“We love him. He’s part of our family. Please, wherever you are, please bring my child home.”
Kyle Kellams: Randy Dixon with the Pryor Center. We’re starting a new Pryor Center look back. What are we hearing?
Randy Dixon: Well, that was the fraught plea of a mother whose 3-day-old preemie baby was stolen from her at the hospital in 1988.
Kyle Kellams: OK, at the end of last week’s edition, which I got several comments about — it was about a horrific crime spree. And you said, ‘Hey, Kyle, next week do you want more true crime or something happier?’ I remember saying something happier.
Randy Dixon: OK, well, now it doesn’t sound like it. But I kind of met you in the middle here.
Kyle Kellams: Disclaimer, ladies and gentlemen, Randy’s the one who does all the work on this, so he gets to pick. I have no ground. My request was for happier. Let’s go.
Randy Dixon: So don’t complain to Kyle.
Kyle Kellams: I’m just saying, the one who does the work gets to select the topic.
Randy Dixon: Well, you know the result of this. This happened in 1988, right about this time of year. It was at the end of October, first of November. And should I throw out there a spoiler alert?
Kyle Kellams: Please.
Randy Dixon: It does have a happy ending.
Kyle Kellams: OK.
Randy Dixon: But let’s start from the beginning. Yes. It’s Nov. 2, 1988, and KATV’s Tom Amontree has the initial report on the disappearance of who became known as Baby Christopher.
“Last night, Annette Jones was holding her newborn son in her arms, and now she’s pleading for his safe return.
‘Please, if you have my child, please return him. He needs medical attention.’
Around 10 o’clock last night, a woman dressed like a nurse walked into Annette Jones’s room and said she needed to see the baby. At that point, an unknowing Annette Jones handed over little Christopher Michael.
The woman presented herself as a nurse and said she needed to take the baby to the nursery to be weighed. Annette saw nothing suspicious about this, and gave the baby to the woman.
The police and the staff here at Doctors Hospital are still wondering how the woman was able to walk out of the hospital with a baby in her arms without anybody seeing her. But now doctors are more concerned about the health of Christopher Michael Jones. The little baby was six weeks premature and in desperate need of health care.
‘This baby is very medically fragile, is six weeks premature, and is subject to stresses of getting cold, low blood sugar, needs to be monitored and definitely needs to be back in the hospital.’
It was about 30 minutes before anyone realized the baby had been kidnapped. The Little Rock Police Department has assigned 20 detectives to the case, but at this point, there are no solid leads. ‘Now we have a lot of leads, but there’s nothing to lead directly to the baby. And if you have him for the reason of taking him as your child and raising him and loving him, do what a good mother would do. Bring him to the hospital and let him get help.’”
Randy Dixon: So by this time, the case is getting national news attention. And here’s a follow-up report from KATV’s Vicki Newton, with not only an update on the case but this is a preemie.
Kyle Kellams: Right. Should be in the hospital.
Randy Dixon: Exactly. And so there’s also concern over the infant’s well-being.
“For the third day, Annette Jones pleaded for the safe return of her baby son, Christopher. ‘If there’s any goodness in her heart, she needs to do it now. She needs to take my baby, whom I love, and my husband loves, my two girls love. We love him. He’s part of our family. Please, wherever you are, please bring my child home.’
Tiny Christopher Jones is six weeks premature. Each day that he’s without medical care means another day that his chances of surviving are decreased. Police released a composite drawing of the young Black woman believed to have stolen Christopher from Doctors Hospital. Other than that, they have no concrete leads and their frustration is mounting.
‘There’s been a lot of things we’ve had to work on, a lot of things that really looked good at the time. I mean, really looked good. And then, of course, when they were tracked down, they turned out to be nothing.’
The case has grabbed national media attention. Tonight at 9 o’clock, ABC’s newsmagazine 20/20 will discuss the incident in a segment on infant abductions from hospitals. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says that during this year, eight cases similar to this one have been reported. All of the infants were returned home safely within four days. And that’s the hope here — that little Christopher Jones will soon be reunited with his family. Vicki Newton, Channel 7 News.”
Kyle Kellams: If you’re just joining us, I want to remind you, Randy Dixon said this has a happy ending. Let’s continue.
Randy Dixon: Yes it does. And this is why it was one of my favorite news stories over three-plus decades of working in news — because it does, the way it turns out.
Kyle Kellams: OK.
Randy Dixon: So another five days pass and still nothing.
Kyle Kellams: So we’re about a week out now. Oh my goodness.
