Four detained, parents under investigation in 'missing' baby case

Four people allegedly involved in a plan to falsely report a baby boy as missing in Zhoukou city, Central China's Henan province, have been detained and an investigation, which includes the boy's mother and his biological father, is underway, thepaper.cn reported on Tuesday.

The mother's husband has experienced ups and downs in recent days, including the return of his missing son, the exposure of the mother as being behind the incident, and rumors about his son's biological father, saying Tuesday he just hoped the family could avoid further hurt from the incident, the report said.

Wang Yidi, a political commissar of the People's Armed Forces Department of Chuzhou city, East China's Anhui province, is reported by the media to be the four-month-old baby's biological father and one of those who planned the boy's disappearance.

A statement by his employer released on Monday said that he is under investigation and severe punishment awaits if it is confirmed Wang was involved.

The four-month-old baby boy was reported missing on Thursday and then found Sunday when a suspect voluntarily surrendered to the police. 

A preliminary investigation showed the boy's disappearance was directed and carried out by his mother, surnamed Liu, and her family members in Zhoukou city, due to a family quarrel, according to media reports.

Family members were detained by local police but the boy's mother was not because she is breastfeeding the baby, the Beijing News reported.

Media reports said Liu became pregnant by Wang, a former high school classmate, after they met last year via a mutual friend surnamed Li.

Wang asked her to give birth to the baby. They planned to take the infant boy away several times. Then Wang, the boy's biological father, planned the "missing" infant case with the mother.

Police in Zhoukou originally said an infant was "stolen" from his mother by someone after she fainted on the street near a park on Thursday.

A reward of 50,000 yuan ($7,245) was offered to anyone with information leading to the child's discovery, as well as a suspect's capture, according to a statement released by Zhoukou police on their official Weibo account.

Police also said the woman said she suffered from hypokalemia, or a low level of potassium in the blood, which turned out to be not true.

After a more than 60-hour investigation, police found the baby in Zhengzhou, capital city of Henan province, and discovered further clues to the case.

The infant is safe after having a medical examination at a local hospital and is at home.