All my friends used to say she was a cool mom.". She recalled, The mom had that mother instinct. Instead, Ann had experienced several miscarriages and failed pregnancies, and it was the stress of not knowing whether shed ever become a mother again that led her to kidnap baby Carlina. Her parents were thrilled about the new addition to their family, but when White was just 19 days old, she developed a high fever. It's what I gave myself." After a quick visit, White returned to the airport to catch her flight back to Atlanta. While Pettway was stalling, White visited a Connecticut Bureau of Vital Statistics, where a clerk was unable to find any records under her name and birth date, accused White of attempting to obtain a false identity, and flagged the case to the state's Department of Children and Families, White toldNew York. Carlina was raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The last thing Joy White could recall about the nurse was a bizarre comment she made as her newborn daughter was admitted: The baby dont cry for you, you cry for the baby. She now believes it was the womans attempt to get rid of her. Netty's not what the Pettway family gave me or what the White family gave me. New York CNN . She then allegedly told an FBI agent she stole White after. While on the website of theNational Center for Missing and Exploited Children, she found baby Carlinas photos and realized that they matched her own features. White was raised as Nejdra Nance. Paleontologists In North Dakota Just Found The Remains Of A Dinosaur That Was Killed The Day The Asteroid Struck, The Disturbing Disappearance Of 18-Year-Old Zebb Quinn And The Series Of Bizarre Clues Left Behind, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. She has been incarcerated since surrendering to Bridgeport police in January, ending a several-day manhunt that began in North Carolina. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Pettway then admitted that she was someone else's daughter, but claimed she had been abandoned by a drug addict. With NYPD unable to track her down, Carlina was raised in Bridgeport, Conn., under the name Nejdra Nance by a woman named Ann Pettway. A few days later, Pettway confessed that she was not White's birth mother, but claimed White had been abandoned by her parents at birth. Nurses said they had checked on baby White every five minutes and had discovered she was missing at 3:40 a.m. According to New York magazine, White was in high school when she discovered that her birth certificate was fake. A woman posing as a nurse later revealed to be Ann Pettway took White and raised her as her own child, renaming her Nejdra "Netty" Nance. "[5], Pettway turned herself in to the FBI office at Bridgeport on the morning of January 23, 2011. In 2005, White became pregnant. Even though the hospital had video cameras, they were not working that night. Pettway is truly sorry," according to Johnson's court document. "If I had all that anger in me it would be me who would suffer and it would stop me from living.". Upon being reunited with her biological parents, Carlina White's attorney advised her to ask them about the cash settlement from the hospital. That was something that I always believed in myself, you know, that she would come and find me and thats the same way that I thought it would happen, Joy White said of receiving the miraculous email. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. It was the police calling from Joy Whites apartment. Timmothy, from Aurora, Illinois, would be 14 years old now. White's father, Carl Tyson, expressed his disappointment, saying . Carlina Renae White (born July 15, 1987), also known as Nejdra "Netty" Nance,[1] is an American woman who solved her own kidnapping case and was reunited with her biological parents 23 years after being abducted as an infant from the Harlem Hospital Center in New York City. "I wasn't able to take my daughter to school, take my daughter to day care, watch my daughter get on the bus and, you know, have birthday parties with my daughter," he said. For the next few weeks, White was in constant contact with her birth parents, but she sometimes struggled to form a relationship with them. North Carolina Department of Correction spokeswoman Pam Walker said officials have tried unsuccessfully to reach Pettway several times. Please enter valid email address to continue. [18] By the following July, White became estranged from her biological parents. Pettway is on parole in North Carolina until June 2012. In the second volume of Netflix's reboot of the classic true crime series Unsolved Mysteries, one episode explores the tragic back-to-back kidnappings . After all, Unsolved Mysteries aims to not only give us well-researched reports on some really chilling cases, but it has also successfully solved some of them with the help of its viewers. Pettway offered an emotional apology in court, saying it was understandable if the family didn't accept it. Joy White said she remembered Pettway, posing as a nurse, consoling her before picking up the baby and waking away. White recognizes that she caused her biological family pain when she pulled away after meeting them, but she was overwhelmed by the media attention and felt guilt about abandoning the family who raised her. Well, we need to go back to 2005. Read about our approach to external linking. He said his birthday is Oct. 18, 2004, which matches Timmothy's date of birth. ABC News' Kaitlyn Folmer contributed to this report. White asked Pettway for the document, but she couldnt provide it. