Updates from sister station WKRG-Mobile:
Tuesday, 10:45 (Jan 15)
- News 5 learns that a child's body was found near the Chevron Refinery in Pascagoula
- Rev. Vo of the Vietnamese Baptist church says family of the children have been notified.
Tuesday, 9:35 a.m. (Jan. 15)
-Mobile County Sheriff's Office will hold a briefing at Noon to update the search
Tuesday, 7:20 a.m. (Jan. 15)
- 125 searchers out again today looking for the bodies of one year old Lindsey and two year old Hannah.
- Search today will extend west to the Chevron Refinery in Pascagoula.
- Searchers will focus a lot of attention on marshy areas of the coastline.
- Sheriff's office will hold a news briefing at 5:00 p.m.
Monday, 9:30 p.m. (Jan. 14)
- A group called the Independent Order of the Odd Fellows has offered to buy burial plots for the four children.
It will also pay for the opening and closing of the graves.
- Employees at Namans Catering in Mobile are donating money to a Trust Fund set up for the children. The company's goal is for each employee to give $4.00
- The children's uncle tells News 5 the family has lost all hope that one year old Lindsey and two year old Hannah will be found alive.
At this point, their just hoping search crews can bring this to an end soon.
Monday, 5:45 p.m. (Jan. 14)
- Sheriff's Office says autopsy reults show that 3 year old Ryan Pham died of trauma and drowning
- More than 100 people are taking part right now in a cabdlelight vigil on the docks in Bayou La Batre
Monday, 5:15 p.m. (Jan. 14)
- Search suspended for the day
- No bodies found
- Concentrated search around Bayou La Batre shores to Moss Point, Mississippi
- dogs used in land searches. Dogs picked up scent of the two sites where Danny and Ryan were found over the weekend.
- 125 searchers took part today
- 60% of search on land
- 8 aircrafts took part in search
- 3 new teams helped: Escambia Co. Search and Rescue, Foley Search and Rescue, and LaFayette Dog Team
- Still searching Dauphin Island shorelines and other island shores
- No autopsy results on 3 year Ryan Pham
- Sonar not used in search at this time
- Cold weather not hampering search efforts
- Suspect and father of the children, Lam Luong, will be in court Tuesday at 9:00 a.m.
Monday, 11:30 a.m. (January 14)
- According to the father of the duck hunter who found Danny Luong's body, the 4-month-old was in tall grass, about 12 feet from the water, in Port Aux Pins.
Monday, 6:30 a.m. (January 14)
- Search enters 7th consecutive day.
- 125 people expected to be involved in today's search, which will start at Dauphin Island Bridge. Search will then expand with focus between Fowl River and Moss Point, Mississippi.
- Mobile County Sheriff's Office to hold 5:00 pm news conference unless other events warrant immediate update.
- "Love for the Four" fund to be set up at Compass Bank today.
- Stay tuned to WKRG at 9 and Noon and WKRG.com for the latest on recovery efforts.
Sunday, 8:30 p.m. (January 13)
- Search crews will be back out again Monday at daybreak.
- They are still searching for 2-year-old Hannah Luong and 1-year-old Lindsey Luong.
- News 5 will have continuing live team coverage, starting Monday at 5 a.m.
Sunday, 5:15 p.m. (January 13)
- 125-150 searchers now taking part in search.
- 3 helicopters, 4 airboats, and jet skis all aided search today.
- Ryan Phan's body recovered in Bayou La Fourche by land crews.
- Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran says airboats have been particularly helpful in the search, especially in marshy areas where boat and land crews cannot reach.
- Cochran says morale of search crews is high.
- Search Crews will resume tomorrow, launching from Dauphin Island once again.
- Capt. Paul Stewart of the Mobile Co. Sheriff's Flotilla says search area will stretch from Fowl River all the way to Moss Point, MS
- Stewart says no part of the search area can ever be completely eliminated.
