Sometimes at Crazy America we see stories that are just so bizarre and sickening that they wouldn’t be believed if someone had made them up.
Events unfolding over the weekend in Pierce County, Washington, certainly fit into that category.
A woman who recently ran for mayor of Colorado Springs and her teenage daughter are suspected of drugging a new mother after posing as photographers in an elaborate plot to kidnap the mother’s newborn baby.
Detectives for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department believe the woman, identified as Juliette Parker, wanted to steal a baby to raise as her own, CBS Denver reported.
Police arrested 38-year-old Parker who lives in suburban Spanaway and her 16-year-old daughter on suspicion of attempted kidnapping and assault.
The alleged victim first reported that something was amiss on February 5th when she called 911 and said she believed she’d been drugged. She explained that she was vomiting, feeling numb, drowsy and unstable on her feet.
After receiving medical treatment, the woman filed a police report saying the suspect drugged her after posing as a baby photographer.
“She’s terrified but physically she’s okay,” sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said.
The two women met on a newborn baby Facebook group.
The suspect advertised free baby photos as a way to bolster her portfolio and save new moms money on newborn portraits.
The suspect came to the victim’s home three times to photograph her 5-week-old daughter and was seen taking selfies with the baby and wiping her fingerprints off items she touched, Troyer said.
During the third visit, police say the suspect and her teenage daughter gave the victim a cupcake. The victim felt drowsy after eating it and ordered the two to leave her home.
Investigators have identified additional victims, and said evidence suggests that Parker “was planning to steal a newborn baby to raise as her own,” the Sheriff’s Department said.
Less than a year ago, Parker was fighting to become the next mayor of Colorado Springs, an important metro area in Colorado about 60 miles south of Denver.
Running as an advocate for the homeless and affordable housing, Parker came in a distant second in the mayoral vote in April 2019 with 11,453 votes in a four-way race. She lost to incumbent John Suthers.