How Ann Pettway Kidnapped a Baby from a Hospital: In this article, Joy White and Carl Tyson took their 19-day-old daughter Carlina White to Harlem Hospital in New York City because she had a fever on August 4, 1987. While Joy expected that they would see Carlina again soon after leaving her with hospital staff, between 2:30 a.m. and 3:55 a.m. that same morning someone removed Carlina’s IV line before walking out with her without leaving any evidence behind. Neither Joy nor Carl saw anyone taking Carlina out; at that time neither surveillance system worked nor could witnesses attesting to Carlina being taken from Harlem Hospital.
Ann Pettway took Carlina White after suffering several miscarriages and desperately wanting a child of her own. Posing as a nurse, she convinced the parents she was taking Carlina for tests before boarded a train to Bridgeport, Connecticut where she raised Carlina as her own daughter renaming her Nejdra “Netty” Nance.
The Discovery of the Truth
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Carlina White lived for more than two decades with Pettway unaware of her true identity and origins. She grew up in an unstable household where Pettway frequently used drugs, clashed with her partners, and held regular arguments over them. Carlina began suspecting something was amiss when she realized she did not resemble any member of the family or any others within it – something confirmed when her birth certificate turned out to be falsified when applying for driver’s license.
Pettway revealed to Carlina during her junior year of high school that she wasn’t her biological mother, yet claimed her real mother had abandoned her as an infant. Carlina didn’t believe this story and began searching for them online, where she found an infant resembling herself on the website of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which confirmed she was their long-lost daughter2. Joy White and Carl Tyson confirmed her DNA match, thus verifying she was indeed their long-lost daughter.
The Reunion and the Consequences
Carlina White was reunited with her biological parents 23 years after being taken from their New York home, as well as meeting half-siblings, grandparents and other relatives for the first time. It was an emotionally wrenching yet heartwarming reunion: Carlina needed to adjust to a new family and identity while her parents dealt with trauma and the passage of time; plus Carlina had mixed feelings towards Pettway who had raised her most of her life while deceiving her and taking away from her real family.
Pettway fled to North Carolina upon learning of Carlina’s story becoming public, but ultimately surrendered to police in July 2012 and pleaded guilty to kidnapping – being sentenced to 12 years. She apologized to Carlina’s real family in court but they were dissatisfied with this sentence; Carlina herself indicated they had forgiven Pettway and would keep in contact. Carlina stated she loved both families equally.
Carlina White’s case is an extraordinary tale of resilience, forgiveness and identity; Carlina had to learn how to deal with the impact of Pettway’s crime on her own life as she worked towards recovery.
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