A South African baby girl was kidnapped at birth and now reunited with her biological mom 17 years later, CNN reports.

The girl's mother, who named her Zephany which means "hidden by the Lord," searched for her ever since she was allegedly kidnapped just a couple of days after being born.

Zephany's biological parents, Celeste and Morne Nurse, continued to create a family after the incident, and four years after she was kidnapped, her biological sister was born.

It wasn't until the Nurse's second daughter, Cassidy, attended eighth grade at a Cape Town school this year that Zephany was found.

The two girls became friends after students told the younger daughter that she and another girl resembled each other.

Morne Nurse met his daughter's "friend" and called police when he was struck by their similarities.

Last week, police arrested the 50-year-old woman who raised Zephany, after a DNA test proved that the Nurses were her biological parents. The woman is being held in custody at least until the next hearing.

Zephany is now in custody of social services and the Nurses have been allowed to visit her for short periods of time.

The girl, now reunited with her biological family said, "I want to say thank you to all the people who supported me through this, for continuously praying and never giving up on looking for me. Under the circumstances, I am doing fine."

Celeste said she burst out in tears when she saw her daughter, CBS News reports.

"I couldn't stop crying. I couldn't stop crying. I said, 'finally I found you, for 17 years I have been looking for you. I found you finally, you're mine again.'"

It turned out that Zephany had been living just a few miles away. Celeste says she is proud that her daughter is a beautiful girl inside and out.

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