Bryan Vásquez’s body, a nonverbal 12 -year -old autistic child, was recovered from a channel after almost two weeks of intense search in New Orleans. Police reported that the child died from trauma of “forceful force due to a caiman” and subsequent drowning.
On August 14, Vásquez was reported missing in East New Orleans. According to the investigation, the child would have escaped through the window of his room around 5:20 am, dressed only with a diaper. A bell camera recorded Bryan’s latest images just on the street.
The news triggered a large -scale search operation in which multiple state and local agencies, volunteers, equipment with hydrodes and tracker dogs participated. The operation extended for almost two weeks, until a drone located the body on a channelabout 183 meters from the place where it disappeared.
The finding and autopsy
On Tuesday, after 13 days of search, the body of the child was recovered from the waters. New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick, said Wednesday that The autopsy determined as a cause of death a trauma due to the attack of caiman and drowning.
Kirkpatrick pointed out that it is possible that the body remained submerged several days and then resurface, which often occurs in cases of drowning.
The case has aroused criticism of the New Orleans Police Department, after revealing that almost five hours passed between the disappearance report and the arrival of the first agent. The police chief recognized the error and assured that an internal investigation was opened to determine responsibilities.
The child’s mother, Hilda Vásquez, had declared that her son used to sneak from home to go to a nearby park, although recently the family had moved to a new neighborhood.
In a statement, city officials described Bryan as a young “bright, charismatic and energetic, whose joy and spirit touched the lives of her family, friends and community.”
Caimanes in Louisiana: a latent threat
The tragedy reopened the debate on the presence of alligators in inhabited areas. Kirkpatrick reported that he asked the Department of Wildlife and Louisiana fishing that eliminates the “annoying” specimens from the area where the child was found.
According to that agency, more than 1,000 caimanes are captured and eliminated every year to reduce risks in the communities. Louisiana houses the largest population of these reptiles in the United States.
Continue reading:
–Subject kills at least 10 when driving on a crowd in New Year’s celebration in New Orleans
–They identify the suspect of the attack on New Orleans as an American born in Texas
–Biden condemns attack in New Orleans: “There is no justification for violence”