A tragic event unfolded yesterday in Montgomery County, Texas.  It happened at about 3:40 p.m. at the Northwoods Pediatric Center located in the 25000 block of Borough Park Drive, The Woodlands, Texas.

Deadly Force Used to Kidnap Infant

According to police, Kala Marie Golden, 28, had just left a pediatricians office with her 3 day old infant after a check-up when she was approached and shot up to 7 times at close range.  The infant was then snatched by the shooter, Verna Deann McClain, and the shooter’s male accomplice then ran to the victim’s truck and removed the infant care seat.  The suspects fled with the infant.  It was also reported that as the suspects were fleeing the parking lot the infant’s mother attempted to get to her baby in the suspect’s vehicle, and as a result was run over by the fleeing car.  The mother died at the hospital from her injuries.

The infant was located and rescued by law enforcement officials later in the day, and both suspects are in custody, charged with multiple felonies including Capital Murder.

Security Risks for New Born Babies

As most parents know, while in the hospital for the birth of child, you will often find that the security measures taken by hospitals are serious and non-flexible.  This is due to the infant abductions that have happened over the years from hospitals.  Since there has been an increase in security measures in hospitals over the years, the abductions from hospitals have gone done in numbers.  However, once you leave the hospital with your newborn your personal security, and that of your infant, is all in your hands.

Over the last several years there has been an increase in abductions of infants outside hospital settings.  It should go without saying that if the security in hospitals is tight, the chances of abducting an infant are low.  However, once you take the infant home there is little or no security in most cases.

Parents, siblings, grandparents, sitters, and anyone else that will be around your infant needs to know to be aware at all times of their surroundings.  Here are a few tips to follow to keep your infant safe:

1. Consider the risk of placing a birth announcement in the paper. Many hospitals will not do this service anymore without your signed consent.  It was determined after several incidents in the past that the abductor took information from the paper to locate infants at their home, and then posed as home-care nurses to get access to the infants.
2. If your hospital offers in-home follow-up care, before you let that person into your home and have access to your infant ensure that you know who they are, and that in fact they do work for the hospital and are assigned to visit on that day.
3. Limit the information that you put on social websites about your newborn to only those that you know personally.
4. Never leave your infant unattended while running errands, even for a minute.
5. Disable your cell phones GPS setting so that pictures that you do post are not tagged with their location.  If after you make a post it shows where you were when the picture was taken, you are increasing your risks.
6. Before you go and decorate the yard with New Arrival signs, banners, and balloons, think about the risks that are associated with that.

The security of your family is in your hands once you leave the hospital, so take it seriously!

Attached you will find  the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® Best-Practices Guide for Child ID Kits.  It is a great resource for parents.

Follow this link to contact a Security Consultant at Protection Management, LLC.

Thanks, and be safe.