Drunk dad loses 3-year-old son; found 25 hours later--in his car seat (Pasadena, California)

Sure sounds like dad JOE KURIHARA is not currently in a relationship to the boy's mother, since the article explicitly states that just the boy and the father attended the wedding. Usually, wedding invitations are extended to married couples and both persons involved in a committed relationship. So did Daddy have court-ordered visitation? Who knows? As usual, the details of how "incidents" like this happen are not made clear in the slightest.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/10/17/1332585/missing-pasadena-boy-lost-by-father.html

Missing Pasadena boy lost by father found safe

By The Associated Press

After a frantic all-day search, a 3-year-old boy who authorities said was lost by his intoxicated father was found safe Sunday night, sleeping peacefully strapped into his car seat in a parking garage.

Dylan Kurihara was found by a private citizen helping police search for the boy some 25 hours after he was last seen leaving a wedding in an SUV with his father at the wheel, Pasadena police chief Phillip Sanchez told reporters at a news conference.

Sanchez said Dylan appeared to be fine, but paramedics were examining him.

3-year-old boy who was lost for 25 hours after his drunken father left him strapped in a car seat was in protective custody Monday.

Dylan Kurihara of West Covina was found asleep in a Lexus in a Pasadena parking garage Sunday night.

Dylan was slightly dehydrated but in good shape and was being held Monday by Los Angeles County child welfare officials until his home life is investigated, police Sgt. Ed Calatayud said.

Sanchez said Dylan appeared to be fine, but paramedics were examining him.

"He is in good shape and none the less for wear," Sanchez said.

Dylan and his father Joe Kurihara, 23, left the wedding at a Pasadena Masonic lodge at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday night.

About an hour later, police arrested Joe Kurihara on suspicion of public intoxication, police said. The father was alone and on foot and police said he was too drunk to remember he had left the wedding with his child.

The boy's mother reported the pair missing Sunday morning and set off the search.

Some 50 police officers and many private citizens like Rowdy Mexner, the man who found Dylan, combed Pasadena and surrounding areas for about 14 hours until the boy was found.

Police said they took Kurihara back to the wedding site to jog his memory, but he could not remember where he had left the boy and the car.

Joe Kurihara was being held on $10,000 bail Sunday night. Police reached by phone said they did not know whether he had hired an attorney.

"We're looking at all possible charges that would be associated with this," Sanchez said.

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