Missing New Orleans boy drowned after 'blunt force trauma' by an alligator

Audio By Carbonatix

Associated Press (AP) — A missing 12-year-old boy with autism, whose body was discovered in a New Orleans canal following a nearly two-week-long search, died from "blunt force due to an alligator" and drowning, police said Wednesday.

Bryan Vasquez was first reported missing on the morning of Aug. 14, after he reportedly escaped through a bedroom window in the East side of the city, the New Orleans Police Department said. The nonverbal boy was seen on doorbell camera footage, wearing only a diaper and walking down the street alone, around 5:20 a.m. that morning. His body was found on Tuesday, located by a drone.

The boy's mother, Hilda Vasquez, had told The New Orleans Advocate/The Times-Picayune that her son would often sneak away from their home to head to a playground nearby. However, they’d recently moved to a new house.

Bryan's disappearance prompted a massive search that included multiple agencies, volunteers, airboats and bloodhounds.

As local and state crews combed the area, criticism mounted over the New Orleans Police Department's delayed response. Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said that there was a nearly five-hour gap between when the boy was reported missing and an officer arriving at the scene.

Kirkpatrick said the police department has launched an internal investigation into the lapse.

A coroner's autopsy determined that Bryan drowned after he sustained trauma from an alligator, Kirkpatrick said at a news conference on Wednesday. The boy was found about 200 yards (183 meters) from where the search had started. Kirkpatrick said it is possible his body resurfaced after he died, which is common in drowning deaths.

“Bryan was a bright, charismatic, and energetic young boy whose joy and spirit touched the lives of his family, friends and community,” city officials said in a press release.

Kirkpatrick said she has asked the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to remove “nuisance” alligators from the area where Bryan was found.

According to the wildlife agency, hunters capture and remove more than 1,000 nuisance alligators every year in an effort to minimize encounters between the alligators and humans. Louisiana is home to the largest alligator population in the country.