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Mother claims girl, 3, abandoned in Baltimore

A 3-year-old girl whose identity had been a mystery since she was abandoned early in May was taken from her mother by her father two years ago, the mother said Thursday in claiming the child.
Akasha Henry, 3, is expected to be returned to her mother, two years after her father spirited her away.
Akasha Henry, 3, is expected to be returned to her mother, two years after her father spirited her away.MSNBC TV
/ Source: The Associated Press

A 3-year-old girl whose identity had been a mystery since she was abandoned early this month had been taken from her mother by her father two years ago, the mother said Thursday in claiming the child.

Baltimore’s Department of Social Services is satisfied that Patricia Henry’s claims are true, said Gary Gerstenfield, an attorney for the family.

City officials said the little girl was found May 5 when a man dropped her off with a stranger at an unknown location in Baltimore. He said he was leaving to cash a money order, but he never returned.

The child had told authorities her name was Courtney, that she was from Brooklyn, and that she and her father had been living in a Baltimore warehouse. She was placed in foster care as officials appealed to the public to help them find the girl’s family.

Henry told WJZ-TV of Baltimore that her daughter’s real name is Akasha, and that she is from the Brooklyn neighborhood in south Baltimore.

Henry said that after she was awarded temporary custody of Akasha in 2002, the girl’s father took her and disappeared.

Gerstenfield said he will ask a judge Friday morning to grant custody of the girl to Henry.