Family 'in agony' following violent abduction

~ The attacker slashed the mother's throat and left with 1-week-old Abby Woods.

UNION, Mo. -- The grandmother of a newborn girl stolen from her rural Missouri home pleaded Saturday for the child's safe return.

"The family's in agony," Raylene Ochsenbine said. "Just give her back. We want our Abby back."

Franklin County deputies, FBI agents and several members of the Missouri National Guard continued Saturday to search a wooded area near the home where the abduction occurred a day earlier. Authorities said a woman walked into the home, told the young mother "I'm here to take your child," then slashed the mother's throat and left with 1-week-old Abby Woods.

The mother, Stephanie Ochsenbine, 21, was in stable condition Saturday after surgery. Raylene Ochsenbine said Stephanie was doing better physically but was distraught beyond words.

"She's torn apart," Raylene Ochsenbine said.

Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke said authorities found some evidence on the property near the small town of Lonedell, but he declined to elaborate. Several callers offered tips, too, though none have led to the identity or whereabouts of the abductor.

Stephanie Ochsenbine told police she did not know her attacker, who is believed to be armed with a knife and handgun.

Toelke said authorities were asking hospitals and other health-care providers to watch for anyone bringing in a newborn. The abductor, he said, "could be someone who had a child die recently or could not have children and has told people they were pregnant and needed to steal a child so their lie would not be found out."

At a Casey's General Store in nearby St. Clair, workers Shannon Spiess and Amanda Henderson stood outside, watching each car closely for a baby seat in the back.

"It makes me mad," said Henderson, 29. "And it makes me scared. I just had a baby two months ago. I moved from the city to get away from stuff like this. Now this happens?"

Stranger abductions are extremely rare, according to the Alexandria, Va.-based Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Toelke said it was the first stranger abduction in recent memory in Franklin County, about 45 miles southwest of St. Louis.

Franklin County Maj. Mike Copeland noted that a sign celebrating Abby's birth was displayed in the front yard and was plainly visible from a highway.

The attacker gained entry to the family's home by asking to use Stephanie Ochsenbine's telephone, authorities said. Ochsenbine's boyfriend and Abby's father, James Woods, was at work at the time, police said.

Ochsenbine tried to fight off the abductor and was stabbed several times, police said. Her throat was slashed. Toelke said the attacker may also have been stabbed in the leg during the assault.

Ochsenbine's 1-year-old son, Connor, also was in the house but was unharmed.

Ochsenbine passed out and police aren't sure how long she was unconscious.

When she regained consciousness, she picked up Connor and went for help, trying two houses where no one was home before arriving at neighbor Pat Bearden's home.

"She was standing there with blood all over her and said 'Somebody stole my baby,'" said Pat Bearden, 69.

The baby's pediatrician, Andy Zupan, said the abduction comes at a time when the baby is still adjusting to life. She is already overdue for a doctor's visit, Zupan said, and had been breast-feeding.

Raylene Ochsenbine pleaded for the abductor to drop off the baby somewhere safe.

"I don't have ill will," she said. "We just want her to just take her to a church or a hospital. Just give her back."

She fought back tears as she recalled the last time she held Abby, on Thursday night.

"She's as light as a feather," the grandmother said. "She's just beautiful."