Tragedy in New Orleans: Missing 12-year-old Bryan Vasquez found dead with alligator bite marks

America: New Orleans was plunged into heartbreak after the body of 12-year-old Bryan Vasquez, a missing boy with autism, was found floating in a lagoon with alligator bite marks.

According to the New Orleans Police Department, the boy identified as Bryan Vasquez had reportedly gone missing on August 14, after he had escaped from his home through a bedroom window. 

The parents reported the non-verbal boy as a missing person, but days turned in two weeks with the boy’s whereabouts unknown except that he was last seen around 5:00 a.m. on a doorbell camera footage, wearing only a diaper and walking down the street alone,  the morning of his disappearance. 

After Bryan's disappearance was reported to the police, a massive search effort was launched which involved several agencies, airboats, bloodhounds as well as volunteers with the search spanning nearly two weeks. The boy’s body was located by a drone floating in a New Orleans canal on Tuesday, August 26. 

Hilda Vasquez, the boy’s mother had told the New Orleans Advocate/The Times-Picayune that her son had the tendency to sneak out and go play in the playground nearby where they used to live, but the family had recently moved to a new house so he might have gone out to search for the playground. 

Locals and state crew criticized the New Orleans Police Department’s for their delayed response in responding to the missing person report of 12-year-old Bryan Vasquez citing that the police had taken almost 5 hours to arrive at the scene while locals were already in full swing looking for the 12-year-old. 

At a news conference on Wednesday, August 27, Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick, reported that Bryan drowned after he sustained trauma from an alligator, and his body resurfaced after drowning as is common with drowning deaths. 

In an official press release, the city officials described Bryan as a charismatic, bright as well as energetic young boy whose joy and spirit touched the lives of loved ones including family, friends and the community.