More than two decades after being kidnapped as an infant from a New York hospital, Carlina White was reunited with her parents, Joy White and Carl Tyson.
"We ate and talked and got to know each other ... I feel great," her mother, Joy White, told the Daily News. "I can sleep! I can definitely sleep now because this has been on my mind for so many years."
It was Aug. 4, 1987 when a mystery woman disguised as a nurse snatched 19-day-old Carina White from her crib at New York City's Harlem Hospital. The story sent shockwaves throughout the metropolis.
"I hope she is alright," a distraught Joy White said upon learning of her daughter's abduction. "I hope she is taking good care of my baby."
Carlina was taken to Bridgeport, Conn., where she was given a new name -- Nejdra Nance. There she was raised by a new family, unaware for 23 years her birth parents and family were actually in New York City.
"I thought about her a lot because one day I was hoping that someone would knock on the door and say 'I'm Carlina,'" her grandmother, Elizabeth White, said.
As Carlina grew, so did her suspicions about her identity and the people who called themselves her family.
"There was no paperwork to follow her, such as a birth certificate or social security card," Lt. Christopher Zimmerman of the New York Police Department told ABC News. "In her late teens she became suspicious of who she was."
Several weeks ago, the now 24-year-old Carlina took her suspicions to the Internet, searching the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's website.
When she spotted a baby photo along with a sketch of how the child would look at 19, Carlina called the center's hotline. The photograph led directly to Joy White, and a DNA test proved they were mother and daughter.
"I was screaming, I was so excited," Joy said. "As soon as I saw those pictures I said, 'That's my daughter.' I saw myself in her."
Carolina's long-lost family was ecstatic at having found the child they feared was lost to them forever.
"Carlina was a missing link and we have gotten her back, in the name of Jesus hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!" Carlina's aunt, Pat Conway, exclaimed.