- Tomorrow crews will concentrate on marshes
Sunday, 3:22 p.m. (January 13)
- Family confirms body recovered today was 3 year old Ryan Phan
- Mother passed out upon hearing the news today
- Some family had held on to hope that children may be alive because a fortune teller told a family member the kids were with a woman who was 35-40 years old, now they believe Hannah and Lindsey are in the water somewhere
Sunday, 2:06 p.m. (January 13)
- Mobile Co. Sheriff's Office has scheduled a press conference for 5:00 p.m. to update their search effort. You can watch the conference live on News 5 or on wkrg.com
Sunday, 11:35 a.m. (January 13)
- Search Crews announce they have found a second body in Bayou La Fourche Bay. That's 3 miles west of Port Aux Pins where a duck hunter found 4-month-old Danny Luong around 9 a.m. Saturday mroning.
Sunday 11:08 a.m. (January 13)
- Mobile County Sheriff's Department announced an 11:30 a.m. press conference
Sunday 9:25 a.m. (January 13)
-Mobile Co. Commissioner Steve Nodine says the search for the 4 bodies is costing an estimated $100,000 a day
- On Friday, the County Commissioners donated $10,000 to help fund the search
Sunday 8:00 a.m. (January 13)
- Search crews launch with several boats from Dauphin Island around 8:00 a.m.
- More will launch from Cedar Point and Bayou La Batre shortly.
- Clarke County Search and Rescue from Jackson will join the search today.
- There are also crews from the Mobile Co. Sheriff's Office Flotilla, North Baldwin Search and Rescue, South Baldwin Search and Rescue, and Daphne Search and Rescue.
- Chief Robert Phillips from North Baldwin Search and Rescue says, "We've been searching for closure from the day we started and we hope today's the day."
Saturday 11:00 p.m. (January 12)
- Search crews will resume the search at daybreak
- WKRG will have live coverage throughout the day, including live reports from the scene
- Live on News 5 and wkrg.com
Saturday 5:00 p.m. (January 12)
- Mobile Co. Sheriff Sam Cochran says body found this morning belonged to 4 month old Danny.
- Died of blunt force trauma with drowning.
- Search will resume in the morning.
Saturday 2:45 p.m. (January 12)
-Kieu Phan, the children's mother, talks to News 5. She says she wishes Luong had killed her instead of the children, and she wants justice for the children.
Saturday 1:30 p.m. (January 12)
- Family tells News 5 that Luong called from jail and told them he wanted to be more faous that the 9/11 hijackers. He also asked for cigarettes and told them that he wasn't afraid of the electric chair
Saturday 1:15 p.m. (January 12)
- Search area now borders Pascagoula Chevron plan on the west, Dauphin Island on the east, Intercoastal Canal on the South and Shoreline on the north
- 6 aircraft, divers, boats , and airboats all involved in search.
Saturday 10:45 a.m. (January 12)
- Body of an infant found by duck hunters
- Forensics team on scene
- Searching for other three bodies
Saturday 8:00 a.m. (January 12)
- Search Crews launched around 7:00 a.m.
- They will concentrate on area around Dauphin Island Bridge where sonar equipment detected something of interest late Friday afternoon and on the bottom of Mobile Bay.
- Members of the North Baldwin Sheriff's will hold a news conference at 12 Noon. WKRG will carry in live on News 5 and wkrg.com
Friday 8:15 a.m. (Jan. 11)
- Search of Mobile Bay for the bodies of the 4 children resumed just after 6 a.m.
- The search area is exanding from 100 square miles to 150 square miles.
- Several boats are on the water this morning. Divers are standing by. High winds are keeping helicopters out of the air for now.
- 70 volunteers from the Mobile County Sheriff's Office Flotilla will be taking part in the search today.
- The Sheriff's Office is also bringing in a new type of sonar quipment , called a tow fish, that will show them what's on the bottom of Mobile Bay.
- The Sheriff's Office says the claim by Lam Luong's attorney that his client was forced into making a false confession will not affect the search. Authorities still believe Luong threw his 4 children off the bridge.
- At this point, the Sheriff's Office does not believe the baby shoe, found last night near the Fowl River bridge, is connected to the case.
- If the bodies are not found today, the Sheriff's Office Flotilla plans on adding 30 more volunteers this weekend.
