Child's body discovered in Delta-Mendota Canal near Santa Nella

Body was 30 miles downstream from where kidnapped child believed last seen alive

A child's body was found in the Delta-Mendota Canal near Santa Nella today, the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department reported. The child's identity and sex were not immediately known.

The body was found this morning about 30 miles downstream from where investigators believe a 4-year-old Patterson boy and his abductor entered the canal in the kidnapper's car Jan. 18.

The search for little Juliani Cardenas has focused on the canal, from which the Toyota belonging to suspect Jose Esteban Rodriguez was pulled Friday. No bodies were in the car.

Sheriff's spokesman Royjindar Singh said there would be a news conference in Patterson between 11 a.m. and noon today.

Singh did not say under what circumstances the body was found. Detectives recovered the body at mid-morning.