On January 23, 2011, Pettway surrendered to authorities. That same day, FBI Agent Maria Johnson conducted an interview in which Pettway made admissions that formed the core of the subsequent criminal case against her.
Pettway’s admissions, as summarized in the FBI/DOJ press release, were:
— She went to Harlem Hospital in August 1987.
— She took an infant from a crib.
— She brought the infant by train to Bridgeport, Connecticut.
— She raised the child as her own daughter.
— She tried to create false documentation for the child.
— She was sorry and knew she had caused a great deal of pain.
The admissions were significant because they eliminated the need for the government to prove through circumstantial evidence what had happened in August 1987. The kidnapping itself — the act of taking the child — was established by Pettway’s own account. The interstate transportation element — the train ride from New York to Connecticut — was also established by her admission, and this was what grounded federal jurisdiction.
Pettway was brought to Manhattan federal court on January 24, 2011, and charged by complaint with one count of federal kidnapping. She was presented before a magistrate judge. The charges were formalized through indictment in February 2011.
What is notable about the DOJ’s charging document, and what the prompt for this article specifically flags, is a date reference that appears to conflict with the established timeline. The DOJ press release references a January 2010 detective interview date in the context of events that all other sources place in January 2011 — the NCMEC contact, the DNA collection, the OCME confirmation, and the arrest all occurred in January 2011. The “January 2010” reference in the DOJ document is most likely a typographic error, but it is worth noting as a reminder that primary-source documents contain errors and should be cross-checked against corroborating sources rather than accepted uncritically.