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Though White distanced herself from her birth parents for some time after their initial reunion due to the overwhelming media attention and her complicated feelings for the family that raised her, she toldNew Yorkin late 2011 that they were on good terms and spoke occasionally on the phone. White explained, There was a part of me that wasnt even there, and now I feel whole. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? White solved the case herself 23 years later after finding her photo on a website with images of missing children. Carlina White Was Abducted As A Baby Then Solved Her Own Kidnapping 23 Years Later. The Associated Press contributed to this report. But I can appreciate what she did for me.. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Pettway later moved to Atlanta, taking Carlina with her. "You hurt me so bad. Like Christopher Dansby and Shane Walker, White was kidnapped in New York when she was a child in the '80s. White added to New York magazine that she intended to change all of her official documentation to her legal name of Carlina White, but that she would continue to go by her nickname Netty. She passed herself off as a nurse, and even the other nurses belived her. Prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of 10 to 12.5 years. She told the magazine of her plans to revert to her birth name, but said she would still go by Netty, since the name is "not what the Pettway family gave me or what the White family gave me. A woman who admitted to stealing a 19-day-old infant from a Manhattan hospital in 1987 was sentenced Monday to 12 years in prison. On Aug. 4, 1987, Joy White and Carl Tyson rushed their newborn daughter, Carlina White, to the hospital due to a fever. Growing up, White sometimes wondered if Pettway was her real mother. Feb. 10, 2012 -- A woman who snatched an infant from a New York City hospital 24 years ago and raised her as her daughter pleaded guilty today to a federal kidnapping . It was wrong. Today, she is at the Federal Correctional Institution, Aliceville(in Alabama). Lt. David Daniels was the point person from the Bridgeport Police Department who helped arrange the surrender. After reading about the kidnapping of Carlina White, read about the Ariel Castro kidnappings and how his victims escaped 10 years of abuse. According to court documents, when White asked Pettway for her birth certificate, the woman lied, saying she didn't have one because White had been given to her by a woman who used drugs. In a flat. Here's everything we know about White's miraculous case, from her shocking kidnapping to her triumphant reunion with her birth parents. I can take your bike and give it back to you the next day, you are okay, but not a child," Shannon Tyson, the uncle of Carlina White, told the Associated Press. [16] Her lawyers had asked for leniency, saying Pettway had been severely depressed after suffering from multiple miscarriages and stillbirths. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. At Manhattan Federal Court, the judge said that what Pettway did was "not a crime of greed or vengeance, but was a crime of selfishness. Morgan Doughty Filed A Lawsuit Against The Murdaugh Family, Curtis Cousin Eddie Smith Claims Alex Murdaugh Made Him A Fall Guy, Buster Murdaugh Testified For The Defense At His Fathers Double Murder Trial, Love Is Blinds SK Addressed Cheating Claims Following Raven's 'After The Altar' Interview, Get Even More From Bustle Sign Up For The Newsletter. Now in her 30s, she seems content to live a private life with her daughter away from media attention. White then got in touch with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, submitted a DNA sample, and eventually learned her true identity in 2011; the following year, Pettway was sentenced to 12 years in prison for kidnapping after turning herself in. "As we've learned of her involvement in this abduction, we've been working to locate her, and we haven't been able to reach her," Keith Acree, a spokesman for the Department of Correction in North Carolina, told the New York Post. Where Are Carlina Whites Biological Parents Now. From hair trends to relationship advice, our daily newsletter has everything you need to sound like a person whos on TikTok, even