Miché Solomon.
This is the name that kidnapped baby Zephany Nurse grew up with.
Her identity can be revealed after the Gauteng High Court Judge Peter Mabuse on Tuesday morning lifted the restriction on revealing the identity of the young mother of two.
Miché, 22, had asked for the ban on her identity - which was instituted to protect her as an under-18 victim of crime - to be removed last week, as a publisher was on the brink of publishing her life story.
The book, simply called Zephany and with her face on the cover, was released on Tuesday.
The 296-page book, which retails at R260, tells the story of her childhood and the arrest of the woman who abducted her from Groote Schuur Hospital as a newborn, from her own perspective.
Zephany was just three days old on 30 April 1997 when Lavona Solomon, 54, stole her from her mother Celeste Nurse’s side, while they were sleeping in a ward.
A desperate search was launched, but she was never found.
Miche Solomon with her biological mother Celeste Nurse (left). Picture: Facebook
Celeste and her husband, Morné, celebrated their eldest child’s birthday every year, never losing hope that they would one day find her.
The couple went on to have three more children, but their marriage broke down in 2014 and they have since divorced.
Meanwhile, Lavona raised Zephany, whom she named Miché, as an only child with her husband, Michael, in Seawinds, Lavender Hill, close to where the Nurses lived in neighbouring Capricorn, Muizenberg.
Miché had an idyllic childhood and was the apple of her parents’ eye, but her world changed forever in February 2015, when the Hawks came to arrest
her “mother”.
Zephany was found after her sister, Cassidy Nurse, now 19, started attending the same high school as her and everyone commented on their striking resemblance.
The girls became friends and after meeting Miché, who was in matric at the time, Morné called in the Hawks.
DNA tests proved that the girl was indeed his long lost child, Zephany.
Miche and her biological sister Cassidy Nurse (left). Picture: Facebook
During the trial, it was revealed that Lavona had suffered a number of miscarriages, which she said had made her desperate to have a child of her own to love.
The court also heard that she had wanted the baby so that Michael would marry her.
But Lavona claimed it was not true and that they had planned to marry since 1994.
Michael at a later stage claimed he never knew that Miché was not his biological daughter.
Lavona had denied stealing Zephany, insisting that she was handed a newborn baby at Wynberg Train Station by a woman called “Sylvia”, a claim dismissed by Western Cape High Court Judge President Yahya Hlophe as a “fairytale” .
She was found guilty on charges of kidnapping, fraud and contravening the Children’s Act, and in 2016 was sentenced to 10 years behind bars.
During Lavona’s trial, Miché remained with Michael, and after initially meeting her overjoyed Nurse parents, broke ties with them.
In March 2016, a heartbroken Morné said his 18-year-old daughter had chosen to stay with the kidnapper and her family, and had blocked him on her cellphone.
Michael and convicted kidnapper Lavona Solomon. Picture: Noor Slamdien
He told the Daily Voice: “I got my daughter back and now I’ve lost her all over again, and it is just as painful this time around, maybe even more so.”
Miché has since reconciled with the Nurses and spends a lot of time with Celeste and Cassidy.
She also has two children, a two-year-old and a baby born earlier this year.
Yesterday, neither Morné or Celeste would comment on the book or their daughter’s identity finally being revealed.
Michael was also not available for comment, while Lavona is still in jail serving her sentence.
Neighbours in the Seawind community confirmed Michael was a private man who kept to himself and lived alone since his wife’s incarceration.
genevieve.serra@inl.co.za