Fast sleuthing by FBI computer specialists, who traced e-mail messages to Montgomery's house in Melvern, Kan., led them to the newborn and her accused abductor. Nodaway County Sheriff Ben Espey said the attacker worked deftly and probably had medical knowledge. After the rescue, a pediatrician examined the newborn and staff began a DNA test.

``We have no indications that the child was hurt in any way,'' Espey said. ``The child's probably going to be OK.'' FBI agent Craig Arnold said in an affidavit released Friday that Montgomery admitted to strangling Stinnett. Dog-Breeding Business Offers Leads One year ago, police in Oklahoma accused a woman of killing an acquaintance and stealing her 6-month-old fetus because she wanted a baby of her own. Stinnett and her husband, Zeb, who lived in a clapboard house, had been married about a year and were expecting their first child. They worked at a Kawasaki factory and raised rat terriers for sale, posting photos of the dogs on the Internet.

One dog featured on the site is Tipsy. An acquaintance named Kayla had written, ``Bobbie. It was nice meeting you at Abilene! I love all the pictures!'' It was the dog-breeding business that apparently led Montgomery to Stinnett, Arnold's affidavit says. Zeb Stinnett was reunited with the baby Friday. He was at work at the time of the attack, which police believe occurred about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, about an hour before Bobbi Jo Stinnett was found dead by her mother, Becky Harper. Paramedics failed to revive her, and doctors pronounced her dead at 4:27 p.m. They said the baby probably was alive but could be suffering by being born so violently, one month early. ``What we are looking at is more than likely our victim has been strangled and was probably deceased when the child was removed from the womb,'' Espey said.

``Evidence would show the baby was probably wrapped up and taken out of the home.'' Stinnett fought her attacker. She was gripping strands of hair in both hands when her mother discovered her, the FBI said. Espey said the first lead came after neighbors reported seeing a red, two-door hatchback in the driveway between 2:30 and 3 p.m. The car appeared to be at least 10 years old. Espey wanted to issue a statewide Amber Alert, a widely broadcast bulletin about an abducted child. Named for 9- year-old Amber Hagerman, kidnapped and killed in Texas in 1996, the program has been credited with saving young lives. But bureaucracy tripped up the sheriff.

The Stinnett baby did not fit the criteria because no one knew her hair color, eye color or other details. It was midnight before Espey persuaded his law enforcement counterparts to act. The alert went out at 12:30 a.m. Police in nearby Atchison County chased a red car matching the description of the one seen in Skidmore. The driver switched off the car's lights and escaped into the back roads of rural northwest Missouri.

The FBI dispatched at least a half-dozen agents. Espey also reported that a team that specialized in baby theft was on its way from Virginia. Woman Confesses, Affidavit Says One tip suggested three people had killed Stinnett for her baby, which they intended to sell. Espey said the lead was ``possibly going to go up in smoke. The third party has misled us.'' FBI agents studying Stinnett's computer found message board postings with certain e-mail addresses.

A woman who gave her name as Darlene Fischer wanted to see some dogs. She asked for directions to Stinnett's house and asked when would be a good time to see her Thursday. On Friday, a North Carolina dog breeder read about Stinnett's killing. She relayed to the FBI the Internet provider address connected to Fischer's postings, the affidavit says. Forensics agents in Kansas City tracked the address to an account with Qwest Communications in Virginia. Qwest staffer Melissa Erwin reported that the server was in Topeka and that the address was being used by a certain e-mail customer.

Erwin located the Kansas phone number where the dial- up connection was made and did an Internet search that showed the telephone was registered to Kevin Montgomery on South Adams Road in Melvern. The FBI watched the house. Soon, a red Toyota Corolla with Kansas tags pulled up. When agents went to the door, they found Kevin and Lisa Montgomery and a newborn baby girl.

Kevin told agents, the affidavit says, that he arrived home at 5:15 p.m. Thursday and took a call from his wife. She said she had been shopping in Topeka and had gone into labor. Kevin and his two teenage children met Lisa and the baby in a parking lot of a Long John Silver restaurant and brought them home. One of the teenagers drove the Corolla.

Lisa told her husband she had delivered her baby Thursday at the Birth and Women's Center in Topeka, according to the affidavit. The FBI checked and was told no birth had been recorded that day. ``After being advised of her constitutional rights and having waived those rights,'' Arnold wrote under oath, ``Lisa Montgomery thereafter confessed to having strangled Stinnett and removing the fetus.'' She also said she had lied to her husband, Arnold said. Espey said he could not get his mind around the day's events.