The body of a two-year-old Florida boy, who had been missing since his mother was found killed earlier in the week, was discovered on Friday 31st March 2023 in a lake in the jaws of an alligator.
The search for the boy had been intense, involving dive teams and drone technology. The father of the child, 21-year-old Thomas Mosley, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of the boy’s mother, 20-year-old Pashun Jeffery, and their son Taylen Mosley.
Officers searching for the toddler at a lake a few miles from the apartment complex noticed an alligator “with an object in its mouth” that they quickly realized was a child’s body, St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said. They fired shots at the reptile, which dropped the body.
“We were able to retrieve Taylen’s body intact,” the chief said. The alligator was euthanized.
“We are sorry it has had to end this way,” Holloway said during a Friday night news conference.
