The body of a missing 12-year-old boy with autism was found near a canal, and coroners believe he died following an alligator attack, according to officials.
Bryan Vasquez's body was found in a lagoon on Tuesday, Aug. 26, nearly two weeks after he was reported missing, New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said at a news conference.
The Orleans Parish Coroner determined that the cause of death was blunt trauma consistent with an alligator attack and subsequent drowning, according to an email the NOPD Public Affairs Division shared with USA TODAY.
The 12-year-old went missing on Aug. 14, when he left his house on the east side of New Orleans, according to CBS News. He escaped through a bedroom window.
At around 5:20 a.m. local time, on the day Vasquez went missing, doorbell footage captured the child, who is nonspeaking, walking down the street alone.
Kirkpatrick formally requested that the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries "eradicate" nuisance alligators, she said during the news conference.
Louisiana has one of the largest alligator populations, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The state has a population of over one million wild alligators.
