Father of Baby Found in East River Detained in Thailand

NEW YORK — A transit worker whose infant son was found dead in the East River on Sunday was detained in Thailand earlier this week at the request of New York police, who are seeking his return to face charges in connection with the boy’s death.

James Ronnie Currie, 37, of Co-Op City in the Bronx, was taken into custody at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok after he got off a flight that had left New York on Monday afternoon, the police said.

Currie is employed as a cleaner by New York City Transit Authority, according to payroll records. The police have obtained an arrest warrant for Currie for concealment of a human corpse, a felony in New York state.

Currie does not have any prior criminal convictions, according to court records. Police said there were no warning signs about disputes between the parents of the dead boy. The couple are not legally married.

Some tourists discovered the infant, identified as “Baby Mason,” at 4 p.m. Sunday. He was floating lifeless near an embankment on the waterfront between the South Street Seaport and the Brooklyn Bridge. Monte Campbell, a chiropractor visiting New York from Oklahoma, unsuccessfully tried to revive Mason, who was 7 months old and wore only a diaper when he was pulled from the water.

Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said Currie went to the Bronx residence of Mason’s 36-year-old mother to pick up the boy around 12:30 p.m. Saturday. The mother’s name is being withheld by authorities. The couple is not married but has a legal agreement regarding visitation rights.

Twenty minutes later, surveillance video shows Currie and the baby entering his apartment in Co-Op City, where he lives alone, the chief said at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon. “The child was, at that time, alive and in healthy condition,” Shea said.

The camera recorded Currie leaving the apartment at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, wearing a backpack across his chest like a baby carrier, with a blanket over it, Shea said. He said detectives believe Mason was dead at that time, though he did not say what led them to that conclusion. A search warrant was executed on Currie’s apartment earlier this week.

Around 3:10 p.m. Sunday, Currie was seen walking on the waterfront between the South Street Seaport and the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, wearing a backpack, Shea said. Mason’s body was pulled from the East River less than an hour later.

Shea said Mason’s mother first became aware the baby was missing when Currie did not drop him off at his day care provider on Monday as planned. She repeatedly texted Currie about their child, but found his answers evasive. She finally called 911 to report her child missing at 9 p.m.

“At some point, the mother brings up on her own that she heard on the news about a child in the water, and she fears the worst,” Shea said. “I don’t think anyone can listen to that 911 call without their blood curdling.”

The mother provided the police with information about Currie’s ties to Thailand.

The New York City chief medical examiner has yet to determine the child’s cause of death. Shea said a backpack was recovered from the East River, and tests are being conducted to determine if it is the same bag seen in surveillance video, in which detectives believe Currie carried Mason to the waterfront. Detectives also have located video showing the child in the water close to the backpack, Shea said.

Depending on the cause of death, Currie could face additional criminal charges. “This is a heartbreaking case,” Shea said.