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Woman accused of abducting child from Giles County church claimed him as her own, officials say

Below is a timeline of the incident

Woman charged in abduction of Giles County toddler from church appears in court

GILES COUNTY, Va. – On Wednesday, an Alleghany County woman pleaded guilty to abducting a toddler from a Giles County church in May 2021. But according to the Giles County Commonwealth’s Attorney, the story starts years before the incident even happened.

Robert Lilly, Giles County Commonwealth’s Attorney, provided 10 News with the statement of facts presented in court on Wednesday in this case, where Nancy Fridley pleaded guilty to abduction and child abuse and endangerment.

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According to that information, the story behind this incident goes back two to three years before Nancy Fridley reportedly attempted to abduct a 2-year-old boy from a church in Ripplemead.

Several years before last year’s incident, Fridley told her boyfriend that she was pregnant with his child and that baby was born while he was in jail. When he was released and wanted to see his child, Fridley reportedly told him that the child had been removed from her custody by the Dept. of Social Services, according to the statement.

According to Lilly, that story is completely fabricated.

The statement of facts goes on to explain that there is no record of a newborn baby being removed from Fridley’s custody by DSS, no record of her giving birth to a child during the three years before this incident, and no evidence at all to show that she was pregnant during this time.

One of Fridley’s family members stated that she had a hysterectomy several years ago, meaning she would be unable to give birth.


Below is a timeline provided in the statement:

March / April 2021

Fridley reportedly told her boyfriend and neighbors that she was going to regain custody of her boys, “Bobby Jr.” and “Christian” and explained that they needed to make some changes to their home. According to the statement, she went on to buy sippy cups, toddler beds and installed car seats.

May 1, 2021

The statement claims she was going to get one of the children the next day

May 2, 2021

Fridley went to Riverview Baptist Church in Ripplemead and to two other churches in Narrows, according to the statement. At each of the Narrows churches, she claimed she was there to pick up a child due to a parent being sick, but was unsuccessful and went back to Riverview Baptist Church.

At each of the locations, the statement refers to witnesses who said they saw Fridley.

At Riverview, Fridley went to the nursery and told nursery workers that she was there to “pick up the baby,” according to the statement. Documents claim the child then followed behind her. When Fridley realized she was being photographed, she reportedly picked up the child and hurried to a vehicle waiting for her with the toddler.

The statement goes on to say that Fridley and her boyfriend introduced the boy to friends and neighbors as their son, Bobby Jr. At around 2:30 p.m. that afternoon, Taylor made a post on social media about how he “got one of his boys back.”

May 3, 2021

Around 1:30 a.m., the statement claims one of Fridley’s neighbors saw an Amber Alert for the missing boy.

8 a.m.: The neighbor sends this to Taylor, and he then reportedly tells Fridley they need to return the child.

Just before 11 a.m.: Someone calls the tip line and reports seeing the Amber Alert on Facebook

Virginia State Police agents watching her home said they saw Fridley placing the child into the car of a neighbor who promised to take her and the child to Roanoke.

Authorities then said they stopped the vehicle as it was preparing to leave.

Officers said they found the clothing the boy was wearing when he was abducted, along with clothing Fridley was wearing in the photos taken by the daycare worker.


Fridley is set to go to trial on July 26 for two charges — child abuse and neglect.