Snatcher who raised child for 23 yrs held

Ann Pettway surrendered to the FBI on a warrant from North Carolina,where shes on probation because of a conviction for attempted embezzlement.

A North Carolina woman who raised a child stolen 23 years ago from a New York hospital surrendered to authorities on a probation violation charge,and she was to appear in federal court to face kidnapping charges,the US attorneys office said.

Ann Pettway surrendered late Sunday to the FBI on a warrant from North Carolina,where shes on probation because of a conviction for attempted embezzlement. She turned herself in days after a widely publicised reunion between the child she raised,now an adult,and her biological mother.

Carlina White was just 19 days old when her parents took her to Harlem Hospital in the middle of the night with a high fever in 1987. Joy White and Carl Tyson said a woman who looked like a nurse had comforted them. The couple left the hospital to rest,but their baby was missing when they went back.

Carlina is now 23 and has been living under the name Nejdra Nance in Connecticut and in the Atlanta area.

White harboured suspicions first because her looks didnt match those of her familys,and later because she could not get a birth certificate or Social Security number from her parents,the police said. She continued searching for her identity after moving to Georgia several years ago and eventually came across photos on the website of National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. She matched those with childhood photos she had and called the centre.