Dad Threw 4 Children Off Bridge - One of ours or just the crack cocaine?

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Police: Dad threw 4 children off bridge

By GARRY MITCHELL, Associated Press Writer 4 minutes ago

A day after reporting his four young children were missing, a shrimp fisherman

broke down and confessed that he threw them off an 80-foot-high bridge to their

deaths, authorities said Wednesday.

Lam Luong, 37, was charged with four counts of capital murder, and divers

searched the murky waters for the bodies of the youngsters, who ranged in age

from a few months to 3 years.

Luong had a drug habit and had argued with his wife, Ngoc Phan, before taking

the children, said Phan's brother-in-law, Kam Phengsisomboun.

Authorities said they believe Luong drove on Monday to the two-lane Dauphin

Island bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway, stopped at the highest part of the

span and threw the youngsters over the side.

Luong reported the children missing Monday, initially telling police that a

woman who had the youngsters failed to return them, authorities said.

Missing and presumed dead were 4-month-old Danny Luong; 1-year-old Lindsey

Luong; 2-year-old Hannah Luong; and 3-year-old Phan. Phan is not the man's

biological child, but Luong raised him from infancy, authorities said.

About 70 people in boats and helicopters searched water up to 55 feet deep. The

search area covered 100 square miles because the current might have swept the

children away, Sheriff Sam Cochran said.

Luong was scheduled to appear in court Thursday. District Attorney Tyson

said he did not believe Luong had a lawyer.

Luong came to Alabama from Vietnam in 1984 and worked as a shrimper,

Phengsisomboun said. The couple lived with Phan's mother at Bayou La Batre, a

fishing village 20 miles southwest of Mobile with a large Southeast Asian

community.

Phengsisomboun said the couple had recently moved back to the area from

Hinesville, Ga.

They argued Sunday night and again Monday, and Luong left the home with two of

the children, then later came back for the other two, the brother-in-law said.

Phengsisomboun said he did not know what the couple argued about.

The family initially feared he had traded the children to support his drug

habit, Phengsisomboun said. Luong had a crack habit and had run through an

insurance settlement from an auto accident, he said. Authorities in Mobile

confirmed Luong had a history of drug abuse but had no details.

He was arrested in October in Hinesville on a crack-possession charge.

Phengsisomboun said he was later told by investigators that a witness had seen

someone throw a bundle from the bridge and then saw three children in a nearby

car.

Phan, 23, was in seclusion Wednesday morning at her mother's brick home, the

front porch cluttered with children's shoes.

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