Salt Lake City ? A baby abducted while his mother left him with acquaintances to smoke a cigarette was found in good condition Wednesday at a YWCA facility where three suspects were taken into custody.

Police said the mother and the suspects were homeless, and that two of the suspects said they took 2 1/2-month-old Nicholas Triplett because they thought the mother wasn’t caring for him properly.

The 19-year-old woman, Jennifer Triplett, said one of the suspects wanted a child. “Since she can’t carry one, she wanted mine,” she said.

Triplett left her baby with the suspects and other acquaintances at the ZCMI Mall food court Tuesday so she could have a cigarette, Salt Lake City Police Lt. Jim Jensen said. When she returned, Nicholas, her baby carriage and diaper bag were gone.

YWCA officials called police Wednesday after recognizing the suspects from television reports. Police said the suspects had gone to the downtown facility seeking help with diapers, formula and other baby items.

The suspected abductors — a 19-year-old woman, her mother and a 32-year-old man — were charged Wednesday with child kidnapping.

Police said it was unclear whether the baby would be immediately returned to his mother. Triplett said her son suffered respiratory problems, but she was caring for him the best she could.

Boy’s family sought

Separately in Salt Lake City, police continued to look Wednesday for the family of a 3-year-old boy who was abandoned in the toy department of a department store, but say they have few clues to go on.

Jennifer Tripplett talks to reporters about her missing baby during a news conference outside the Public Safety Building in Salt Lake City. At right is Tripplett's boyfriend, Bardell Dastrup. Police on Wednesday said a transient couple who allegedly took Tripplett's baby from a downtown shopping mall Tuesday night were trying to teach the mother a lesson.

The boy has told authorities his name is Jacob, but he doesn’t know his last name. No one has reported him missing.

Store surveillance cameras show a stocky man walked into the ShopKo store with the boy Saturday. The man put the boy in a shopping cart, handed him a toy, and walked away. Other customers called police about an hour later.

The camera images don’t provide a good look at the man. Police say the boy referred to the man as possibly his mother’s boyfriend.

Jacob told social workers his mother’s name is Janet or Jeanette. Investigators have no information about the boy’s father.

The boy has told police he used to live with his grandfather and has four sisters, but that he does not live with them.

“We just don’t know a lot about him,” Utah Department of Human Services spokeswoman Carol Sisco said. “He seemed like he was well-cared-for, well-kept. He did not look abused.”

Welfare workers have temporarily placed Jacob with a foster family.