The body of a toddler was found in the jaws of an alligator last week, following a manhunt that was launched after the boy’s mother was found stabbed to death in her Florida apartment. The boy’s father has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
The search for two-year-old Taylen Mosley began on Thursday after his mother, Pashun Jeffrey, was found dead in the apartment she shared with Thomas Mosley, the father of her child.
According to local news, Jeffrey had been stabbed over 100 times.
Twenty-one-year-old Mosley was fingered for the crime after neighbours reported having heard a fight between Jeffrey and Mosley last Wednesday. After St. Petersburg police found Jeffrey’s body on Thursday, they subsequently located Mosley, who was found with cuts all over his hands.
After police failed to locate the couple’s child, the lakes and ponds surrounding the apartment complex were searched by local rescue authorities who deployed cadaver dogs.
On Friday, police officers were alerted to an alligator in Lake Maggiore that appeared to have something in its mouth, which turned out to be the body of Taylen Mosley.
Announcing the news, Anthony Holloway, chief of the St. Petersburg Police Department, expressed his sadness over the events and sent condolences to Taylen’s family.
‘We are sorry it has to end this way,’ he added.
The toddler’s cause of death has not yet been officially determined by the medical examiner.