MARATHON, Fla. – A 49-year-old woman was arrested Wednesday on accusations that she kidnapped a 16-month-old child from a hotel in the Florida Keys.
According to Monroe County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Adam Linhardt, deputies were called to the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Marathon around 8:30 a.m. where an employee told authorities that Zita Gasperik took her child without her permission.
Recommended Videos
Deputies pulled over Gasperik on U.S. 1 shortly thereafter and found the child in her lap and not in a car seat, Linhardt said.
The child’s mother told deputies that Gasperik, who is also a hotel employee, was telling her how cute her baby was and took a picture.
She also said, “This baby is mine today,” according to the mother.
The mother told deputies that her co-worker then took her child to a breakfast room, but when she went to get her child back, her child and Gasperik were gone.
Gasperik was arrested on charges of child neglect and kidnapping.
Linhardt said the child wasn’t injured.