Police begin recovery effort for missing Conn. baby

HARTFORD, Conn. -- A 7-month-old boy plunged into the Connecticut River with his father, who jumped from a bridge, police said Monday as they ended a search and began a recovery operation.

Aaden Moreno was reported missing Sunday night when his father, 22-year-old Tony Moreno, jumped from the Arrigoni Bridge between Middletown and Portland. The search extended into Monday afternoon as police spoke with family members and visited homes where they believed Moreno may have taken the child.

Police said Moreno called a family member at about 11:45 p.m. Sunday, saying he would jump from the bridge. That person contacted police and said a baby could be heard in the background.

Lt. Heather Desmond, a Middletown police spokeswoman, said the person was a family member, but authorities don't know where he was when he called.

"It's why we can't narrow it down yet," she said.

A stroller was seen at the front door of the home and nobody was home on Monday but neighbors said just two weeks ago police were called to the home and spoke with Moreno and another woman, CBS News affiliate WFSB reported.

"Two weeks ago, he was wheeling the baby back and forth in the carriage in the yard," neighbor Pat Taylor told WSFB. "He seemed to be a very quiet type of person."

Firefighters pulled Moreno from the water and took him to Hartford Hospital, where he was initially listed in serious condition. Desmond said he could not be questioned because of his condition.

Police later said he was upgraded to stable condition and that he was alert and conscious.

Charges are expected when the investigation is completed, police said.

Officers used police dogs, checking wooded areas as they spent hours Sunday night and Monday looking for Aaden.

"We're leaving no stone unturned," Middletown Mayor Daniel Drew had said a few hours before police confirmed the start of the recovery operation.