Toddler Dies In Hide-And-Seek Game

A 2-year-old boy was found dead in a plastic storage container in his family's apartment on Thursday after what his mother called a fatal game of hide-and-seek with his young siblings, police said.

The 24-year-old mother told police that she last saw little Anthony Pena alive at about 9 p.m. Wednesday, when she put him and two siblings, ages 4 and 6, to bed in their Bronx home.

She claimed that during the night the children sneaked out of bed to play hide-and-seek. She said one of the older children apparently put Anthony in the container and went back to sleep without letting him out.

The mother awoke Thursday to discover Anthony's body inside the container.

She and the boy's 28-year-old father were questioned by police, but there were no arrests.

The New York Daily News said the parents had no criminal records and police had never been called to their home before. The city's Administration for Children's Services had also never been involved with the family, police said.

The two surviving siblings were taken from their parents' custody, but caseworkers were expected to return them after determining Anthony's cause of death.