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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Abandoned on a Riverside door step 18 years ago, Aniya Smith has flown to Jacksonville in search of her biological parents. She's asking for the public's help finding them.
January 11, 1992, a woman living at the Riviera Parkway Apartments opened her door at 5 a.m. to find a tiny baby wrapped in nothing but a towel.
"They told me I was really cold and that I almost died. She took me in and cared for me until the ambulance came," Aniya Smith said.
Smith and her adoptive parents, Joshua and Connie, have flown to Jacksonville from their home in Fresno, Calif., to retrace Aniya's past.
"We promised her when she got to be 18, we would take her back to Jacksonville," Connie Smith said.
Police in 1992 spent days searching for the person who abandoned the child, hoping to identify the baby, whom they called, "Jane Doe." Now, the Smiths' only clue is a newspaper article about her adandonment written the week she was found.
The infant, only a few hours old, was rushed to Baptist Medical Center.
With no note and no identification, police appealed to the public for help.
"I was called and asked, 'Do you have a bed?' I said, 'What age?' They said, 'newborn,' so I said, 'okay," Connie Smith said.
Joshua Smith is a pastor and missionary, and for years, his wife was a foster parent and ran an emergency children's shelter in Jacksonville. Before Aniya, they'd adopted two boys, also abandoned as babies.
"When we got to the hospital, the moment we saw her, we knew she would be ours," she recalled.
"She was tiny. So small, I could hold her in one hand," Joshua Smith said.
Six days later, the Smiths adopted the infant girl.
"My husband won't tell you this, but she became his heartbeat the first moment we took her home. She slept on his shoulder," said Connie Smith.
They say the little girl completed the family.
"They are very loving parents," Aniya said.
In 2003, the Smiths left Jacksonville. Aniya graduated high school in California last week, and will begin college in the fall.
She has one task to complete first. "I have always wanted to know who my real mother was, since I was told I was adopted. I wonder if I look like her. If I have siblings. What type of woman she is," Aniya said.
She know it won't be an easy conversation.
"I have a lot of questions. I want to know why she left me," Aniya said.
Aniya and her parents both want to say 'thank you' to her birth mother, though, for bringing her into the world.
"Had she not done what she did, as awful as it was, she gave me and my husband a chance to be parents. I know it sounds backward, but I wanted to say thanks to her if I could," Connie Young said.
The Smiths will be in Jacksonville until Wednesday, retracing the places where Aniya spent the first days of her life. She also plans to contact the woman who first found her on the doorstep.
She's hoping the public will hear her story and be able to provide any clues about her birth family.
"I'm kind of happy I'm here and taking a step to find [my mother]. But I'm kind of nervous, because if I don't get to meet her or find any other information, I feel like I came out here for no reason," Aniya said.
If you have information that could help the Smiths, you can email Jennifer Lindgren at jlindgren@firstcoastnews.com, or call First Coast News at 630-8808. We'll pass your information on to the Smith family.
Abandoned on a Doorstep, Aniya Smith Retraces Her Past | Firstcoastnews.com | Most Popular
January 11, 1992, a woman living at the Riviera Parkway Apartments opened her door at 5 a.m. to find a tiny baby wrapped in nothing but a towel.
"They told me I was really cold and that I almost died. She took me in and cared for me until the ambulance came," Aniya Smith said.
Smith and her adoptive parents, Joshua and Connie, have flown to Jacksonville from their home in Fresno, Calif., to retrace Aniya's past.
"We promised her when she got to be 18, we would take her back to Jacksonville," Connie Smith said.
Police in 1992 spent days searching for the person who abandoned the child, hoping to identify the baby, whom they called, "Jane Doe." Now, the Smiths' only clue is a newspaper article about her adandonment written the week she was found.
The infant, only a few hours old, was rushed to Baptist Medical Center.
With no note and no identification, police appealed to the public for help.
"I was called and asked, 'Do you have a bed?' I said, 'What age?' They said, 'newborn,' so I said, 'okay," Connie Smith said.
Joshua Smith is a pastor and missionary, and for years, his wife was a foster parent and ran an emergency children's shelter in Jacksonville. Before Aniya, they'd adopted two boys, also abandoned as babies.
"When we got to the hospital, the moment we saw her, we knew she would be ours," she recalled.
"She was tiny. So small, I could hold her in one hand," Joshua Smith said.
Six days later, the Smiths adopted the infant girl.
"My husband won't tell you this, but she became his heartbeat the first moment we took her home. She slept on his shoulder," said Connie Smith.
They say the little girl completed the family.
"They are very loving parents," Aniya said.
In 2003, the Smiths left Jacksonville. Aniya graduated high school in California last week, and will begin college in the fall.
She has one task to complete first. "I have always wanted to know who my real mother was, since I was told I was adopted. I wonder if I look like her. If I have siblings. What type of woman she is," Aniya said.
She know it won't be an easy conversation.
"I have a lot of questions. I want to know why she left me," Aniya said.
Aniya and her parents both want to say 'thank you' to her birth mother, though, for bringing her into the world.
"Had she not done what she did, as awful as it was, she gave me and my husband a chance to be parents. I know it sounds backward, but I wanted to say thanks to her if I could," Connie Young said.
The Smiths will be in Jacksonville until Wednesday, retracing the places where Aniya spent the first days of her life. She also plans to contact the woman who first found her on the doorstep.
She's hoping the public will hear her story and be able to provide any clues about her birth family.
"I'm kind of happy I'm here and taking a step to find [my mother]. But I'm kind of nervous, because if I don't get to meet her or find any other information, I feel like I came out here for no reason," Aniya said.
If you have information that could help the Smiths, you can email Jennifer Lindgren at jlindgren@firstcoastnews.com, or call First Coast News at 630-8808. We'll pass your information on to the Smith family.
Abandoned on a Doorstep, Aniya Smith Retraces Her Past | Firstcoastnews.com | Most Popular