23 years on... US woman solves own baby kidnap

The victim of a high-profile baby-snatching case has been reunited with her mother after solving the mystery of her abduction herself.

23 years on... US woman solves own baby kidnap

The victim of a high-profile baby-snatching case has been reunited with her mother after solving the mystery of her abduction herself.

Carlina White was abducted from a hospital in Harlem in August 1987, when she was just 19 days old.

Carlina White never felt as if she belonged to her family and knew something was amiss

Raised as Nejdra Nance in Connecticut, White (23), always had a sense she did not belong to her family, police said, and began her own inquiries.

DNA tests this week confirmed Carlina as the daughter of Joy White. Police are now investigating the woman who raised Carlina.

'Did not belong'

Carlina was abducted from the hospital on 4 August 1987 after being taken there with a fever by her mother.
Joy White returned to the emergency room two hours after she was admitted, only to find Carlina's cot empty.

There were reports of a woman wearing nurse's clothing who had consoled the mother but who later picked up the baby and walked out of the building. Investigators could not find a breakthrough and the case went cold.

Nejdra Nance was then raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and later moved to Atlanta in Georgia. She finally found her picture of what she believed was herself on one of the missing children websites.

Police spokesman Paul Browne said, "She has held the view, for a long time, that she did not belong to the family she was living with."

The New York Police Department took over the investigation, arranging for DNA tests that on Tuesday proved White was the daughter of Joy White and Carl Tyson, who are now separated.

"I'm overwhelmed. I'm just happy. It's like a movie; it's all brand new to me," said Carlina.

Her 18-year-old half-sister, Sheena, who Carlina had not known existed until recently, said, "We spoke and got to know each other, and she looks exactly like my mom. It felt like we knew each other before we met."

Madeleine McCann
A potential sighting of missing Madeleine McCann in a Dubai shopping centre is being investigated by police. Madeleine went missing from the McCanns holiday apartment in Portugal on
May 3 2007.