if you arent. The Mountbatten-Windsors have been recastagain. Read More: Where Are Carlina Whites Biological Parents Now? DNA testing was performed to confirm that Carlina White was indeed their child. She graduated from the Columbia School of Journalism in 2017 and has also written for W, Brides, Glamour, Women's Health, People and more. "It was wrong," Pettway told the judge when she entered her guilty plea today in a New York courtroom. Her skin was much lighter than Pettways, and though relatives often called her little Ann, she didnt see a physical resemblance at all. Finally, as White was about to board her plane back home to Atlanta, the NYPD contacted her to tell her that her DNA matched Joy and Carl's. [9], After the confirmation that Nejdra Nance was really Carlina White, the Federal Bureau of Investigation began a search for Ann Pettway. I just always believed that she would find me. Nevertheless, the family continued to try to build a relationship, and White flew to New York to meet them for the first time. In 2005, when White was pregnant with her daughter, she requested Pettway obtain her birth certificate so she could get health insurance. However, she lied to Netty by saying that the actual parent was a drug addict who abandoned her when she was just a child. As the stolen infant's real mother wept in the federal court in . How did she accomplish this in the first place? "Pettway was dealing with the stress of trying to be a mom and had had several miscarriages. Pettway and White later moved to Atlanta, Georgia. February 10, 2012, 8:42 AM. New York, Pettway confessed to the FBI that she kidnapped Carlina White on Aug. 4, 1987 from Harlem Hospital after enduring several miscarriages. Ann Pettway, 51, learned her fate after pleading guilty to a kidnapping charge in February. Even before the DNA analysis was complete, with all three feeling certain it would be a match, White began talking to Joy and Carl on the phone, and flew to New York to meet them in early 2011. Netty graduated from Warren Harding High School, following which, Ann and her moved out to Atlanta for a while. Even the City of New York offered a $10,000 reward. January 21, 2011 / 6:45 PM A US woman who stole a baby from a New York City hospital in 1987 and raised the child as her own has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. [12] She had driven from North Carolina to Connecticut to arrange care for her biological son. Ann Pettway, 51, had pleaded guilty to kidnapping in February and offered details of the 1987 kidnapping. In her last interview in 2014, White told the Mirror that she'd forgiven Pettway and was in contact with her. In 2012, Ann pleaded guilty to federal charges of kidnapping. She was released in April 2021, after serving her time in Alabama. Who Is Hasnat Khan, Princess Dianas Boyfriend on Season 5 of The Crown. As part of a plea bargain, prosecutors agreed to recommend to the judge a prison sentence of 10 to 12 years. shocking news that their newborn was gone. White's parents, Joy White and Carl Tyson, had taken their feverish daughter to the hospital 23 years ago. Joy White and Carl Tyson had brought their newborn daughter to the hospital after she developed an infection and high fever; within a few hours, she was smuggled out of the hospital by Ann Pettway. Carlina White was snatched from a Harlem hospital as an infant in 1987 and raised as "Nejdra Nance" by her kidnapper Annugetta Pettway, who claimed to be her mother. She pleaded guilty in February to kidnapping the three-week-old Ms White from hospital. At that point, 23-year-old White started scouring the internet for clues as to her true identity. It was the same woman who had given Tyson directions earlier. Carlina White grew up believing her name was Nejdra Nance. Add to this the fact that Netty had noted that she looked different than most in her family, and suspicions were at an all-time high. So how exactly was the mystery solved? White toldNew York (opens in new tab)magazine in 2011 that while Pettway was somewhat distant, she was a responsible caregiver. 419 Likes, 59 Comments - Penelope Ann Miller (@penelopeannmiller) on Instagram: "Happy birthday to my hunky hubby A wonderful daddy and partner in life, love, and adventure. Pettway told officials that she is "truly sorry," according to the criminal complaint filed Monday. You took somebody's child, so this ain't no remorse. