Body of one of four children thrown from bridge found near Mobile, Ala.

MOBILE, Ala. -- A duck hunter found the body Saturday of one of four children allegedly thrown from a coastal bridge by their father, raising hopes that the other bodies will be recovered, a sheriff said.

A search for the children -- ranging in age from a few months to 3 years -- began Tuesday near the mouth of Mobile Bay after prosecutors said the father, Lam Luong, confessed.

About 9 a.m. Saturday, a duck hunter found the body of an infant about five miles west of the bridge in a marshy area.

Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran said a chaplain informed the children's family of the discovery Saturday morning. Their mother, 23-year-old Kieu Phan, had gone with Luong to report them missing Monday evening.

Cochran said searchers using sonar technology saw images Friday that they believed were three bodies.

"Currents were so strong divers were unable to get to the location," Cochran said. Divers re-entered the water Saturday beneath blue skies.

Luong, 37, a shrimp boat worker, was being held without bond on four counts of capital murder. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole.

District Attorney John Tyson Jr. said Luong had confessed to throwing Ryan Phan, 3, Hannah Luong, 2, Lindsey Luong, 1, and Danny Luong, 4 months, off the three-mile-long bridge after an argument with his wife.

Luong later recanted, claiming two Asian women took the children and never returned them. But a witness saw Luong on the bridge with the children, and another saw him leave the area without the children, Cochran said Friday.

Luong's appointed attorney, Joe Kulakowski, was meeting with Luong on Saturday and not immediately available for comment.