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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Police have identified and are searching for the mother and stepfather of a 3-year-old Reno, Nev., boy abandoned inside a Salt Lake City department store Saturday.
The police department in Reno, Nev., and the FBI are searching for the boy's mother, Jeanette Acord and his stepfather, Lyle Montgomery.
Montgomery, 42, allegedly took the boy, Jonathan Jacob Corpuz, to a ShopKo department store in Salt Lake City, gave him a toy to play with and walked out.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse said authorities are worried about Acord's safety. She has been missing from work for about two weeks.
Police have contacted Corpuz's biological father, who had no idea why the child was abandoned here. Authorities say the family has no connection to Utah.
Police expect to file child abuse charges against Montgomery for "intentionally and knowingly placing this child at risk," according to a police statement.
Montgomery was described as a white male, 5 feet 10 inches tall and 210 lbs., with brown hair and blue eyes.
The boy wasn't reported missing from Reno. He was identified by a woman there who recognized the child from a TV photo and called authorities. The boy had not been able to give police solid identifying information.
Store surveillance cameras showed a stocky man walking into the store with the boy, putting him in a shopping cart, handing him a toy, and later walking out. Other customers became concerned after about an hour of seeing the boy alone and told store employees who called police.
Welfare workers have temporarily placed the boy with a foster family. He appears to be in good health and shows no signs of abuse, Salt Lake City police said.
"He misses his mom, but he is getting attached to his foster mom," Utah Department of Human Services spokeswoman Carol Sisco said Wednesday. "She put a mattress on the floor in the bedroom so he can be next to her."
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
