Naman Shrestha
When Carlina White was abducted from a New York hospital in 1987, her parents desperately searched for her for several years. Meanwhile, she was being raised by Ann Pettway, who had kidnapped her from the hospital. Ann’s lies unraveled when Carlina grew up and delved deep into her origin. Soon, the kidnapper was apprehended and brought to justice for her crimes. The case became the inspiration for Lifetime’s ‘Abducted: The Carlina White Story,’ which is a dramatized version of the abduction and how the truth about Ann’s kidnapping unfolded.
Ann Pettway Raised Carlina White as Nejdra Nance in Connecticut and Georgia
Born in the early 1960s, Annugetta “Ann” Pettway was allegedly brought up in a volatile household, as she claimed that her mother used to beat her with belts and extension cords. In 1977, she had her first run-in with the law in her teenage years as she spent several weeks in a local jail in Waterbury, Connecticut, for a larceny charge. Within the next decade, she reportedly had multiple miscarriages, which motivated her to kidnap a 19-day-old newborn named Carlina Renae White from Harlem Hospital on August 4, 1987. The child was admitted to the hospital by his parents, Joy White and Carl Tyson, due to a high fever. Ann, posing as a nurse, saw the opportunity and abducted Carlina from the hospital.
Renaming her Nejdra “Netty” Nance, Ann raised her in Bridgeport, Connecticut, just a few miles away from her biological parents. In the following years, she got involved in a number of petty crimes, for which she was placed on probation several times. While working at the Hudson Belk in Raleigh, North Carolina, she also stole cash and clothing, a crime for which she pleaded guilty. Finally, in 1998, Ann welcomed her own blood into the world in the form of her son, Trevon Teele. In the 2010s, Ann and Carlina relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, with her sister. During her teenage years, Carlina started to suspect that Ann might not be her birth mother. In 2005, her suspicion increased when the birth certificate Ann provided her was deemed forged by the officials when she was applying for health insurance during her pregnancy.
Soon, Ann had no other option than to confess to Carlina about not being her biological mother. However, she claimed that she was abandoned by her actual mother, who was a drug addict. A few years later, in 2010, her lie was caught by Carlina, who contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and inquired about missing children from the time she was born. That’s when she found her infant photos matching those of Carlina’s. In January 2011, it was confirmed that Nejdra Nance was Carlina White. Within a few days, Ann surrendered herself to the authorities on the morning of January 23. She confessed to kidnapping Carlina from Harlem Hospital and was indicted on the kidnapping charge on February 17.
Ann Pettway Has Gone Off the Radar After Her Release From Prison
About a year later, on February 10, 2012, Ann Pettway pleaded guilty to the kidnapping charge against her. A few months later, on July 30, her sentencing hearing took place. She took the stand and extended her apologies to the White family. “I would like to apologize to the family. It may be rejected, but I am deeply sorry for what I’ve done. If they don’t accept it, it’s understandable. I’m here to right my wrong…Because of my actions, so many lives were hurt,” she said. Ultimately, she was sentenced to 12 years in prison, which was thought to be too lenient by Carlina’s father. On top of the prison sentence, Ann was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay a $100 special assessment fee.
After the sentencing, the Manhattan US Attorney, Preet Bharara, stated, “Exactly 25 years ago, Ann Pettway snatched an ailing newborn from a hospital, and with that kidnapping she shattered three lives – the life of the child who would not know her parents, and the lives of her parents who were left to wonder what had become of their baby. While this sentence certainly cannot compensate them for what they lost, it is our sincere hope that they can repair the breach that was caused on that terrible day.” After serving her term in the Federal Correctional Institution, Aliceville, in Aliceville, Alabama, she was released on April 14, 2021. She supposedly served the following three years under supervision. Details about her current whereabouts are unavailable as she prefers to lead a private life, away from the limelight.
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