of my heroes!
Given all the borderline-psychotic comments here that seem to have no relation whatsoever to the story as it currently stands, I'm *really* curious what the initial story was like.
C'mon KATU, normally when you report on folks under 18, you call them "teens". This 17-yr-old suddenly became a "woman"? Why and how? Or under what conditions does one change from teen to adult?
@jpk When it involves someone like sam adams, their called men rather than teens. Typical.
@jpk Jinx you owe me a Coke!  That's the very first thing I thought.....when sex is involved, the female is called a "girl", when it's something crazy like this she's promoted to woman?  Weird.  And they list her name?  I thought they didn't do that with juveniles?
When a female has a baby, regardless maried or not, she is nolonger girl, I guess.
Regardless of Press Bar Guidelines, they do what they feel will hype the emotional response!
Dr R, nope, just answering the question posed by GNTL W, like I am now answering yours! LOL
Nope! Ain't a sucker for no one. I leave that to lollipops in Portland!
@jpk we all know you're a sucker for it.
It's Portland! Nuff said!
@jpk http://www.facebook.com/kabriana.harper?fref=ts.  Looks like she has a baby of her own?  This story gets weirder and weirder.
All in all, glad it turned out happy. When all is said and done, the important part is the baby is safe. Now hopefully someone will be able to completely figure out what happened. I know there are stories of people driving off and leaving a baby by accident. Hopefully the mother will give some serious thought to what happened.
I sure hope someone gets held accountable here. Â
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@Bunko Yamamoto Jeesh -- The correct term is "nuggles". Â
@feral Why? she took a shower....jeez...put the blame where it belongs, on the b that took that baby and left him in a yard....have you even read the article?
Gratz on found baby~!
I watched this on K2 when it was OMG "breaking news" and each time they went to the "breaking news" story, true to form, it was the same old info that was presented earlier. No new info, just the samo,samo. It was the same way about the police shoot out at the parking structure. Same picture or film shown at 4:30. BTW the evidence markers were by the police car and not the BMW from Washington.
Better tie some Kryptonite to that baby.
How did the baby walk there on its own. There's something more to this story.
I feel sick thinking about it.
@Oregon7812Â This entire story needs a certified licensed smell test administrator to clear things up....so far, the whole thing stinks.
@Sundowner @Oregon7812 Again, the radio news guy was pointing out that 4-month old babies don't just crawl out on their own. All it was wearing was a diaper and a t-shirt.
Maybe it was a jeep t-shirt.
@Playanekes Ahhh....you used to call me SweetPea...now I'm relegated to Cheerio mouth.  And SweetPea is exactly what I was picturing in describing a baby scooting along.  I wish they'd update this story so we can hate on the parents or babysitter or whoever, cuz someone definitely dropped the ball (or baby) on this little incident.  What'd they do, set the baby down while they loaded the car, then drive off without it and a kindly neighborhood tweaker, out waxing his driveway, picked it up and carried it 11 blocks, then forget where he left it when he was using the bushes as a PortaPotty?  That's quite possibly the longest run-on sentence I can concoct. Â
@Sundowner @Playanekes I was actually thinking of SweetPea, the baby that showed up on Popeye's door, and the original "jeep."
It seems to me that the odds of the baby getting out there under its own propulsion are way too small to consider until everything else has been ruled out. I can't imagine it.
@Playanekes Do babies scoot faster in a Jeep t-shirt?  LOL.  I raised kids, you have kids -- how does something like this happen with a 4-month old?  A 4-year old, maybe they quietly sneak out the front door, but not an infant. Â
How on EARTH does a 4-month-old baby end up in a front yard in the night? He sure didn't crawl or walk out there himself !!Â
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@Bunko YamamotoÂ
 :::snort:::Yeah, but I (almost always) remembered where I left my children as infants. Well, there was that one time... but yeah, almost always. ;)
@Bunko Yamamoto @Oh My Not a baby.....
@Grammy54Â Pssst -- I think it was a joke.
Krikey mates!....Good thing we don't have dingos in these parts....Glad the little bugger was found safe n' sound,....whew!
