Couple arrested after cops find body of dead toddler in duffel bag

THE body of a two-year-old girl has been found inside a duffel bag after a man and a woman tried to cross the US border into Mexico.

The pair were arrested on suspicion of murder by San Diego police.

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Cops said they were contacted at around noon on Tuesday by Mexican law enforcement.

Johnny Lewis Hartley, 39, and Mercy Mary Becerra, 43, had been stopped by customs agents at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

They were arrested at around midday on Tuesday.

When they were stopped, Becerra allegedly fled, and Hartley was taken into custody with a duffel bag.

The police said: “An X-ray of the duffle bag revealed a body inside."

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They confirmed a two-year-old deceased child was in the bag, police said.

Cops told KSWB the pair were not the girl’s parents.

They both come from Whittier, and were attempting to cross the border in the pedestrian lane.

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Becerra was apprehended and taken into custody by Mexican authorities, and he and Becerra were turned over to U.S. investigators.

They were interviewed and then booked into San Diego jails.

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Police said: “It has been determined that this incident may have occurred in Whittier."

Hartley was booked on suspicion of first-degree murder and child cruelty and Becerra was booked on suspicion of the same charges.