Two arrested in Seymour missing child investigation

An abducted child was recovered Saturday in Seymour and the father is facing kidnapping and other charges.

According to Seymour Police Department, the incident started at about 4:43 a.m. in the morning Saturday when a woman was attacked at a home in the 600 block of East Oak Street. The victim told police that her boyfriend, 23-year-old Daniel Gaspar Lopez-Mendoza, battered her, strangled her, took her phone and then took their child, making threats to harm the child.

The victim was taken to Schneck Medical Center by ambulance for treatment.

Officers began searching for the missing child. The suspect’s vehicle was found and stopped. The child was not found in the vehicle, Lopez-Mendoza was taken into custody. Police discovered that the child had been given to another man, 20-year-old Josue Francisco Canay-Rivera, and then taken back to the original address on Oak Street. Police found the child there and the child appeared unharmed, however the child was taken to Schneck Medical Center to be checked out.

Police say that Canay-Rivera had left the child at the home to go work out.

Lopez-Mendoza is facing preliminary charges of kidnapping, domestic battery, strangulation, intimidation and interfering with reporting a crime.

Canay-Rivera was arrested for child neglect.