The lawyer for Kimberly Mays' biological parents called for a criminal investigation Wednesday based on a former nursing aide's claim that a doctor ordered a baby swap nearly 15 years ago.
"Since day one, I have pleaded with people to treat the Twiggs as victims of a kidnapping," said John Blakely, the attorney for Ernest and Regina Twigg. "People haven't wanted to believe it, but they should start believing it now."The Twiggs, who have long claimed the swap was intentional, are appealing a judge's ruling last summer denying them any claim to Kimberly.
The baby swap came to light when the child raised by the Twiggs developed heart problems and blood tests showed she wasn't their biological daughter. After Arlena Twigg died in 1988, the Twiggs began a search that led them to Kimberly and Robert Mays, who raised her.
Blakely conceded that a criminal investigation would have no effect on the custody case unless it points to Mays, who has been affirmed by the courts as Kimberly's father.
"Bob Mays is not involved - it's not a concern of ours whatsoever," Mays' attorney Arthur Ginsburg told reporters Wednesday.
He added that Mays was investigated by the FBI, passed a polygraph and was completely cleared.
Ginsburg said he would welcome any investigation but called the latest claim a "non-occurrence" since it should have no effect on where Kimberly will live. The judge ruled on the girl's well-being, he said, not if the switch was intentional.
Hardee County Sheriff's Maj. Edward Hendrix said Wednesday that no one had yet formally requested a probe, but if asked, "we'll do whatever is necessary, whatever it takes."
Former nurse's aide Patsy Webb issued a statement Tuesday saying a doctor at Hardee Memorial Hospital in rural Wauchula in 1978 gave the order to switch Kimberly with another, ailing baby. She said she refused, but when she came in the next day, she found the two babies had been switched.
She said a doctor later told her if she spoke out she would be fired and lose the health insurance that was allowing her to care for her own cancer-stricken child.
Webb, who previously denied knowing anything about the switch, said she decided to speak out now because she is sick with a respiratory illness.
From her bed in Wauchula, with tubes in her nose, the 60-year-old Webb told CBS News that three doctors at the hospital were aware of the switch.
"You could look at those two babies, the Mays' baby, the one that she had, had a heart condition," Webb said. "They're bluish white looking when they have a heart condition like that, and the other one was pretty little pink."
Lawyers for Webb offered no corroborating evidence and refused to provide a motive or comment beyond her statement.
Three doctors mentioned in a 1988 lawsuit by the Twiggs were telephoned Wednesday but did not return calls.