Officials: Father of dead baby found in East River ordered held without bail

The Bronx man whose infant son was found dead in the East River was ordered held without bail on Friday on a charge he dumped the body in the water, officials said.

James Currie, 37, was formally arrested early Friday. He faces a charge of concealment of a human corpse after a tourist discovered the body of 7-month-old Mason Saldana floating near the Brooklyn Bridge on Sunday afternoon

Currie did not enter a plea when he appeared in Manhattan criminal court  on the one-count criminal complaint, which alleged a series of events leading up to the discovery of Mason’s body, including a troubling email exchange between Currie and the child’s mother. 

“The good news we will never see each other again,” Currie emailed the woman, according to the complaint, adding that he was not in the United States, having flown to Thailand.

Currie and the boy's mother were not married and had disputes over custody, police said. When the child’s mother asked about Mason, Currie replied in an email, “you will never see [Mason] again,” according to the complaint.

Currie, a subway cleaner who had a custody arrangement with Mason's mother, was given custody of Mason last Saturday with the mother’s consent, apparently for a visitation, investigators said.

Surveillance video showed Currie leaving his Co-Op City apartment in the Bronx on Sunday with what looked to be a baby harness on his chest, the complaint said. The harness was covered with a small blanket, under which police said there did not appear to be any movement.

Currie landed in Thailand on Monday but was stopped by immigration officials at the airport, NYPD chief of detectives Dermot Shea said. Authorities in the United States took him into custody early Friday morning.

While Currie only faces the concealment charge, Shea said that after the city medical examiner completes a forensic investigation additional charges related to Mason's death could be filed.