Circumstances of Disappearance
White was last seen at Harlem Hospital in New York on August 4, 1987. She had been taken there due to a 104-degree fever.
White was apparently abducted by a woman, dressed as a nurse. Less than three hours before, the mother, worried that the baby's 103-degree fever had not dropped in a day, had her admitted to the pediatrics ward. After undergoing a battery of tests, the infant was left unattended for 10 minutes, and during that time the abductor disconnected her intravenous medication tubes and fled with her.
Hospital staff believed they had seen the same woman in the hospital on other occasions as early as March. When questioned, the woman had identified herself as a relative of a patient in some instances, and as a nurse at other times. She apparently knew enough "nurses' jargon" to convince hospital personnel. The woman also knew enough to shut off the baby's intravenous feeding tube, which otherwise would have sounded an alarm when the tube had been disconnected.