Woman Tries to Snatch 2-Year-Old at O'Hare Baggage Claim: Cops

Olachi Etoh in her Chicago Police booking mug

A mother thwarted an attempted child abduction at O’Hare Airport Tuesday evening as a 24-year-old woman tried to snatch her 2-year-old boy at baggage claim.

Olachi Etoh, 24, picked up the child after playing with him near the baggage claim and made her way down an escalator, but the child’s mother, Carla Gonzalez, chased after her and stopped her, Chicago Police said. Etoh, of the 3400 block of North Halsted Street on Chicago’s North Side, faces aggravated kidnapping and misdemeanor count of battery charges. Bail was set at $450,000 on Wednesday.

Etoh has been a missing person for two weeks, according to her mother, who found her after spotting her daughter’s photo on TV and news websites.

“She’s not a criminal,” Bridget Etoh, who lives in Maryland, told the Chicago Tribune. “She’s had mental issues since 2008, and has been off her medications recently. She’s never even gotten a speeding ticket.”

Gonzalez had her 1-year-old and 2-year-old children with her as she waited to pick up her boyfriend and his parents at the airport. In an interview with the Tribune, Gonzalez said Etoh played with the boy, remarked at how cute he was and then scooped him up. “I said, ‘What are you doing?’ and then thought, ‘Oh my goodness, is this really happening?”

She said people watched the snatch and run, but no one tried to help her.

Etoh’s mother said her daughter needs help, not jail. She said she had called police last month as she tried searching for her daughter.

“She’s all alone and this is all over the papers and TV,” her mother said. “This is why I contacted the police. I was trying to prevent something like this. She’s been running around with a mental illness.”