Body that appears to be missing 2-year-old Bronx boy found in East River in NYC, police say

NEW YORK -- An unidentified juvenile was discovered in the East River, and police say it appears to be the body of the 2-year-old boy from the Bronx who has been missing for a month out of New York City.

The body, described as a boy approximately 2 years old, was found by an NYPD Harbor unit on patrol, near Ferry Point Park off the Whitestone Bridge on Wednesday.

Authorities say it appears to be missing Bronx boy Montrell Williams, but a positive identification will have to be made.

The discovery of the body comes the same day the father of the missing 2-year-old was named a person of interest in the child's disappearance.

Detectives have reason to believe the 20-year-old father threw him into the Bronx River, near the Bruckner Expressway.

Detectives reportedly have surveillance video showing Williams' father throwing a black bag into the river.

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Williams vanished on May 9 after a custodial visit with his father. The next day, on May 10, the child's father and grandmother, who he was living with, had a fight. Officials believe the father left with the toddler, and he was never returned to the child's mother.

Then, almost a month later, on Sunday, the missing child's 17-year-old mother says she saw the father and confronted him.

He reportedly responded by pulling a knife. But the haunting words he used proved far more cutting. The father allegedly claimed he threw his own child into the river. The teenage mother called the police.

The police were called, and when he was pressed about his son's whereabouts, police said the father's answers sent up major red flags.

The father appeared in Bronx Family Court on Monday to answer a warrant for failing to return the boy to the mother, per their custody agreement.

Williams' father was put in jail by a judge after he failed to disclose the child's whereabouts. The 20-year-old father has not yet been criminally charged.

Police do not believe the mother, who is 17, knows where their son is.