Baby Snatcher Movie (true crime movie)

Baby Snatcher is based on the kidnapping of Rachael Ann White by Maritza Beato Rentz in 1988. The movie premiered for the first time on May, 3, 1992 on CBS as a television movie of the week. The movie stars Nancy Mckeon and Veronica Hamel.

Read the true story that inspired this movie here

Updates on this Kidnapping Case

I had the chance to speak with Cora Abbott about how life has been since the kidnapping. She said that she is doing really well. She is remarried and still living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her daughter Rachael is all grown up and is in College to be a psychologist. She is almost finished with her studies. After the kidnapping, Cora decided to open a home day care in an effort to keep her children close to her. She has been in business for the past 20 years. She is no longer a part of the organization Families of Missing Children, but she does do a lot of private work. I asked her how close the movie was to real life. She said that there were some differences, notably, the way in which the police were portrayed in a very nonchalant manner. In real life they were ruthless, yet “we understood why” she says. It was because at the time they had many family members in law enforcement. Cora watches the movie Baby Snatcher occasionally because she has it on tape. ()Paul and Maritza divorced after the incident. But Maritza went on to bigger and better things. She passed away recently. She became and activist, investigative reporter, and editor. She became huge in the Cuban American community in Miami, Florida. She had many enemies because she was very critical and exposed the criminal behavior of several influential people in Miami. She died without anyone knowing who she really was. Click here for a mini bio of Maritza Beato.

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Cora Abbott with daughters Brittany and Rachael Ann White/Below Kidnapper Maritza Beato Rentz

Baby Snatcher Kidnapping Cases (old true crime)

Here are some old true crime stories dealing with baby snatching and abduction of infants. The following cases have nothing to do with the true story above nor the movie on which it is based. For more information on these cases or others please inquire about our research services.

1943
The case of Judith Ann Gurney aka Judith Gurney hit the papers in 1943. On August 1, 1943, the newborn infant was abducted from Albany Hospital in Albany, Oregon. The baby was missing for eight days and was finally returned to her mother unharmed. The abductor was a woman named Catherine Wright, 26. Wright was an Army wife at the time. Her husband was Sgt. Jesse Wright, and he had no idea that she was faking the pregnancy. She was able to fool her husband, friends, and many of the neighbors. She was exposed when one suspicious neighbor, Bertha Newtson, saw her baby's stolen clothes in Wright's garage. Days later, Catherine right appeared with a baby. Catherine was arrested. she admitted to the crime. Catherine Wright is also known as Katherine Wright.

Judith Gurney with her mom

 1959
The abduction of Lisa Rose Chionchio was a huge case in the newspapers in 1959. The baby, Lisa Rose Chionchio, was snatched in January 1959 by Jean Iavarone. Iavarone, 43, snatched the baby from St. Peter’s Hospital in Brooklyn, New York so that her boyfriend would marry her. She was caught about a week later, after a tipster told the police where they could find her. When the police arrived, they found Iavarone rocking the baby quietly. The mother, Frances Chionchio, was very happy to see her baby again. Jean Iavarone eventually pleaded guilty in May of that year. Jean Iavarone had been divorced once, and she had two other husbands to die. She had a total of eight children. Three of her children were adults and the other four had been taken from her and placed in foster case.

Mother, Frances Chionchio reunited with her baby

Kidnapper Jean Iavarone leaving the courtroom in Brooklyn, New York