‘Jamie’s’ Tangled Background Unraveled

Jamie, the little girl who was apparently abandoned almost a month ago on the Santa Monica beach, isn’t really Jamie.

The 2 1/2-year-old girl, unclaimed until her story was told by the media on Thursday, has another name, said authorities, who were able to piece her story together from court records. Her name may be Leah, but authorities would not confirm her true name because she is a ward of the Juvenile Dependency Court.

Now authorities want to know why her foster mother did not report her missing until two weeks after she was found by police sitting quietly near the Santa Monica Pier. She had been left there by her natural mother, officials said.

Although the child has been held in protective custody in a child-care home since Feb. 12, the foster mother did not report her absence until Feb. 26, authorities said.

‘May Involve Negligence’

“Obviously, there’s some feeling that there’s a situation here that may involve negligence,” said Marcia Goodman, an administrative assistant to Kathryn Doi Todd, presiding judge of the Juvenile Dependency Court. “Because of the fact that she was missing and it was not reported for two weeks, it’s entirely possible that she may be placed in a different home.”

The court will make a decision within three days about whether to keep the girl in the child-care facility, the Children’s Institute, on New Hampshire Street in Los Angeles.

According to Santa Monica Police Sgt. Barney Melekian, at least 40 people have offered to adopt the little girl, who has blonde hair, green eyes and is reported to be in good health. “There have also been seven calls from people claiming to be her parent or guardian,” he said. One of these was a man who flew in from Arkansas, claiming that the girl was his own daughter, missing for 11 years, Melekian said.

Ward Since Birth

Investigators from the county Department of Children’s Services and the Santa Monica Police Department were able to piece together the child’s story Thursday.

Records indicate that she had been placed in foster care shortly after her birth, on Sept. 25, 1985. “There was some indication that her natural mother was retarded,” Goodman said.

The 25-year-old foster mother is actually a half sister of the child, said Goodman. The foster mother and the child have the same father.

On either Feb. 11 or 12, the natural mother, who had been granted visitation rights by the court, took the child out of the foster home, which police say is somewhere in the eastern part of Los Angeles County. “Then she (the mother) took off to the beach and abandoned the girl there,” Goodman said.

On Feb. 26, the foster mother reported to her case worker that the child was missing. She and the child were scheduled to report to the court on Thursday for a regular progress report on the foster placement.

“When she didn’t show up in court, investigators were able to put two and two together,” Goodman said.

Although authorities would not reveal the family’s name, Liz Anderson, a reporter for Channel 4 News, said that on Wednesday she interviewed a man professing to be the girl’s father. The man, Harold Witt, 78, a resident of the Highland Park section of Los Angeles, had pictures of what appeared to be the same little girl, Anderson said. Witt said the girl’s name is Leah, Anderson said.

Goodman confirmed that the father’s last name was Witt.

After the court hearing to determine where the child will be placed temporarily, the Department of Children’s Services will conduct an investigation, said Jerrye Keeble, a spokeswoman for the county agency. “The department’s investigation is usually done within three weeks,” she said. “We investigate whatever situation came up to cause the child’s status to change.”