POINTE A LA HACHE, La. (AP) - The body of the last of four children who were allegedly tossed from a coastal Alabama bridge by their father was identified late Tuesday afternoon after being found by boaters off the coast of Louisiana.
The Plaquemines Parish coroner's office confirmed that the body was that of 2-year-old Hannah Luong.
Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau in New Orleans said Sunday the crew of the Crystal Lynn first spotted the body and contacted the Coast Guard, which was unable to find it during an aerial sweep of the waters.
A second boat saw it, leading to the recovery about 5.5 miles east of the mouth of the Mississippi River, she said. The Coast Guard said the body was found about 100 miles from the coastal Alabama bridge.
The body was turned over to the Plaquemines Parish Coroner's Office, which contacted Alabama officials. The body was identified using DNA and footprints.
The bodies of the three other children had already been found.
The search for the four children began Jan. 8 after prosecutors said the father broke down and confessed to driving the children to the two-lane Dauphin Island Bridge and throwing them into the waters after a fight with his wife.
Lam Luong, a native of Vietnam, later recanted, claiming two Asian women took the children and never returned them. Luong, 37, is being held without bond in isolation at a jail on capital murder charges.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
