Carlina White's Reunion With Joy White Is Short Lived

What was once a heart warming story has now gone cold.

After being reunited with her family for the first time in 23 years, Carlina White has returned to her home in Georgia after a fight over money, her mom said.

Carlina White was kidnapped from the hospital when she was a newborn and her return to her Bronx-based family made headlines.

But now, the Post reports, Carlina and her mom are feuding over the $750,000 the city awarded Joy White and her then-husband Carl Tyson after they sued the hospital for negligence.

Joy White said she and Tyson spent the money raising their families.

"It's like we're two strangers, we don't know each other," Joy White told the "Today Show." "She asked a lot of questions about the money, but it's gone. We don't have the money."

From the Post:

The couple had set aside about $160,000 in a trust fund until Carlina's 21st birthday. When she remained missing, they spent the cash on themselves.

Carlina flew back to her home in Georgina days after the money spat and has not returned to her birth mother in New York since.

Carlina White was raised in Connecticut and Georgia by Ann Pettway.

Pettway was arrested for kidnapping and remains in custody.

Joy White still feels remains hopeful that she and her daughter can patch things up and come together once again.

"I'm her mother, and it hurts not to have a relationship," she said. "I want her here, I want my daughter back."

Comments

[dbrett480]

05:00 PM on 03/09/2011

She gets her real family back and all she can think about is money? How was this knucklehead raised? Oh that's right by a criminal. That explains it.

[Dakotadude]

01:08 PM on 03/03/2011

my dad died in vietnam. he left us nothing. i still miss him.

[slartybartfast]

11:01 PM on 02/18/2011

She's a single mother and needs money. Would be surprised if that was the only reason she got back in touch with them, but maybe. It's all such a tragedy. At least her real mother has two other children. It must've killed her to have that happen, such negligence. At least she knows her daughter's alive, even if they remain estranged.

[cartheone]

09:33 PM on 02/12/2011

Carlina/Neyyie was raised by a woman who is a convicted embezzler. Neighbors in CT stated that she didn't seem like the rest of the family.
Carlina/nettie needs help. Why is she angry at her biologicall family over money?
They were the victims as was she.
As previous posters have said if she act differently a TV movie , book even theatrical movie could be made.
I hope and pray that someone ( not dr. Phil) will reach out to her.

[samuraifrog37]

09:33 PM on 02/10/2011

Very sad indeed.

[Steve1976]

05:50 PM on 02/10/2011

She wants the money more than she wants her mommy.

[nellpost]

12:12 PM on 02/10/2011

Money IS the root of all evil.

[demimckingwoodtx]

11:15 AM on 02/10/2011

She found them and then decided that the money was more important than having a relationship that she herself sought out.

[GirlInNYC]

01:11 AM on 02/10/2011

This girl and Ted Williams. Man, what's up with black folks and fairy tales gone bad in 15 minutes? Even the first black Disney Princess from the Princess and the Frog was a frog for 90% of the movie. Okay, back on topic. This girl makes it bad for adopted kids seeking their biological parents. The biologicals may be apprehensive now.

[Frank Bourne]

10:13 PM on 02/10/2011

Just think of the behaviors, attitudes and priorities that must have rubbed off on this girl from the woman who took her. I guess you can't simply shake that off in 15 minutes either. An unfortunate turn of events from an otherwise heartening story.

[PhineasGage730]

11:21 AM on 02/24/2011

No it's fairy tales going bad for POOR PEOPLE, DAMAGED PEOPLE! If those to examples were white (and believe me there are tons of stories of White people doing the same), no one for an instant would try and connect it to the entire White race. So relax with silly statements defining Black people as a whole to stories you read in the media.

[momopopo]

12:36 AM on 02/10/2011

She wuz bamboozled!

[ken607]

07:54 PM on 02/09/2011

looks like the woman that kidnapped this girl didnt do a good job in raising her. no suprise there. selfishness was the out come. im with the real mother, she did all she could considering the circumstances.

[BklynDame]

08:12 PM on 02/09/2011

I agree. Did the missing girl think that the money (which was awarded to the parents, not to her) were supposed to sit on the funds all those years -- considering they had other children to raise?

If money were the only consideration, Carlina should think about doing a movie for Lifetime or writing a book. She could make tons of money AND have a relationship with her birth mother.

[GirlInNYC]

01:04 AM on 02/10/2011

Lifetime rarely cares about black women. But maybe OWN or BET.

[Richcrafter]

07:25 PM on 02/09/2011

Is money just poison? It's Richcraft gone wrong!

[Martin Eldred]

05:31 PM on 02/09/2011

What does the daughter expect--that they would have saved all that money on the hopes that one day she would return? Furthermore, it would seem that the judgement was granted to her parents, for their grief and suffering, and not to a baby that did not know any difference.

[risingsun4995]

11:25 PM on 02/09/2011

Agreed. And the parents did save $160,000 of the money in a trust fund until the daughter would have turned 21. The parents minds where in the right place. Does the daughter have the right to sue the state because she was kidnapped. The daughter's life story would make a great made for television movie. She should hire an agent and a ghostwriter and see if any studio would be interested in the script.

[brooklyncitizen]

04:53 PM on 02/09/2011

Guess we know why she returned to the mother.

[BklynDame]

08:14 PM on 02/09/2011

I was thinking the same thing...in the same way she googled to find out that she was kidnapped, she could have easily come across the knowledge that her parents were awarded a large sum of money as the result of the kidnapping. Looks like all she wanted was to come and collect. Sad.

[jl4141]

04:51 PM on 02/09/2011

If she wants some dough, she should write a book about the whole thing. Seems like a natural, and a publisher could get her a ghost writer, if necessary.

The money from the lawsuit wasn't hers in the first place. You can hardly blame the parents for using it up over the years when they had no clue they would ever see the girl again. It's certainly not something she should let get in the way of building up a new relationship with her long-lost family.

[robjh1]

05:16 PM on 02/09/2011

So sad, and I agree. Write a book. There is more money from a book deal then what the family got. Then too, there could possibly be more to this story than what we are being told.