1 Medical Record Research Bureau, 211 E. Chicago Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60611
Newspaper reports of the finding and return to its parents of a newborn baby kidnapped August 28, 1968, from a Port Arthur, Texas, hospital point out clearly the part footprints taken at time of baby's birth played in positively identifying the baby found 2 days later as the baby kidnapped. Footprinting of newborn infants in the delivery room is a routine procedure in this hospital and thus imprints were available when the need arose.
Fortunately for all concerned, the administrator and physicians of this hospital realized that the conclusion reached by the authors performing the study of footprinting reported in the January 1966 issue of Pediatrics1 was due entirely to the use of improper footprinting techniques.