Federal officials in St. Louis are closing an investigation into claims that the daughter of a local gospel singer was stolen from her at birth. The Department of Justice released hospital records that undermined the mother’s claims during a news conference Friday afternoon.
For months, Zella Jackson Price had maintained that 50 years ago, a nurse at the Homer G. Phillips Hospital told her that her newborn daughter had died. Instead, the baby was placed in foster care. A DNA test reunited them this year.
“We can now say with complete confidence that there is absolutely no truth to that allegation, and therefore this case is closed,” U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan told reporters.
At the news conference, officials distributed copies of newly found hospital records for Price and her daughter. They detail that Price gave birth prematurely at City Hospital #1, and subsequently gave the baby up for adoption. Price has repeatedly asserted that is untrue.
Price’s attorney, Albert Watkins, said he’s still going through the records, and that they appear “deficient” and raise additional questions about other parts of the story. He said that his client does not have a statement at this time.
“My client is going through a very difficult time, from what she is perceiving as an attack on her integrity,” Watkins said.
The story has led hundreds of women to file vital records requests to the state for babies born at Homer G. Phillips Hospital decades ago. Their cases were not a part of the federal investigation.
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