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In April 1997, a woman disguised as a nurse quietly departed from a Cape Town hospital with a two-day-old infant in her arms.

Yet this baby wasn't rightfully hers, and it would take an agonising 17 years before the shocking truth emerged in one of South Africa's most disturbing child abduction cases. Miche Zephany Sheldon had begun her final year at Zwaanswyk High School in January 2015.

Her classmates buzzed with anticipation when they learnt a new pupil had enrolled.

Cassidy Nurse was three years Miche's junior, yet the two bore a striking resemblance to each other.

Miche remembered experiencing an immediate bond with the younger student, describing it as a "scary" sensation.

Despite their age difference, they became utterly devoted to one another, affectionately calling each other "big sis" and "baby girl".

They simply chuckled when people questioned whether they were related, quipping: "Maybe in another life!" Then one afternoon the duo captured a selfie together, reports the Mirror.

This photograph eventually reached Miche's parents, Lavona and Michael Solomon, who were astonished by their remarkable similarity.

Yet Cassidy's parents, Celeste and Morne Nurse, oddly asked their daughter discover whether her friend was born on 30 April 1997.

When she confirmed "yes", the life Miche had always known was about to crumble.

Weeks later, she was removed from a maths lesson and escorted to the headmaster's office where two social workers were waiting who informed her about a baby girl - Zephany Nurse - who was taken from Groote Schuur Hospital as a newborn and never recovered.

A DNA test was organised and it confirmed beyond doubt that she and the baby were the same person. The revelation made national headlines and Lavona was subsequently arrested.

"Meeting my biological parents... there wasn't that connection. It was extremely difficult because you've grown up thinking this is your family", Miche said about encountering her birth parents for the first time.

She added: "I was looking for it - but it just wasn't there in the beginning. I'd been raised by Lavona and Michael my whole life. Both families were just so harsh with each other, as well.

"I really had to adjust to having two different dads in my life. But I knew I'd want them both walking me down the aisle whenever I got married."

Lavona had been battling with fertility issues when Miche was born and had suffered a late miscarriage. Disguised as a nurse, she then abducted Miche from her hospital cot in the maternity ward.

Whilst the financial bookkeeper no longer maintains contact with the woman who raised her, she refuses to regard her as a villain. She explained: "I don't see the mum who raised me as criminal and evil. Everyone just got hurt in the process. We all just needed to heal."

Solomon received a 10-year prison sentence in 2016 for kidnapping, fraud and breaching the Children's Act, with the judge observing that she displayed no remorse throughout proceedings.

In March 2023, Miche requested that both Michael and her birth father, Morne Nurse, escort her down the aisle.

She revealed at the time: "My biological dad wasn't too happy at first. But this day was all about me and my relationship with my husband. But eventually, he said yes to me. It was a miracle! The relationship between my two families is improving.

"They do get along now - we've all matured, realised we're human and are finally coming to terms with what happened. We show mutual respect to one another, and we're all very understanding."