The body of a missing Florida toddler was found inside an alligator’s mouth on Friday evening, according to St. Petersburg police. The boy’s father has been charged with his murder.
Taylen Mosley was reported missing after his mother, Pashun Jeffery, 20, was found dead in her apartment. She had been stabbed several times.
A search for Mosley ensued, and an Amber Alert was issued. Officials used dogs, a drone, and multiple agencies to search for the toddler.
The little boy’s body was discovered about 10 miles from his mother’s apartment near Dell Holmes Park. St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said officers came across an alligator with “an object inside its mouth” in Lake Maggiore.
The officers shot and killed the alligator so that it would drop Mosley’s body. A cause of death for the toddler has not been released and will be determined by the medical examiner.
Thomas Mosley, the boy’s father, was identified as a person of interest in the murders after checking himself into the hospital with cuts on his arms and hands. Holloway said Mosley remained hospitalized on Friday and was not cooperating with the investigation.
Mosley is facing two counts of first-degree murder.
