FBI Says Woman Admits She Abducted Baby

MANHATTAN (CN) - A 49-year-old North Carolina admitted she kidnapped a newborn girl from Harlem Hospital in 1987 and raised her as her own, an FBI agent says. Annugetta Pettway admitted she abducted Carlina White, now 23, who has been reunited with her birth parents, according to the federal complaint. Pettway told the agent she had had several miscarriages and "did not believe she would ever be able to be a parent."

Pettway dressed in a nurse's uniform and stole the 19-day-old baby on Aug. 4, 1987. Her parents had taken her to the hospital for a fever. Pettway raised the girl in Bridgeport, Conn., as Njedra Nance.

In a 5-page affidavit, FBI Agent Maria Johnson says she spoke with an NYPD detective who had interviewed Carlina White, who said that when she was about to give birth, she asked her presumed mother, Pettway, for her own birth records, and Pettway said she did not have any "because the victim had been given to Pettway by a woman who used drugs."

White then contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and asked about children who went missing in the late 1980s. She found a photo of a baby girl who went missing in 1987, and "the victim believed that the picture resembled baby pictures of herself. NCMEC put the victim in touch with the mother and the father," according to the affidavit.

The FBI agent says she interviewed Pettway on Sunday, Jan. 23, and Pettway confessed.

"Pettway is sorry and knows that she has caused a lot of pain," the agent wrote. "Pettway took the victim from the victim's family and this was totally unacceptable. Pettway is truly sorry. Pettway was dealing with the stress of trying to be a mom and had had several miscarriages. She did not believe she would ever be able to be a parent."

The agent says that a DNA test showed that Carlina White is 14 quadrillion to 16 quadrillion times more likely to be related to her birth parents, than not.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit