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Police: Mall abductor says, 'I just wanted my baby.'

Drawn to a 7-week-old boy in an orange onesie, Cherie Amoore approached the baby's mother and her family members at the King of Prussia Mall.

Police escort Cherie Amoore, 32, accused of kidnapping an infant at the King of Prussia Mall, from the District Courthouse in Upper Merion after her arraignment on Friday. Amoore claimed she had a newborn son who died in February.
Police escort Cherie Amoore, 32, accused of kidnapping an infant at the King of Prussia Mall, from the District Courthouse in Upper Merion after her arraignment on Friday. Amoore claimed she had a newborn son who died in February.Read moreEd Hille / Staff Photographer /File

Drawn to a 7-week-old boy in an orange onesie, Cherie Amoore approached the baby's mother and her family members at the King of Prussia Mall.

She asked the baby's age. She made small talk, according to the police account. She stuck with them as they browsed through several stores, and sat with them at the sprawling, noisy food court, among the Thursday dinnertime throngs.

There, investigators said, as the mother turned away to reach into her diaper bag and attend to her other son, a toddler, Amoore lifted the crying baby from his stroller. She bolted, slipping into the crowd before the mother could chase her.

"It is every parent's worst nightmare," Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said Friday, announcing felony charges against Amoore in a rare case of kidnapping by a stranger that led to a five-hour search and set off Amber Alert alarms throughout the region. Cellphones jangled, TV programs were interrupted, and the baby's photo became ubiquitous on billboards, social media, and TV screens.

The baby was recovered unharmed, and on Friday afternoon, Amoore, 32, of Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, was led into court in handcuffs.

Amoore admitted to taking the baby, police said, and said she was motivated by having lost her own baby hours after its birth in February.

"I held him, and all those feelings rushed back," she told police, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case. "I just wanted my baby. It felt like I was holding my son again. It felt so good. I didn't want to lose that feeling. I was crazy."

Upper Merion Township Police Chief Tom Nolan said Friday that police have been unable to confirm that Amoore had or had lost a baby recently. The investigation was ongoing, he said.

Dressed in a red sweat suit, Amoore cried throughout her brief arraignment Friday on several felony charges, including kidnapping, false imprisonment, and unlawful restraint.

Before Amoore was transported to Montgomery County jail on $500,000 cash bail, Magisterial District Judge William Maruszczak granted her a few minutes to speak with members of her family.

Her mother, Renee Amoore, is deputy chairman of the Republican State Committee and attended the arraignment with other family members. They declined to speak to reporters.

In a statement later, Renee Amoore said, "We appreciate all who have reached out with prayers and all the positive messages in this difficult time. ... We have no further comments."

Greg Nester, Amoore's attorney, said it would be premature to comment on the details of the case.

"This is a difficult situation for the entire family," Nester said.

Police arrived at the mall at 5:43 p.m. Thursday, after the baby's mother attempted to chase Cherie Amoore and begged onlookers to call 911, shouting, "Someone just took my baby!"

The infant's mother told police Cherie Amoore had approached her and said she had a son about the same age. When Amoore sat with the family in the food court, she asked to hold the baby. The mother refused. But as the infant started crying and the mother turned to her other son, Amoore picked up the infant.

"Mom was doing the best that she could and this person offered to help her out," Nolan said.

The baby's abduction falls into a rare category of kidnapping cases; just 1 percent of missing children are abducted by nonfamily members, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Police scrambled to search the mall, check vehicles leaving the parking lot, and ask the public for help. They identified Amoore with the help of mall surveillance footage that showed her leaving the mall with the infant.

When officers arrived at Amoore's apartment in Tredyffrin after 10 p.m. Thursday, she answered the door and said, " 'I took the baby and I am sorry,' " police said.

The baby, identified as Ahsir Simmons, was safe and asleep in a car seat inside the apartment. He was reunited with his mother at the Upper Merion Police Department on Thursday night, where the mother thanked the police for their efforts.

Amoore, who was taken into custody Thursday night, told police she had not intended to steal a baby.

"I got up and walked away, I remember walking, it was like an out of body experience," she said, according to the criminal complaint. "I can't wrap my mind around this, I am really sorry for what I did."

lmccrystal@phillynews.com

610-313-8116

@Lmccrystal

Staff writers Jenice Armstrong and Emily Babay contributed to this article.