Associated Press: 2008-01-09
BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. - Authorities in Alabama are searching for the bodies of four young children believed to have been thrown off a bridge by their father.
Police say Lam Luong, 37, of Irvington, Ala., confessed Tuesday night to tossing the youngsters off the Dauphin Island bridge.
The bridge is as much as 24 metres above the water in places.
The children ranged in age from four month to three years.
Police say Luong first reported them missing Monday, telling authorities that a woman who had the children failed to return them to him.
Det. Scott Riva says Luong faces four counts of capital murder.
Missing and presumed dead were four-month-old Danny Luong; one-year-old Lindsey Luong; two-year-old Hannah Luong and three-year-old Ryan Phan.
Phan was not Luong's biological child, but he raised him from infancy, authorities said.
At least three boats were being used in the search, and the U.S. Coast Guard was sending another boat and a helicopter, Riva said.
"It's been a nightmare," he added.
Luong was jailed in Mobile, and Riva said he did not know whether he had a lawyer.
The Dauphin Island bridge connects coastal Alabama to a barrier island located about five kilometres south of Mobile Bay in the Gulf of Mexico.
