Saturday, January 12, 2008

LAM LUONG UPDATE: ONE MURDERED CHILD FOUND, 3 MISSING

Lam Luong, in custody for killing his 4 children


Map of Bayou La Batre, Alabama showing bridge to Dauphin Island



Known as the Seafood Capitol of Alabama, Bayou La Batre is naturally a leader in commercial fishing as well as the seafood industry. Our seafood processors are among the most progressive and highly regarded seafood firms in the nation.

An Alabama State Trooper helicopter flies over the Dauphin Island Bridge Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008. The search for four children, whose father Lam Luong claims to have thrown from the bridge to Dauphin Island, Ala. Monday morning, continued Thursday. (AP Photo/Press-Register, Bill Starling)


Body of 1 of 4 Kids Found in Ala. Water
By GARRY MITCHELL – 1 hour ago

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — A duck hunter on Saturday found the body of the youngest of four children allegedly thrown from a coastal bridge by their father, raising hopes that the other bodies will be recovered, a sheriff said.

A search for the children — ranging in age from a few months to 3 years — began Tuesday near the mouth of Mobile Bay after prosecutors said the father, Lam Luong, confessed.

About 9 a.m. Saturday, a duck hunter found the body of an infant about five miles west of the bridge in a marshy area.

"The inevitable nightmare we have feared has now been confirmed," Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran said. "We believe, certainly now, that the father of these children threw these children off the Dauphin Island bridge."

Cochran said a police chaplain informed the children's family of the discovery Saturday morning. Their mother, 23-year-old Kieu Phan, had gone with Luong to report them missing Monday evening.

When told that her infant's body had been found, a grief-stricken Phan wept, comforted by an associated pastor at a Vietnamese congregation that includes some members of her family.
Through an interpreter, Phan asked, "Why didn't he kill me instead of the children? It's too much hurting."

Cochran said searchers using sonar technology saw images Friday that they believed were three bodies, but the currents were so strong the divers were unable to get to the location.

Divers re-entered the water Saturday and worked until darkness forced them out of the water without finding the other three bodies. The search zone has expanded westward to Pascagoula, Miss. and will resume Sunday morning.

Luong, 37, a shrimp boat worker who lives in Irvington, was being held without bond on four counts of capital murder. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole.

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