Salt Lake City police have now identified the 3-year-old boy who was abandoned in a department store, and are searching for his stepfather, whom they believe left him in the store, and his mom.
Salt Lake City Police said the 3-year-old boy is Jonathan Jacob Corpuz of Reno, Nev. Police in Reno and the FBI are now searching for the boy's mother, Jeanette Acord and his stepfather, Lyle Montgomery.
Montgomery allegedly took Corpuz to a ShopKo department store in Salt Lake City on Saturday, gave him a toy to play with and walked out. The heartbreaking scene of the little boy abandoned in the store was caught on store surveillance tapes — but police initially did not know the boy's last name, or the identity of the man who abandoned him.
Now, Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse said authorities are worried about the safety of the boy's mother, Acord, who has been missing from work for about two weeks.
Police expect to file child abuse charges against Montgomery for placing Corpuz at risk.
Store surveillance tapes from Saturday show the boy holding the hand of an older man as they entered the store. The man — whom police now believe is Montgomery — crossed in front of the camera before leaving the boy with a toy and exiting the store. After the boy sat alone in a shopping cart in the toy department for nearly an hour, shoppers became concerned and the authorities were contacted.
The boy was able to tell police that his name is Jacob and that he is 3 years old, but he could not give his address or his last name. Evidently the child was able to give police correct information on his mom's name.
"He says his mom's name is Janet or Jeanette but he's not clear on this because he calls her Mommy," Carol Sisco from the Utah Division of Child and Family Services told ABCNEWS' Good Morning America this morning.
"He has a grandpa named Pedro and four sisters, but he doesn't live with them anymore. He has no idea where home is," she said.
