The Woman That Solved Her Own Disappearance: Carlina White

The story of Carlina White is almost unbelievable. Across this website, and in so many cases worldwide, people vanish and their family are permanently left without answers.

In a tiny substrata of cases, families receive positive news. But as time passes, this becomes increasingly rare. Yet in one famous case, a woman managed to solve her own disappearance – 23 years after being abducted.

This was a remarkable case – and one that shows that hope remains. For the White family, it was a joyous occasion, and resulted in answers after over two decades of questions.

In this article, we review this incredible case. Many families with missing loved ones look to this case for hope.

How did Carlina White Disappear?

Carlina White was born in July 1987 to parents Joy White and Carl Tyson. She had a rather complicated birth and had to return to hospital after 19 days due to an infection.

The hospital was located at Harlem Hospital Center in New York City. This was a large hospital, with thousands of patients passing through each year.

While at the hospital, the parents were comforted by a woman who was dressed as a nurse. However, this woman was not a hospital employee, and had been seen around the hospital over the previous few weeks.

Despite this, the woman was not challenged and seemed to have spent significant time at the hospital. No one seemed to know who this woman was.

At around 2.30am on the morning of August 4th 1987, Carlina was being administered antibiotics through an IV line. At some point, someone removed this line and abducted Carlina.

Carlina was taken out of the hospital. When they realised she was missing, Joy and Carl were devastated. Their child was nowhere to be seen, having been abducted.

23 years of questions

For Carlina’s family, over the next 23 years there would be significant pain. Every day they hoped that they would see Carlina, but this never looked like it would happen.

The investigation into the disappearance was difficult and beset by challenges. The Police struggled to get any sort of foothold on the case.

Unfortunately, the hospital’s video surveillance system was not working at the time of the abduction. While there was suspicion at the woman that had been masquerading as a nurse, no one knew how she definitively looked.

Therefore, the Police didn’t really have anything to go by. All they had was the description of a black woman who was dressed as a nurse. At the time there were over 300,000 black people living in New York City alone.

A $10,000 reward was offered for the safe return of the infant. However, this failed to produce the desired effect.

Following a lawsuit filed in 1989, Tyson and White were awarded $750,000 in 1992 after reaching a settlement with Harlem Hospital Center.

But this money didn’t take away the pain of not knowing what happened to their daughter. Over the course of the 23 years, hope that they would ever find an answer slowly faded.

Annugetta Pettway

It would later turn out that Carlina had been abducted by Annugetta Pettway. Pettway was a woman in her mid-20s in 1987.

She had suffered multiple miscarriages in the years leading up to 1987. Moreover, Pettway had experienced abuse in her youth.

Pettway wanted to abduct a child as a way of having a baby – after the struggles of various miscarriages. She started posing as a nurse at Harlem Hospital in 1987, with the intention of kidnapping a child.

Tragically for Joy and Carl, Pettway finally managed to get her wish when she abducted Carlina. She then took her home and raised her as her own child.

Carlina White as Nejdra Nance

Pettway raised Carlina as Nejdra ‘Netty’ Nance. She was brought up in Bridgeport, Connecticut, which was under 50 miles away from where Joy and Carl lived.

Carlina would grow up in Connecticut under the natural assumption that Pettway was her mother. After all, she knew no different.

Carlina is believed to have had a normal childhood and went about her life normally, unaware of her true identity. Pettway had another child too in 1998 and the family later moved to Atlanta, Georgia.

The discovery of the truth

In 2005, Carlina fell pregnant and requested her birth certificate from Pettway. This would have allowed Carlina to get health insurance.

In previous efforts, Pettway had been unable to provide Carlina with a birth certificate. While this did raise questions, Pettway was always able to provide an excuse.

But with Carlina actively needing a certificate for the first time, Pettway had to act. She managed to obtain a forged Connecticut birth certificate.

But upon this being presented to health insurers, Carlina was told it was a forged document. Carlina questioned Pettway that evening, who finally confessed that she wasn’t the biological mother.

Carlina would later admit she had already been experiencing doubts due to the difference in their appearance and Pettway’s inability to produce a birth certificate.

When asked to explain what had happened, Pettway told Carlina that she had been abandoned by a woman addicted to drugs, and that Pettway had taken her in.

It was only a few years later when Carlina looked into her past further that she made a shocking discovery. She realised that images of a kidnapped infant called Carlina resembled ‘Nejdra’ as an infant, as well as Carlina’s daughter Samani.

Carlina contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. This led to her being able to contact her biological family. Additionally, a DNA test proved that Carlina was indeed the missing Carlina White.

Reunited at last

After 23 years, Carlina White was reunited with her parents – Joy White and Carl Tyson. The incredible reunion led to significant joy on both sides.

The trio got on well and caught up on lost time. Joy and Carl also met their granddaughter. The family was back together again.

With this being such an emotional event, it is unsurprising that things quickly became too much, with relations straining.

The cash settlement received by Joy and Carl was called into question, with some wondering why money hadn’t been left for Carlina.

While a trust fund had initially been set up with some of the funds, after 21 years it was liquidated, with Joy and Carl receiving the money in 2008.

Following disagreements over money and media exposure, there was a falling out. This led to Carlina becoming estranged from her biological parents.

But a few months later, it was confirmed publicly that relations had improved again and that Carlina and her biological parents were close again. They continue to be connected.

Carlina lives in the state of Georgia currently. She has a presence on social media – with over 20,000 followers on her Instagram account at the time of writing.

She has taken part in various talks down the years, and continues to be able to be booked for events. But overall, she engages in a largely private life.

What happened to Pettway?

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerted the FBI, who started to search for Pettway. An arrest warrant was soon issued.

Pettway turned herself into law enforcement in January 2011. She told the FBI that she had kidnapped Carlina after being concerned she would never be able to have a child following several miscarriages.

Pettway went to court, facing up to life in prison. She pleaded guilty, with Pettway sentenced to 12 years in prison. Moreover, she apologised to Carlina’s family.

Carlina agreed to testify on Pettway’s behalf – thereby supporting her. It is believed that this helped with Pettway’s rather lenient sentence.

Pettway was incarcerated at the Federal Coorectional Institution in Aliceville, Alabama. While it is known that Carlina initially wrote to Pettway, it is believed that this stopped.

She was released in April 2021 after serving 9 years and 8 months. It is currently unknown where Pettway is. She is living life under the radar and in private.

Summary

The case of Carlina White is rather remarkable. It looked like there was no chance that Carlina would be found, resulting in heartbreak for her parents.

But she eventually reappeared. It goes to show that there is always hope, with this case being seen as a beacon of hope for those with missing loved ones.