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, Public DomainPettway Surrendered on Jan. 23, 2011. Well, she had on a nurse's uniform that night, and prior to that, she had spent 2-3 weeks in the hospital. She brought her beautiful daughter. But the judge said they did not serve as an excuse for her actions, saying Pettway's actions created one couple's worst nightmare and made countless other parents fearful. The Connecticut Post reports that Pettways sister Cassandra Johnson helped White reach out to NCMEC in December 2010. The lack of a birth certificate was one of the things that made Carlina White suspicious that something was not right. Pettway was convicted of five crimes while Ms White was in her custody, according to a probation department, and had used cocaine from 1983 to 2005. When Joy White and Carl Tyson came with their daughter, Carlina, to get her fever checked, Ann even consoled them. According to the Chicago Tribune, this was partly due to the press attention, but also because White wasn't able to sue New York state for what happened to her. Ms White traced her true mother after finding a photo of herself on the website of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. 1 of 6 Ann Pettway turned herself in on Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011 to authorities in Bridgeport, Conn. Pettway was charged in 1987 kidnapping of Carlina White from Harlem Hospital in New York City. Heres how it works. But they soon came to a dead end, and the case of Carlina Whites kidnapping went cold. [8], In 1987, New York City Police Department detectives questioned a woman in Baltimore, who witnesses had identified as having been seen in the hospital, without apparent result. Tyson and Joy White decided that she would stay at the hospital with the baby, but she needed to get some things from home first. "She lied to Carlina, to law enforcement and state authorities for 23 years," the prosecutor said. Pettway turned herself into FBI officials in Bridgeport, Conn., on Sunday. "You didn't take a bike. Pettway kept repeating, She left you and never came back.. "For 23 years, Ann, you had me suffering. Leonardo DiCaprio keeps it low-key as he leaves a friend's birthday party wearing face . Charges against Ann Pettway were filed after it was determined what had occurred, and in July 2012, the New York Times reported that she had been given a 12-year prison sentence at 50. "Pettway was dealing with the stress of trying to be a mom and had had several miscarriages. Carlina White solved her own kidnapping case in 2005. She began to think about Pettway, who at the time was on the run from the FBI. Dressed like a nurse, Pettway reportedly told Mrs. White, "Don't cry . Nejdra Nance was very suspicious of who she was and what family raised her, Lieutenant Christopher Zimmerman of the New York Police Department later told ABC News. So she went to the woman she had called mom her whole life Annugetta "Ann" Pettway. Her mother picked her up at the airport, and she was welcomed by her extended family with open arms. If convicted, Pettway faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison. Her release date is set for April 14,. Netty--the name she went by--eventually found a paper she thought was her birth certificate, but it turned out to be false. 135 Likes, 3 Comments - Angelin Ann (@anngelinan) on Instagram: " As Eris finally decided to open the pyxis her mother left behind for her 21st birthday." Pettway lied and told White that she had been abandoned by a drug addict. Ann Pettway, 51, received less than the life sentence she was facing and the 23 years the mother of the kidnapped girl requested. However, the judge said she was selfish and "inflicted a parent's worst nightmare on a couple." Authorities checked her DNA against her birth parents and realized she was their missing daughter. Soon, the trial began, where her lawyers stated that the kidnapping did not stem from a vicious intent. (There is always the possibility that the infant was hiding in Anns smock). As documented in the show, White was was kidnapped by Ann Pettway in 1987 when she was 19 days old. Pettway changed White's name to "Nejdra Nance" and raised her in Bridgeport, Conn. White said she had long suspected Pettway wasn't her biological mother becausethey didn't look anything alike and Pettway could never provide her with a birth certificate. He was last seen at a water park in Wisconsin Dells,. Before she boarded her plane, she was stopped by a police detective who told her that her DNA results had come back and that Joy White and Carl Tyson were indeed her biological parents. Joy White next to her daughters crib shortly after Carlina Whites kidnapping. She was wanted on a parole violation in North Carolina but is accused of kidnapping Carlina . It was a full two decades later, when Carlina White was due to become a mother herself, that she discovered the truth. Plus, flyers with her photos and information had been circulated nationwide. She has been incarcerated since surrendering to Bridgeport police in January, ending a several-day manhunt that began in North Carolina. Soon, she got in touch with her biological family. She contacted the agency and finally learned the truth in 2011. She handled the potentially awkward moment with grace. Police began a thorough investigation, and for a while they thought they had a suspect. "I'm pissed. 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