Woman who had baby cut from belly released from hospital

LONGMONT, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado woman whose unborn baby was cut from her womb by a stranger with a kitchen knife has been released from a hospital a week after the gruesome attack.

The family of Michelle Wilkins, 26, said in a statement today that she is in a safe location with her partner, Dan, and faces a long and costly recovery. The baby girl she planned to name Aurora did not survive.

Police say Dynel Lane, 34, lured Wilkins to her home on March 18 with a Craigslist ad offering baby clothes. Lane then beat and stabbed Wilkins and removed the unborn child. Lane was arrested at a hospital after telling her husband she had suffered a miscarriage. Prosecutors plan to charge her Friday.

Wilkins, who had recently moved to Colorado and was teaching pottery classes, was about eight months pregnant.

Her family thanked the public for an outpouring of "love, kindness and spiritual solidarity" they say has helped her heal. An online fundraising effort has already generated more than $45,000.