@danoseknows We do have coyotes in these parts.Â
@KKStJohn @danoseknows  Yes, but some of us don't hang out in that neighborhood.  Wait -- are you talking about mature, experienced women or those dog-like thingys?
@danoseknows Yep. And, fortunately, Chupacabra country doesn't start until Rockwood.
@Playanekes Oh, THAT'S where it starts.  They should put out spike strips....those little buggers wouldn't like to step on 'em.
@Playanekes @Sundowner Well I "erd them chuper cadabras like to eat spike strips or maybe it was floss their teeth with 'em,... but yeah, it's good the little bugger didn't hike up to that Rockwood place....krikey!
@Sundowner @Playanekes  Oh, they can jump, run, swim, dig under or climb over just about anything but I will say one thing: Unlike their native-born cousins, they seem to know how to use crosswalks and to stay out of traffic. Very polite.
@danoseknows  Good on ya, mate! G'day to ya!
Radio news is reporting that there was a very large party last night in the apartment complex.
@Playanekes Sounds as if someone stumbled away from the party, got up the street a piece, and suddenly exclaimed, "This ain't mah baby!", dropped the tyke on the ground and ran.
Just a supposition--my imagination is running wild (and very dark) this morning.
@Darktan Onion @Playanekes I shouldn't be laughing... but oh my lord, I am.
@advocatus diaboli Pray for forgiveness! And bless those little guys down there wherever it is they are.
With the family structure quickly crumbling, and the elite's pushing dads as unnecessary, odds are the mom's not married. Or made a really bad choice of a babysitter. Â
@last boyscout Your funnier after I had a bong hit. You say this cuz,Cuz" what were you doing taking my kid in the isolation chamber on wheels for a drive?"
@last boyscout You come up with the most ridiculous "sociology".  Why don't you wait for the full news report before you put both feet in your mouth.Â
@KKStJohn @last boyscout CNN minion
You blame 'elite's' because so many 'men' do not take responsibility for their children?
@oh4FSÂ Obama would say so. If he was spawned by an American father his politics would be different
@oh4FS Plenty of blame to go around. It tends to be the 'elite's from academia, Hollywood, and the non Conservative political class that push the 'dad' as an unnecessary component of child raising. And I've no use nor respect for the millions of deadbeat loser pos fathers that get the girl pregnant then leave. But the female can't but held blameless either, she chose the guy in the first place. Â
@last boyscout Oh, oops.  Are you a tea partier?  Then you've got to have a tough skin because I'll tell you straight up:  The ideals expressed early-on in the tea party movement were fairly valid, IMO.  But once that rally (Glen Beck?  Can't recall) took place and we all saw the anti-Obama racist signs, many if not most of us were very turned off.  It seems what started out as an anti-taxation movement turned into a total hijacking by the far, far right extremist religious zealots....not unlike the Occupy Movement being hijacked from one of people demanding more banking regulation to one of people demanding everything under the sun.  Sorry if I offended you...but the current tea party stance is offensive to me.
@Sundowner  This is how you expect us to get along?..."some whack-job (translates to tea partier) "
@oh4FSÂ I think so many are afraid of losing ground...junior reps and senators don't get the good assignments, blah, blah, so they keep re-electing. Or the opposition is some whack-job (translates to tea partier) and the status quo looks better than that possibility. Â
An overwhelming percentage of Americans back the concept of term limits for Congress. Â
That said.  The American voters reelected 90% of incumbants in 2012.
We, the voters, ARE the problem. If we don't own up to that, we deserve exactly what we get.
@Playanekes One good thing about a lack of term limits is that where I live, half the people don't ever take down their Christmas lights OR their 'Vote For Greg Walden' signs anyway -- saves campaign money, right?
@Sundowner @last boyscout The concept of "term limits" means that a great leader can't stay in power. In my estimation, every time we have a truly great leader, he doesn't live through two terms anyway. Let's give it a shot.
