Woman indicted in kidnapping of 6-day-old Wisconsin baby

A Colorado woman accused of kidnapping her half sister’s days-old baby and then leaving him in a plastic crate outside overnight has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Wisconsin.

According to court documents, Kristen Rose Smith, 31, pretended to have given birth to Kayden Powell, and had a fake pregnancy belly in her car and had written emails and Facebook posts claiming to have just become a mother.

The U.S. attorney’s office announced the indictment Wednesday.

Smith was arrested this month, on the day the infant was taken. But 6-day-old Kayden wasn’t found until about 30 hours later, 200 miles from where he had been snatched at his Beloit, Wis., home. Smith had been staying with the family.

DOCUMENT: Read the complaint and affidavit

Kayden was found after a police official heard the baby’s cries during a canvass of the area near the Iowa gas station where Smith had been arrested, the FBI said. An official called it “miraculous” that the baby had been discovered in good health amid record-low temperatures.

In a 911 call released by authorities, the boy’s mother, 18-year-old Brianna Marshall, said she had awoken to find a knife next to her bed, then discovered that her son was missing. Another woman on the call says the family had just spoken to Smith, who said she did not have the baby.

“She’s gone, and the baby’s gone. Hello,” says the woman, identified as Marshall’s grandmother in news reports.

Smith, who is charged with one count of kidnapping, is due in federal court Friday. She faces up to life in prison if convicted.

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