Father Of Baby Found In East River Detained In Thailand: NYPD

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, NY — The father of a baby boy found floating in the East River Sunday was apprehended in Thailand and will return to New York next week to face criminal charges, authorities said Wednesday.

James Currie, the father of the 7-month-old baby identified as Mason Saldona, will be arrested on a charge of concealment of a corpse when he returns to the city in a weeks time, said NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea at a Wednesday news conference.

“I anticipate his arrival back within a week — that will happen," said Shea. "And when he gets back to New York he will face the arrest warrant. He’s not going anywhere.”

Currie and Saldona's mother live separately and had a custody arrangement for the child. Currie picked up the infant from the Bronx home of the child's mother on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Twenty minutes later, surveillance footage shows Currie arriving at his Co-op City apartment building with the boy, who was still alive at the time, police said.

Things took a grim turn for Saldona on Sunday, officials said.

“There will not be a good ending to this story," said Shea. “This is a heart breaking case, this really is.”

On Sunday, roughly 24-hours later at 1:30 p.m., footage shows Currie, who worked as a station cleaner for the MTA, leaving his home with a backpack converted into a makeshift baby carrier on his abdomen. A blanket covered the bag and police believe Saldona's dead body was inside the pack.

Police said footage showed Currie walking through Lower Manhattan between South Street Seaport and the Downtown Manhattan Heliport at 3:10 p.m., heading toward the East River with the same backpack strapped to his body.

Less than an hour later, the first 911 calls spotting the baby's body — in nothing but a diaper — began pouring into authorities. Tourists from Oklahoma waded into the waters near the Brooklyn Bridge and fished Saldona's body out. He was rushed to New York-Presbyterian Hospital where he was pronounced dead, officials said.

The panicked child's mother called police Monday at 9 p.m. once she learned that the infant never arrived to daycare, and after incessant attempts to reach the father. While discussing the situation with a 911 operator, the horrific realization dawned on the mother that the child found floating in the East River may be her son.

"I don't think anyone could listen to the call without their blood curdling," said Shea.

Currie fled the country Monday afternoon, flying to Bangkok, Thailand out of JFK airport. He was never admitted into the country and is in custody. Currie will face up to a year in prison once he returns to the city and is is charged with concealing a human corpse. The investigation is ongoing and the charges may be upgraded.

Saldona’s cause of death has yet to be determined.

“This is clearly something that no parent should have to live through," said Shea. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the mother of this child during this difficult time."

Lead image: A NYPD officer stands guard as authorities investigate the death of a baby boy found floating in the waters near the Brooklyn Bridge. (AP Photo/Robert Bumsted)