Families in anguish over lost and found daughter

To the Jacobs* family she was the light of their lives, their "princess". To the Nurse family she is Zephany - named after her grandmother - and the baby who was snatched from her mother's arms 17 years ago.

On Friday the two families came face to face in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court where Sophia Jacobs* stood in the dock for allegedly kidnapping Celeste and Morne Nurse's baby from Groote Schuur Hospital in April 1997.

The small courtroom was flooded with emotion - grief to the left, jubilation to the right.

Zephany not only happened to attend the same school as her biological sister Cassidy, 14, but they lived in the same neighbourhood of Retreat.

School friends claim the resemblance between the two is eerie.

"When they met there was an instant closeness," said one of Zephany's friends.

Cassidy followed Zephany and her friends everywhere, even to the toilet. She asked many questions and let slip that her sister had been stolen from hospital.

"They would sit and hold hands and just had this sisterly bond right from the beginning. It was like Cassidy knew even before the blood test," said another friend.

In a matter of weeks pieces of the puzzle came together. It culminated in Sophia's arrest on Thursday.

In court it emerged that police spoke to Sophia at her house on Wednesday. After DNA tests were done she returned home and on Thursday she was arrested.

As the Nurse family left court on Friday the Jacobs family and friends wailed in the passage when Sophia was denied bail until the bail hearing resumes on March 6.

The teenager is in protective care, but a cousin said she was hysterical and had asked her father (Sophia's husband): "Daddy, when will I come home?"

He replied: "I love you, just hang in there. Don't forget to say your prayers."

Her 27-year-old brother is overcome with grief, because they were inseparable.

"I remember lying on my mother's stomach when she was pregnant trying to feel the baby kick. I really love and miss my sister so much," he said. "It feels like I have lost the two most important people in my life."

Doting Mother

Sophia doted on the girl everyone knew as her daughter, packing her healthy lunches and sewing her outfits for special occasions. She even started working so Zephany could have her dream matric ball.

Family friend Frances Manase said Sophia suffered a heart attack in 2013 and the teenager was "hysterical". She said mother and daughter had a strong bond.

"In December we went on a trip. [Zephany] told me to always be there for her mother, be on the lookout for Mamma when she's sick," said Manase.

One thing the Jacobs family is confident about is that when Zephany turns 18 in April she will return to the home she has always known.

The Nurses believe the contrary. Zephany and Cassidy are said to be overjoyed at being sisters.

"Her name is Zephany Joy. She was named after my mother Zephra. That woman stole 17 years from us," said Morne's sister, Shantal Berry.

"We want Zephany to come home. She belongs nowhere else."

A neighbour and friend, Dewelda Johnson, said that Celeste had been emotionally tortured for 17 years and never lost hope.

"She has a beautiful voice and she sings her solos in the church, always praying for her daughter to come back.

"God gave me a dream and said I must tell her to have inner peace.

"She never gave up hope searching for her child, and now God has guided them without them knowing."

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of Zephany, who is a minor

davidsn@sundaytimes.co.za, farbert@sundaytimes.co.za, pitsor@timesmedia.co.za