Randy Dixon: Yeah, eight days. And there’s still no sign of Baby Christopher. They’ve brought in the FBI. They’ve widened the search. Like Vicki said before, it was national news, it was on 20/20, Inside Edition, all the networks. And let's hear from Vicki again — now eight days later.
“A special agent from the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit is now part of the team investigating the kidnapping of little Christopher Michael Jones. ‘What we would be doing is working with the local office of the FBI and investigators from the Little Rock Police Department to try to analyze what behavior we can see from the commission of this crime.’
Hagmaier says this isn’t necessarily a criminal investigation because the woman who took the baby doesn’t believe she’s committed a crime. He says she may actually see the baby as her own. ‘A woman who would take a baby from a hospital situation is not a vicious person or a criminal. It’s someone who’s probably trying to fill a void in their life. Many times we find that these women have suffered miscarriages. They’ve lost children of their own. They feel that they are unable to bear their own children, and they just have a tremendous need to have a baby.’
Hagmaier says one of the keys to this investigation will be finding someone who knows the woman who abducted Christopher Jones. He’s optimistic that will happen. Meanwhile, family and friends continue to hope for the safe return of Christopher Michael.
‘It’s been eight days since he was stolen from his mother’s arms, and the uncertainty of his whereabouts is taking its toll on Annette Jones. “I don’t know what he’s eating. I don’t know if he’s drinking his milk, if he’s just lying there crying or what. But I know the Lord has the power to do what I ask him in the name of his son, Jesus Christ.”’”
Kyle Kellams: I’m imagining, Randy, that even if there weren’t new updates, this was leading the newscasts, or nearly leading, every day.
Randy Dixon: Yeah, every day. Because they would hear something and then follow some leads and it would end in nothing. But KATV, along with all the local media, was committed to doing whatever was needed to help in the search — even on election night.
Kyle Kellams: Oh yeah, it’s ’88.
Randy Dixon: It was a presidential election. So Nov. 8, election night, KATV actually interrupted political coverage with a special report.
“Earlier this evening in our 6 o’clock news, we mentioned a major development in the kidnapping case of Christopher Jones. The FBI and police asked us to broadcast a news conference. Kelly Minton is out where it’s taking place.”
…
“‘I have reason to believe that the person who took this child would like to see this child returned safely. It is my belief that you share my concern for the welfare of this child. This is my special plea to you who may hold this child at this time: Please return this baby to his parents, Willie and Annette Jones. Place the child in a warm and safe place and then call me immediately. My telephone number is 8887... If you have this child, leave the child in a safe and warm place and give me a call immediately. You choose the place.’”
Randy Dixon: For that pastor to give his personal phone number on statewide TV was remarkable, but the situation was beginning to look bleak.
Kyle Kellams: Eight days.
Randy Dixon: Yeah. So, ready for the good news?
Kyle Kellams: I am ready for good news when I wake up.
Randy Dixon: So after two weeks of desperately searching for little baby Christopher, there was a break. He was found. Phone calls came in from people who had observed a woman in Hot Springs who had a baby, and they didn’t know how or where it came from. They went there, and they found the baby. She had some issues, obviously, but the baby was returned, and there was a tearful news conference at the hospital, carried live by all the media. Here’s the wrap-up from the 10 o' clock news report from Tom Amontree, who was there on the scene.
“From KATV, Arkansas news and information leader, this is Channel 7 News. Good evening. Tonight is the night Annette and Willie Jones have been praying for for two weeks. I’m Andy Pearson, and I’m Susan Roesgen.
In case you didn’t see the press conference earlier tonight, our reporter Tom Amontree asked Annette Jones what her baby looked like to her since she hadn’t seen him for two weeks, and she said, ‘He looks like $250 million.’
Tom has the rest of the story of the kidnapped baby brought back tonight to the Little Rock hospital where he was stolen from his mother two weeks ago.
‘His shirt says, ‘Welcome Home.’ The smile on her face tells the story. Thirteen days of waiting and wondering is over for Annette Jones and her family. Baby Christopher is now back where he belongs in his mother’s arms. ‘Annette, how are you feeling right now?’ ‘Oh, I feel wonderful. I feel relieved, joyful, thankful. I’m happy.’
Baby Christopher arrived at the hospital in the arms of his doctors. Before he was given back to his mother, the premature infant was given a thorough examination. Because of his fragile condition, doctors were concerned the baby might not survive the kidnapping. But after looking him over, they say he is healthy and will be just fine.
‘Somebody has spent a lot of time feeding him to put a pound on him in two weeks, and I was very happily surprised to see what good shape he was in.’
