'You'll Never See Mason Again,' Text Tells E River Baby's Mom: DA

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, NY — The father accused of dumping his 7-month-old son in the East River and fleeing oversees sent taunting text messages to the infant's distraught mother, including one telling her, "You will never see Mason again," according to a Friday criminal complaint.

Bronx resident James Currie, 37, fled to Bangkok, Thailand after his infant son, Mason Saldona, was found floating in the East River by tourists from Oklahoma. While he was on the run, Currie exchanged heart wrenching text messages with Mason's mother, Julia DeJesus Saldana, including "The good news we [sic] will never see each other again," and "I am not in the usa."

Currie never made it into Thailand and was detained by authorities who sent him back to JFK Airport Thursday night. Homeland Security, the NYPD and Customs and Border Protection joined forces to track him overseas and bring Currie back to the U.S.

He was charged with concealment of a human corpse Friday morning and did not enter a plea. His attorney, Norman Williams, did not immediately return calls for comment.

Video shows a stone-faced Currie with his hands cuffed behind his back silently shuffle out of the 13th Precinct station house in Gramercy early Friday. Police escorted him to a waiting SUV for his arraignment hearing.

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 alive and healthy at the time, said NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea.

Roughly 24-hours later, Currie emerged from his Co-op City apartment building Sunday with a backpack converted into a baby carrier on his abdomen with a blanket covering the pack. Police alleged little Mason was inside and that he died in Currie's apartment.

MTA records show Currie, who was a station cleaner with the transit agency and was issued an employee MetroCard, used his MetroCard to board a bus in the Bronx and then swiped his card again at 23rd Street in Lower Manhattan, according to the criminal complaint. Officials said Currie was spotted shortly after walking toward the East River between South Street Seaport and the Downtown Manhattan Heliport with the backpack still strapped to his body.

About 54 minutes later the same MetroCard was used to enter the transit system at a Chambers Street station. Footage shows Currie entering the subway station with the backpack, only this time the blanket covering it had been removed and no baby was with him, according to court documents.

Mason's frantic mother called police later Monday after incessant attempts to reach Currie. In a "blood curdling" phone call with a 911 operator, the horrific realization dawned on the mother that the child found floating in the East River may be her son. The woman broke down into sobs on the call, Shea said.

Currie will face up to a year in prison for the charge of concealing a human corpse. The investigation is ongoing and the charges may be upgraded once the city's Medical Examiner's office determines Mason's cause of death, officials said.

James Currie in Manhattan criminal court during his arraignment. (Photo courtesy of AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)