NYPD: Father Of Baby Found Dead In East River Located In Thailand
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – The NYPD says the father of a 7-month-old boy found dead in the East River over the weekend has been located in Thailand.
"There will not be a good ending to this story," Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said Wednesday. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the mother."
Police said James Currie, 37, of the Bronx, picked the infant up from his mother's house around 12:30 p.m. Saturday. He and the boy, identified as Mason Saldana, returned to his residence in Co-Op City about 20 minutes later.
Police said roughly 24 hours later, Currie was seen leaving the house carrying a backpack with a blanket draped over it.
"We believe at this time, the child was deceased in that 24 hour period, and now the father is taking the child out of the residence," said Shea.
Currie then brought the backpack to Lower Manhattan, where he was seen walking toward the East River around 3:10 p.m., police said.
Less than an hour later, police received their first 911 call regarding a baby in the water.
Around 9 p.m. Sunday, the Mason's mother called police to report a custodial dispute, saying her son wasn't dropped off at daycare. She said she had seen reports of a baby in the water on the news and feared the worst.
Police say Currie boarded a flight to Bangkok, Thailand from John F. Kennedy International Airport Monday afternoon. When he arrived, he was stopped by authorities and remains in custody. He'll will be back in New York within the week and is expected to be charged with concealment of a corpse, according to police. Depending on Mason's cause of death, those charges could be upgraded.
