Woman Abducted as Infant in 1987 Meets Family

J

Jordan_S

Veteran
I don't understand two important details in this story.

1. Unless her fake family was not African American, how is it that "Carlina’s suspicions started to grow around her 16th birthday, partly 'because the family and her don’t resemble each other'"?

2. How did she find a picture of herself as an infant on the web site of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children?
 
Jordan_S said:
I don't understand two important details in this story.

1. Unless her fake family was not African American, how is it that "Carlina’s suspicions started to grow around her 16th birthday, partly 'because the family and her don’t resemble each other'"?
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Uh...you do know that not all black people look alike, right?
 
My point is that unless she looks very different from them, it's quite a statement to make. In fact, even if they are extremely dissimilar in appearance, drawing such a conclusion requires more evidence that is not mentioned in the article.
 
Am I the only person who thinks what she concluded (that she was kidnapped) and accomplished (finding her infant portrait on the Web) is nothing short of amazing and that the article must be missing facts?
 
Jordan_S said:
My point is that unless she looks very different from them, it's quite a statement to make. In fact, even if they are extremely dissimilar in appearance, drawing such a conclusion requires more evidence that is not mentioned in the article.
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Regardless, she figured it out. Whether it was based on her looks, the picture she found on the database, or just a gut feeling that something was always 'off' about their relationship.

Good for her.
 
Jordan_S said:
Am I the only person who thinks what she concluded (that she was kidnapped) and accomplished (finding her infant portrait on the Web) is nothing short of amazing and that the article must be missing facts?
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It's an amazing story, sure. But did you ever think that maybe she might have a birthmark or something? That would make finding her picture all the easier. If not, I'm sure her abductors took baby pictures of her as well. It's easier to compare one to another.

If that's driven by something that just doesn't 'feel' right, that's all you need.

There was a story about a brother who kept looking for his sister who was kidnapped while talking on her phone. She was found murdered in the woods many many months later. The brother found her. He worked with the police and kept organizing searches every week for months on end. He was ruled out a suspect and they have another in custody. He found her when the cops couldn't because he refused to give up. Sometimes that's all it takes.
 
I'm not saying it's not amazing - but I guess I don't find it unbelievable. I mean, obviously they're missing details - the story spans 23 years. But, if you were writing a script, for example, they included the important plot points:

Girl is taken from family and raised by 'strangers.'
At 16 she starts to notice that she does not resemble anyone in her family.
In her early 20s her suspicions grew so much that she started searching online, and eventually finds her own photo on a missing children's site.
At 23 she is reunited with her biological family.

Now, of course a lot happened between 16 and now - but I think the implications made by the story are pretty clear.
Genetics play a huge role in our connection to our family - so honestly I'm not surprised that someone would notice if they didn't look like any member of their family.
Pretty sure it would run deeper than that - it's not just whether or not you look like them, but also share any personality traits.

The reason this makes such a great story for the news is because looking back on it it's exactly what every story should be - inevitable, yet surprising.
:)
 
Luis Caffesse said:
[...]The reason this makes such a great story for the news is because looking back on it it's exactly what every story should be - inevitable, yet surprising.
:)
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Interesting...for fiction, certainly.

Perhaps some details are missing to protect the kidnapping investigation.
 
Jordan_S said:
I don't understand two important details in this story[/URL].
1. Unless her fake family was not African American, how is it that "Carlina’s suspicions started to grow around her 16th birthday, partly 'because the family and her don’t resemble each other'"?
2. How did she find a picture of herself as an infant on the web site of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children?
Click to expand...
To question number one...there was probably a dramatic difference (outside of skin color). I think we all share some kind of outward similarities with our parents whether in mannerism or physical appearance. In other words there should be some sort of connection that would give us no doubt. With this girl....she probably did not have that kind of connection. And if she was continually abused then that probably raised her suspicion even more.

To your number two....that would not be difficult to do. Think about it this way... The abductor would have probably taken many pictures of this girl from when she was young. At age 16 all the girl had to do was go back 16 years on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's website and look at all the infant photos. She probably narrowed it down to dozens of photos but I have to believe there was some sort of connection to one based on her own records. Who knows. The article is obviously missing lots of details. Regardless....this was an amazing ending. It's not quite over though....those kidnappers need to be brough to justice.
 
Life is strange...true story:

A friend of mine, with divorced parents and 5 siblings, always wondered why she was treated 'differently' by her Father when he came to visit. Then, years later in a heated argument with her Mother, she was told that that WASN'T he REAL Father. In fact, her Mother had had an affair, which was the cause of the divorce and my friend was the product of that affair! Talk about screwing-up a child's mind.

She then spent the better part of her adult life going to therapy and trying to find her biological Father. After years of searching, she finally found him and made basic contact. They agreed to a meeting, but a few days before it was to happen, he called it off and asked her to never contact him again (double wammy). He died a few years later and she received a check for $5000.00...no note...no information on his side of the family...nothing.

Needless to say....she is still going to therapy.

You can't make this stuff up.
 
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