Sheriff: Child’s body found in Central Calif canal

PATTERSON, Calif. (AP) — Sheriff’s officials say they’ve found the body of a child in the Central California canal where a car linked to a nearby kidnapping case was recovered last week.

The Modesto Bee reports that authorities have not yet identified the child. But the Merced County Sheriff’s Department, which found the body near the town of Santa Nella, issued a statement Tuesday saying the body matched the description of 4-year-old Juliani Cardenas.

Search teams have been combing the canal for over a week for signs of Juliani, who was taken from his Patterson home on Jan. 18.

The kidnapping suspect, Jose Rodriguez, is the ex-boyfriend of the child’s mother.

Rodriguez’s Toyota Corolla was pulled from the bottom of the nearby Delta-Mendota Canal on Friday with no signs of Juliani or Rodriguez inside.