Annette Jones agrees with the doctors and says the woman who stole her baby took good care of him and she isn’t bitter. ‘I forgive her, and whatever help that she needs, I hope that she will get it.’ ‘Did you ever think this day would come?’ ‘Oh yes, definitely. My faith in the Lord has not been shattered. Not one bit. And I knew the Lord was going to bring Christopher home to us.’
The long ordeal is finally over. Tonight they will stay with baby Christopher at the hospital and then celebrate a happy homecoming tomorrow.”Tom Amontree, Channel 7 News.
Randy Dixon: And with this, you could hear the jubilation that was reflected in that story.
Kyle Kellams: Yeah
Randy Dixon: And you’ll be able to see the visuals on our website. The room was packed. It was kind of a madhouse. I’ve always wondered what happened to that family.
Kyle Kellams: We’re talking 37 years ago.
Randy Dixon: Yeah. So, I took that as a challenge when you said find something happy. I have a list — actually several lists — on Post-it notes stuck to my monitor. When the time seems right, or I get a reason to do it, I take one on. And I’ve always wanted to do this one. So guess what. I did some digging and I found Annette Jones.
Kyle Kellams: Wow.
Randy Dixon: Yes. She’s still in Little Rock, lives there and works at a Baptist church. She was surprised I found her but gracious enough to talk to me a little about an incident that happened like you said, 37 years ago. I wanted to ask her about the lasting effects of the trauma — and when they told Christopher about it. He had two older sisters, and I wanted to know how that affected raising her children, because I’m sure a jolt like that could make you rethink the safety of your child.
Kyle Kellams: Right. Great question
“We had not just sat him down and told him until one day he came home from elementary school and said, ‘I think it was a little boy, Chris, that says that my mama told me that you were stolen,’ or something like that. So we had to tell him. After we told him, he told the teacher, and the teacher told him, ‘You’re safe here. Nothing’s going to happen to you. Everything’s going to be good here.’
Well, I’ll be frank. Christopher always told me that we never let him go anywhere. I think I may have held him — maybe all of them — a little bit closer than I intended to. But I just couldn’t let them be gone out of the house very long.”
Randy Dixon: Mrs. Jones especially wanted to express, and still does, her gratitude to the family, friends and strangers who helped find her son.
“People rallied around this family. People that didn’t even know us. But it was because of community and because of people’s concern. People are concerned. I don’t know, in this day and time, if people know that. But there are people in our communities who are concerned about each other. If it was not for that concern, we may not have gotten him back in the way that we did. I believe we would have gotten him back, but for someone to notice, to be aware, to be watchful, to notice something out of the ordinary, and to step forward and make that call — that goes back to community. Community is so, so key to our lives. The media was part of that community. It was like one big community looking for him. It wasn’t like we were out in the woods looking for him, but I know there were people looking in the woods for him. Thank God the media kept the story current.”
Kyle Kellams: Do we know about Christopher —
Randy Dixon: Adult Christopher? Yes. He grew up in Little Rock, went to LSU, we’ll forgive him for that, graduated, and now lives in Baton Rouge. His 37th birthday is coming up next week on Oct. 28 or 29. Annette conferenced him in, and of course, he has no memory of any of that. He really couldn’t even remember when they told him about it, he was about six or seven. But I wanted to know about his outlook on life, knowing his tumultuous beginning.
“I take from it how good God is. I can’t stress enough how good God is, because most stories like this don’t have a happy ending. Every time I think about it, one thing I’m reminded of is how good God is, because God was able to keep me safe through all of it and return me safely. That’s one thing I always take from it. But this is prime evidence that a community can come together for a common goal. And the community did come together. I’m thankful every time I think about it, because I really don’t think about it much. But every time it does come around, I’m thankful that it ended the way it ended and that I have my mother, my father and my family in my life.”
Randy Dixon: I asked her, my first question was, if this is something they talk about often. They laughed and said it may come up every few years, but it’s not something they talk about a lot. But that’s really why this story stands out. The nature of news is that it usually ends bad. Like my old boss Bob Steele used to say, ‘Thousands of planes land safely every day, but it’s the one that crashes that makes the news.’ Stories like this are few and far between, and I’m glad we were able to do it.
Kyle Kellams: It just reminds you to step back and think about that plane landing, or that loved one waking up with you in the morning, and just be grateful for that.
Randy Dixon: Exactly right. Every day.
Kyle Kellams: Randy Dixon, thank you so much.
Randy Dixon: Thanks. I’ll see you next week.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