Watch related AP video:
Father Denies Throwing Children Off Bridge
A man accused of tossing his four young children off a coastal bridge to their deaths denies killing them and says police harassed him into making a false confession, his attorney said Thursday. (Jan. 10)
Thursday 11:00 p.m. (Jan. 10)
- Baby shoe found near Fowl River bridge. Mobile Co. Sheriff's Office does not know if shoe is a clue in the case.
- Friday morning, searchers will be looking in the Fowl River area and other areas near and around Dauphin Island.
- New audio released by appointed defense attorney for Lam Luong.
- In the converstion, Luong says police harassed him and his confession that he threw the children off the bridge was forced. Luong says the children are alive and that a woman named "Kim" took them.
- Search is scheduled to resume Friday morning at daybreak.
Thursday 7:15 p.m. (Jan 10)
- Lam Luong met with his court appointed attorney for the first time today.
- Joe Kulakowski says his client was harassed into making a false confession and that Luong did not throw his 4 kids off the Dauphin Island bridge.
- The defense attorney also says Luong told him the four children were taken Monday morning by a woman named "Kim" who claimed to know their mother.
- Kulakowski says police should be searching for "Kim" and a second woman who left with the children in a van, instead of wasting time searching Mobile Bay.
Thursday 5:15 p.m. (Jan. 10)
- Water search for children's bodies suspended for the night. Search crews are still looking on land at this time.
- Mobile Co. Sheriff says mounted patrol will also be brought in to search on shoreline
- Airboats will be used to search backside of Heron Bay
- U.S.Coast Guard said the decision to pull out of active search was a difficult one. USCG will still assist Mobile Co. Sheriff's Office on case by case basis.
- Mobile Co. D.A. John Tyson, Jr. says authorities still have probable cause that Lam Luong threw his four children off Dauphin Island bridge.
- D.A. Tyson did say, however, that everyone is praying that the children will be found alive.
- D.A. Tyson says an Amber Watch for the four children has been issued to law enforcement agencies in the region. The watch includes pictures and clothing descriptions. The watch has been issued as another avenue in the search.
- Specific case information has also been entered into the National Crime Information Computer (NCIC)
- North Baldwin Co. Search and Rescue, South Baldwin Co. Search and Rescue, and Daphne Search and Rescue will begin searching the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay and Weeks Bay Friday morning.
Thursday 4:45 p.m. (Jan. 10)
- U.S. Coast Guard pulling out of search for children. USCG says it participates in Search and Rescue operations and this has turned into a recovery mission.
- The Coast Guard will continue to broadcast an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast (UMIB). The UMIB asks area boaters to be on the lookout for anything that may be related to this operation
Thursday 3:15 p.m.
- Search continues for children's bodies. Weather has not prevented search boats from going out and looking in the waters off Dauphin Island.
- Mobile Co. Sheriff's Office and other agencies holding press conference at 5:01 p.m. to update search efforts.
- Judge denied bond for Lam Luong
- Mobile Co. District Attorney John Tyson says they have reasons to believe Luong's children were alive before he threw them off Dauphin Island Bridge
Thursday 9:30 a.m.
- Judge McKnight denies bond for Lam Luoung, saying he'd "never seen anything like this before".
Thursday 8:00 a.m.
-- Weather will have huge impact on today's search efforts. Boats are in the waters around the Dauphin Island bridge, but helicopters are grounded by fog.
-- Bond Hearing for Lam Luoung is at 8:30am. He is charged with 4 counts of capital murder.
-- Commercial dive team joins search around Dauphin Island Bridge
Thursday 6:00 a.m.
-- Search on foot underway along bay and sides of Dauphin Island bridge
-- Crews are preparing to launch boats and resume search of area waters
-- Mobile County Sheriff's Office and other agencies will hold press conference on the search and investigation at 8:00 a.m.
-- Lam Luong will make first court appearance at 8:30 a.m. He is charged with 4 counts of capital murder
Wednesday 10:30 p.m.
-- Severe weather could hamper search operations
-- Mobile Co. Flotilla says if water cannot be searched, they will search on land
-- Police say Lam Luong confessed to throwing his four children off Dauphin Island Bridge Monday morning
-- Investigators say two witnesses have come forward in the case
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