It's worth a try because even if it doesn't work, it's better than what we've got.Â
@last boyscout These are difficult times and I'm not so blind I don't find fault on both sides.  The status quo in our government isn't working...I'm convinced term limits are the only thing that can bring us all back to a point where we can debate an issue in a civil manner without spinning everything into a liberal vs conservative argument.  IMO, it makes us all a part of the problem and not a part of the solution.
@Sundowner There's probably a lot more that we would agree on. But our ideologies sometimes stand in the way.Â
@last boyscout @oh4FS I don't disagree with what you've said EXCEPT for blaming whoever these elites are (and of course, they're non-Conservative -- hahaha).  People need to take responsibility for their own acttions.  I'm aware of no one who feels a decent dad isn't a necessary component for positive, effective child-raising.  But the responsibility (blame) goes to those who have children and do a crappy job of raising them.  It might take a village, but the parents need to be part of that village.
@last boyscout It's too bad you think so little of your mother.  Some are quite competent parents. Â
@last boyscout Your political burden is dragging you down in an ocean of tears and your lifeline is a moldy piece of straw. Good luck! Â
But what else can we expect from the Pity Party?
@Darktan Onion @last boyscout Just another worshipper of The Religion of Politics - or maybe addict is a better word?
@last boyscout Eh, not all single mothers are inept at taking care of their children. I actually know some amazing individuals who came from so-called "broken homes" that turned out better than those in a two-parent household. There isn't enough information to make a true assessment.
@advocatus diaboli For you to instantly jump to the wrong conclusion, by reading only what you want to see in my post, defines you as short sighted, close minded and very opinionated. show me where I implied that (all) single mothers are inept, and I'll kiss your a ss. Otherwise, kiss mine.Â
@advocatus diaboli @last boyscout Ooo! Advantage Advocatus Diaboli! You owe AD a kiss, BS! Hopefully your lips are as soft as your big ol' Obama-hating heart.
@last boyscout @advocatus diaboli "odds are the mom's not married" There is no other conclusion to jump to other than you're blaming this on a single mother. Or a single mother who chose a bad babysitter. Who are you to say that it isn't a single FATHER? You brought up the crumbling family structure, not I.
@advocatus diaboli @last boyscout Pay no attention to him -- he uses ever story as a means to whine about losing every election for years.  Hard for him to think clearly cuz he drinks so much Hatorade.
@Sundowner
Touche on the fairy tales and btw I never put down non-Christian religions. I may argue and debate, but I don't put them down and in fact have great respect for many of them. But I am qualified to critique his Christian version of God as a fairy tale. Along with a bunch of other stuff he said about God.Â
@ormom Hey -- you called me a hypocrite, not the other way around.  But if you're going to hate on fairy tales, what's gonna happen when you figure out that many of your beliefs are not much more than that?  BTW, just because you don't agree with someone doesn't mean they're wrong and you're right.
@Sundowner My male cat was the same way . . . getting worse until I finally got him fixed! (grin)
@Sundowner
I'm not backpedaling. It was a sarcastic comment, meant to mirror the same kinds of comments thrown around by atheists. Sorry if my attempt at humor was lost on you.
I said I hated the little pretender's made up christian god. It was his god who was supposedly sending me the carpal tunnel, not the pretender, hence my hate comment. Can I hate a fairy tale or is that too intolerant?
@ormom Nice attempt to backpedal, but I'm not buying it.  You're the one who said it, now you're trying to weasel out of it.  Someone telepathically sends out carpal tunnel via computer?  Funny -- the orthopedic surgeon that corrected mine didn't mention that.  Good luck with your hands -- they'll only get worse until you have them fixed.
@Sundowner
LOL. I hated the 'god' that little Christian pretender was portraying. The one who sends carpal tunnel to people who type things he didn't like. No such Christian 'god' exists so I'm sure I'm not offending anyone by using the word hate.
@ormom Wasn't me who said "I think I hate your god".
@Playanekes @SundownerÂ
It's never too early for Sundowner. Hatorade indeed.
@Sundowner @advocatus diaboli @last boyscout It's a little early this morning for the ad hominem attacks, isn't it?