HUNTS POINT, Bronx — Heartbreaking developments have emerged in the case of missing 2-year-old Montrell Williams, as the NYPD Harbor Unit discovered the body of a small child in the East River near Ferry Point Park, just off the Whitestone Bridge, on Wednesday.
The body, described as that of a male toddler approximately 2 years old, but authorities believe it may be Montrell, who vanished from the Bronx more than a month ago. A positive identification is pending, according to police.
The discovery comes on the same day that Montrell’s 20-year-old father was officially named a person of interest in the boy’s disappearance. Investigators now suspect the father may have thrown the child into the Bronx River, near the Bruckner Expressway, following a custodial visit that went tragically wrong.
Surveillance footage obtained by detectives reportedly shows the father throwing a black bag into the river around the time of Montrell’s disappearance. Police are working to determine whether that footage is directly connected to the remains found Wednesday.
Montrell was last seen on May 9, after visiting with his father during a scheduled custody exchange. When the boy was not returned to his 17-year-old mother, concerns quickly escalated. On May 10, following a domestic dispute between the father and the grandmother with whom he was living, he reportedly left with the child — and never came back.
Almost a month later, on June 8, Montrell’s mother claimed she encountered the father and confronted him. According to her account, he pulled a knife and made a chilling statement: that he had thrown their son into the river. She immediately contacted police.
Detectives say the father’s responses during questioning raised significant red flags, and he was taken into custody after appearing in Bronx Family Court on June 10 for failing to return the child as required by the court’s custody order. Although he has not been criminally charged, he remains jailed pending further investigation.
Police do not suspect the mother had any involvement in Montrell’s disappearance and believe she had no knowledge of the child’s whereabouts.
This case has shaken the Bronx community and drawn citywide attention as family, neighbors, and advocates await confirmation and justice in what appears to be an unspeakable tragedy.
Anyone with further information is urged to contact the NYPD Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
