On August 23, 1937, a young mother named Dorothy Lucas was out shopping in Chicago with her three-month-old baby, Diane. At the grocery store, Dorothy briefly left Diane in her stroller outside while she quickly paid for something inside. But when she came back out, Diane was gone.
Thankfully, 23 hours later, police found Diane safe and unharmed after receiving an anonymous tip that told them where to look.
A few days after Diane was found, the Lucas family received a letter. It was from a woman who said she was 28 years old. In the letter, she explained that her husband and baby had recently died, and when she saw Diane left alone outside the shop, she felt heartbroken. She said she planned to take Diane and raise her as her own, but after seeing how sad Dorothy was, she changed her mind and returned the baby.
She ended the letter by saying:
“My only crime, if you can call it that, was having too much motherly love.”