Couple Woke Up to Toddler Missing From Crib in 1986. A Suspect Was Just Accused of Kidnapping, Sex Assault

A 61-year-old man has been identified as the suspect in the alleged kidnapping and sexual assault of a toddler nearly 40 years ago in Arizona. 

David Mundt is awaiting extradition from Texas, where he was arrested, and is facing charges of kidnapping and sexual assault for the July 1986 attack, the Phoenix Police Department said in a statement last week. 

Law enforcement officials responded to a Phoenix residence on the morning of July 6, 1986, to reports of a burglary and a missing child, the Phoenix PD said in the statement on Friday, Nov. 1.  

The parents of the victim, who is not named by authorities, allegedly told police that they woke up to find their child was missing from their bedroom, according to the statement. The house had also been burglarized, they said.

In a video release last week, Phoenix police alleged the suspect took the child to a construction site and sexually assaulted them. The suspect reportedly fled when the toddler started crying. 

The child was found around dawn by a couple delivering newspapers, per the video release. The couple notified police and the child was reunited with their family. 

The police statement further alleges that Mundt carried out a similar attack a few years later in Texas. 

On Oct. 28, 1992, a child in Henderson, Texas, was allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted in a manner similar to that of the 1986 attack, according to the statement. 

The DNA from both cases would lead to the same suspect, but police initially did not have Mundt’s profile in their system to generate a match.  

Earlier this year, Phoenix cold case investigators used genetic genealogy to identify and track down Mundt, according to the statement. He was arrested in August in connection with the Texas incident, before Phoenix authorities worked to obtain an arrest warrant for the 1986 Arizona attack.

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It wasn’t immediately clear if he has entered pleas for the charges in Texas, or if he has retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.