Carlina White has reunited with her biological parents, Joy White and Carl Tyson, 23 years after being kidnapped as a baby from a New York City hospital, according to ABC News.
On Aug. 4, 1987, White and Tyson took their feverish 19-day-old newborn to Harlem Hospital’s emergency room, their worry turning to terror when they realized someone kidnapped their child.
The family said that the kidnapper may have been hanging around the hospital for weeks, disguised as a staff nurse. They put up a reward of $10,000 for Carlina’s safe return, but the offer went unclaimed for years. Money won from a lawsuit against the city was used to establish a trust fund for Carlina, should she ever be found.
Carlina was reportedly first taken to Bridgeport, Connecticut, before being moved to Atlanta and raised there as Nejdra Nance, though police involved in the case say she became suspicious of her identity in her late teens.
“There was no paperwork to follow her such as a birth certificate or social security card,” New York Police Department Lt. Christopher Zimmerman told reporters.
These suspicions were exacerbated when Carlina was unable to get a driver’s license, and noticed that she had no physical similarity to the family around her.
She began browsing websites about missing children, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and AMBER Alert. A search for her birth year came up with a photo of a baby and a composite of how she might look in her late teens. These photos were eerily similar to ones present throughout the Georgia house she was raised in. She then called a hotline and eventually was connected to Joy White.
According to the New York Daily News, the Pettway family confirmed only that they raised the girl, but refused to comment further.
Carlina White is now 23 years old, and has her own 5-year-old daughter, Samani. White reunited with her biological family this week, and “fit right in” according to family members.
“I’m just so happy she’s back,” aunt Lisa White told reporters. “I said, ‘you’re going to get so many hugs! You’re going to be sick of us.’ She said, ‘you know what, I never had hugs like that.’ I’m just happy she’s back.”
Police are now investigating the identity of the woman who first kidnapped the baby. Since she was so young, and there was a move involved, she may have lived with more than one family and doesn’t remember.
(source:collegenews.com)
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