Woman wins visitation rights to abandoned girl

Saturday, May 22, 2004

BALTIMORE -- A woman who says a little girl abandoned to strangers is the daughter she hasn't seen for almost two years has won visitation rights, her attorney said Friday. Attorney Gary Gerstenfield said beginning next week, Patricia A. Harper, 21, of Washington, D.C., will be allowed to visit the child under the supervision of the city's Department of Social Services. At the same time, she'll begin to seek legal custody, he said. The child will be reacquainted slowly with Harper. The hunt for the 3-year-old's family began last week and seemed relatively simple at first, based on information from the little girl: Her name was Courtney, she was from Brooklyn, N.Y., and she wanted her mommy.

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